Battle Royale! Nordictrack Elite 9500 Pro vs Lifespan Tr4000i

Battle Royale!

NordicTrack Elite 9500 Pro VS Lifespan Tr4000i

Okay, today we’re going to have a showdown between two popular treadmills in the same price range. The Lifespan tr4000i and the NordicTrack Elite 9500 Pro! I have been getting lots of questions on both of these treadmills, and since they’re in the same price range, I figured I’d throw them in the ring together and see who comes out on top.

At first glance, the Nordictrack is more impressive to look at, but as I’ve said so many times before, that doesn’t mean a thing. So let’s take off the lids and check out their innards. As far as the frame and design goes, they’re made of  practically the same things, and are built strikingly similar. The belt on the Lifespan is a higher quality grade than the  nordictrack. Belts, however aren’t very expensive, or difficult to replace. More importantly is what’s below the belt.

The deck is a very solid piece of material on both the NordicTrack and Lifespan, both claiming a weight capacity of 350 lbs. The difference in the cushioning can only be known by actually running on both. Every treadmill has their own fancy term for their cushioning, but what those terms actually mean is beyond me. They both have adjustable cushioning, but the Nordictrack cushioning feels much better to me.

Now let’s take a look at the engines…First of all, the Horsepower on the Nordic 3.8 CHP, and certainly stronger than that of the Lifespan which is 3.25CHP. Despite being smaller, the Lifespan motor is actually louder and operates at higher RPMs, which can cause greater wear and tear in the engine. However, both have excellent drive systems and motors.

Speed and incline are both the same at 12MPH max speed and 15% max incline. The Nordictrack does offer a 3% decline which the Lifespan doesn’t have. The Consoles are completely different. The Nordictrack offers a 10″ full color touch screen web browser display. A top of the line feature. The Lifespan offers a decent blue LCD display with all the numbers you’ll need, but nothing like the 10″ touch screen. With everything else, maybe a good old fashioned list will help.

Nordictrack Elite 9500 Pro
• Motor: 3.8 CHP
• 350lb weight capacity
• 22″x60″ 2-ply treadbelt
• -3 – 15% Incline
• 12MPH
• Ifit Live built-in
• QuadFlex Precision Cushioning
• 28 built-in workout apps
• 8″ fan
• Ipod/Mp3 Music Port & Speakers

Lifespan Tr4000i
• Motor: 3.25 CHP
• 350lb weight capacity
• 20″x60″ 2.8mm upgraded thick belt
• 15% Incline
• 12MPH
• USB Drive to save workout data
• cushioning: 8 levels
• variety of programs
• Ipod/Mp3 Music Port with Speakers

I think this explains a lot. If the quality of the Lifespan were exceptionally higher, it would possibly make sense to sacrifice some of the extra features of the Nordictrack for the extra quality in the Lifespan. However, seeing as the quality really isn’t any better, I can’t see much reason in not going with the Nordictrack.

the warranty is always important to look at as well. The Nordictrack offers Lifetime coverage on the frame and motor, 5 years on parts, and 2 years on labor. While the Lifespan offers everything the same except 1 year on labor rather than 2.

That being said, the Nordictrack takes the victory on this back to back tournament. Hope this helps any of you who may have been looking into one or the other.