We would buy this one for just being a great treadmill. The high max incline is a bonus. Some fit and finish issues from last year were problematic as was the pulley design we pointed out to the engineers (and they promised it would be fixed- it wasn't but now it is).
General Information
Freemotion was acquired by Icon around the turn of the century and at that time was, unfortunately, named Ground Zero Fitness. Needless to say, the name had to be changed so they changed it to Freemotion, which was the name their strength product at the time. It was a successful changeover and many clubs swear by, not at, their Freemotion units. For the home, the quality is on par with NordicTrack which is good but you also get the infamous Icon service.
Quality / Philosophy
Freemotion is produced by Icon, a company with thousands of employees and large resources. Put simply, their machines have the best design in the business. In the past, they have had to be the best because they used the cheapest parts in the business. They have finally discovered that you can find some of the key component parts overseas for less- the eventual cost is less if you put more quality into the machine; so the quality of drive motors, rollers, and other key components are much higher than in the past and they price their machines lower than anyone else- if you compare apples to apples.
Outlook
Icon is the largest fitness equipment producer in the world with over $1 billion in sales. If the fitness industry were a solar system, Icon is so powerful that they would be the Sun. In terms of stability they are the best, but overall their customer service isn't up to the standards of any of the lower volume producers. Although you get a value price for the product, you also get value service so keep this in mind when buying their machines. Due to the sheer number of units they produce, we pick up support in many cases where this factory leaves off.
