Icon Treadmill
An Icon Treadmill is manufactured by Icon Health and Fitness. Under Icon, there are many different brand names. Some of which you may have heard before.
Nordic Track, Proform, Image, Epic, Healthrider and Cadence Weslo all fall under the umbrella of Icon. You won’t find the brand name “Icon” in the marketplace when shopping for a treadmill. Instead, you should look under each brand to see which is more suitable for you.
The reason why there are so many different brand is that they are meant to target different market segments. For instance, different technologies are used for different brands. One brand may focus on custom workouts, while another brand may focus on having more powerful and durable motors.
Custom exercise programs can be loaded into certain models (e.g. the iFit programs). The programs can be loaded from the Internet, or from CDs. Once a program is loaded, it’s like having a pre-programed working session. There will be accompanying music with the running sessions. A virtual personal trainer will also be guiding you along.
The range of treadmills is huge. Most machines are priced around $500. The better models are priced closer to $1,000, but they are still kept below the $1k mark whenever possible. You can expect to own a pretty good machine if you have a budget of about a thousand dollars.
Some consumers do become a little concerned about the low pricing. Is it really possible to put together a decent treadmill for that kind of pricing?
The answer is yes. Today, hardware and software costs have plummeted. Many parts can be obtained cheaply from countries like Taiwan and China. These parts are cheap, but they are not inferior.
Icon has managed to combine these parts to create an ideal machine for home users. You can fold up the running deck when the machine is not in use to save space.
Running on a treadmill is no longer just about fitness. It’s also about personal lifestyle. Therefore, for some models, you may even find built-in speakers and LCD television.
Among the different brands, the Nordic Track series have really stood out. Customers have nothing but good reviews about these treadmills. It’s almost like a dream come true. These machines have everything that a home user would want.