General Information:Keys Fitness began making treadmills in 1997 which made them a relative newcomer to the treadmill scene. They made considerable progress but took some steps backward in quality a few years ago. Last year was a complete disaster, they were taken over by their lender. Huge out of the box problems (we experienced it with one of our test models) and limited retail distribution have been the twin death bells for this once-powerful brand. The company was sold out of bankruptcy court in 2008 (we bought the parts portion of the company) and they are now mainly selling strength equipment.
Manufacturing Philosophy:Keys really downgraded the quality of their machines over the past three years. We have received a number of quality complaints ranging from serious problems to something as simple as parts not fitting together correctly. The founder of Keys told us that he believed in keeping manufacturing jobs in the USA, but apparently it simply got too costly since all production was moved to China. If you still can find one of these around, there is no warranty on the pre-bankruptcy production but we do have a wide range of parts still available for them.
Company Outlook:The old Keys is gone but if the new Keys will stick to strength equipment, they should have a decent run. Cardio is simply too competitive right now to have any new brands come on and stick to the market long term, especially considering the economy.
