The SportsArt TR32 Treadmill Review — Great Treadmill for Bad Joints

Ohiyo!

Every so often the Treadmill Sensei likes to venture out from the DOJO on a quest to find equipment he hasn’t been able to get a hold of. This past week I took one such adventure, this time out to the wonderous land call Thousand Oaks to try out the SportsArt TR32 treadmill…actually, I took two adventures out in order to get a couple of one-hour work out sessions on the machine at a local fitness specialy shop.

In a quick bit of disclosure, I dropped by the aforementioned shop unannounced and didn’t tell them I was the Treadmill Sensei. I did this so I wouldn’t be bombarded with questions. To sales reps I met I was just another incredibly attractive, middle-aged Asian man interested in a high-end treadmill.

The first thing you notice when you walk up to the SportsArt TR32 Treadmill is the beautiful design work. The thing looks every bit as slick as a BH, BodyGuard or Matrix Treadmill, which is great company to be in. The next thing most people will notice is the price tag at right around $3700. The sticker shock may scare away most people, but the TR32 is very much worth the price if you can afford to pay for it. If Matrix is a Lexus and Landice is a BMW, then SportsArt is a sleek Infiniti.

The next two things, which are some of the most important for a treadmill, are the frame and the motor. On the SportsArt TR32 both of these features are top-notch. The frame is every bit as solid and steady as a higher-end commercial treadmill. And the 3.2 horsepower motor runs cool at low RPMS and is big enough to strap wheels to and drive down to Tiajuana. SportsArt built their TR32 treadmill motor to last a lifetime.

During my work outs, I found the console on the SportsArt TR32 to be one of the most user-friendly I’ve come across. Everything is very intuitive and easy to use, and even a treadmill novice will be able to start their workout within a couple of seconds. I was a little surprised to only find 9 workout programs and a 12 mph top speed on a high end unit like this. With everything else being above and beyond the call of duty, it was a bit of a let down in those two departments. Not a major problem but worth mentioning…most other units in this range have a similar top speed, but with the unit being so outstanding otherwise I expected the 15mph speed.

The feature which makes the SportsArt TR32 Treadmill a fantastic unit in my book is the Adjustable Cushioning System (imagine a little “trademark” sign after that combination of words, please). What that fancy phrase does is allow the user to manually adjust the amount of shock absorbtion on the deck.

Anyone who has read this site before will know how much I really hate when a manufacturer comes up with a fancy, but meaningless, term describing something that every other treadmill out there has too (Proform, I’m talking to YOU!). However, in this case the ACS is a very cool piece of technology that will actually help your workout in a way unique to SportsArt. During my workouts I could really feel the difference when I altered the ACS settings on the SportsArt TR32. I don’t know if it reduces impact by the 90% the salesman told me, but the reduction was significant and, more important, comfortable. If you have problems with your feet or joints then this is a solid feature.

The last thing which was very nice on the treadmill was the warranty package: lifetime on the motor and mechanical parts, 7 years on electronics and 1 year on labor. Bumping that up to a more competitive 2 years for labor would have made this a homerun for SportsArt.

For my pair of workouts, the SportsArt TR32 Treadmill performed like a dream — huge motor, rock-solid frame, nice sized running area and the ACS give users a commercial quality workout at just under $3700. The TR32 Treadmill is a fine example of why SportsArt is one of the leading treadmill manufacturers in the industry today. For being an excellent piece of engineering, the Treadmill Sensei gives the SportsArt TR32 Treadmill 4.5 out of 5 golden buddahs…It would have ranked higher, but my limited time on the machine kept me from doing a more extensive review.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com