This treadmill has a very unique workout movement and will give you a heck of a workout. Hydraulic shocks never held up long-term, even on the old stepper designs so expect to eventually replace these. There is limited application due to the design since you have two separate belts but if you want to burn some calories, this one will do it.
General Information
The Bowflex TreadClimber is a complex design and if you want this type of high-intensity workout, you are better off- in terms of a less complex machine- with the NordicTrack incline trainers. With that, you also get NordicTrack's infamous customer service so if you want good customer service- better stick with Bowflex. Plus Nautilus has worked on the quality of the TreadClimber over the past few years and we have heard few complaints of late about quality so although we are still being cautious, they look like they have tackled the issues that the complex design creates.
Quality / Philosophy
Their design philosophy seems to be: make a beautiful package with that priority over quality. That has caused noise problems with their regular treadmills due to the plastic parts. On the TreadClimber, one point of wear we expect to see a problem with is the hydraulic shocks. It also has a very complex mechanical design with two walking belts, which doesn't bode well for long-term reliability.
Outlook
Bowflex is one of the brands of Nautilus. Nautilus on paper is continuing to improve but they are still losing money. Not sure if investors are going to want to see their equity continue to erode but that's up to the investors. For this reason, we have a murky outlook on product support on products sold by this company.
