Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill Buy Now

I have never written a review for any product, ever, but here is my first attempt.

About 18 years ago, I bought my wife an el-cheapo treadmill from Montgomery Wards for around $500, thinking that she would probably use it for a couple of months and then it would gather dust and eventually be donated to Goodwill. To my astonishment, she ran on that thing for at least an hour, 3 to 5 days a week right up until last month when the deck finally fell apart and the belt began to shred. If I could have simply bought that treadmill again, I would have, but since that wasn't possible, I decided at least to get my wife a higher-end treadmill to replace it.

The first challenge was to narrow down my choices. Since Consumer Reports and the Treadmill Doctor website both rated this model highly, I was torn between it and models from Sole and Bodyguard, but a quick internet search revealed a (since ended) Amazon "secret sale" on the Bowflex models that lopped hundreds of dollars off the final price of the Bowflex, so that clinched my decision to get the Series 7.

A few days after I ordered it, the Eagle truck backed into my driveway, and a nice old (60+) guy began wrestling to get the huge, heavy box off the truck. He refused to let me help, and eventually got it tipped off the truck and onto a dolly without killing himself, or losing control of it. I didn't want him to risk injury trying to get it up my 2 porch steps and over my threshold though, so I just let him wheel it 10 feet into my garage and we eased it to the floor there.

The box was pristine, as was the treadmill itself, and it only took 4 guys to haul the deck down my curving stairway and into a basement bedroom.

I assembled the unit alone, using the supplied tools and two of my own phillips screw drivers. It was easy to do, and only took about an hour and a half.
The assembly instructions are beautifully illustrated and well-written, so you shouldn't have much trouble getting it together.

Once I got it assembled and plugged in, I tested it out a little, and everything seemed to work fine. Until I tried to use the INCLINE feature.
While it APPEARED to be working well according to the output on the display, the deck stayed flat. Why? Because, although it is not clearly stated in the owner's manual, you MUST do the calibration sequence on page 28 before the incline feature (and who knows what else) will actually work. Fortunately it is an easy procedure, and only takes a minute to do. Another thing the manual should state but doesn't is that you should NEVER use WD-40 to lubricate your belt. According to Nautilus, this is something a lot of people do, and any consequential damage will NOT be covered by your warranty.

The Series 7 is easy to operate, FAR quieter than our old treadmill, and was a bargain at the price we paid.Get more detail about Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill.