Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I like being active despite having a desk job, so over the years I tried riding an exercise bike and a mini elliptical. Unfortunately, the bike caused numbness issues (despite using a special seat), and my knees would get cranky on the elliptical due to the repetitive small motions of the knee. After failing at making my own manual treadmill, I finally decided to make the investment and get a manual treadmill. Assembly is pretty straightforward if you have any experience putting things together. The only thing I missed was that you have to connect the wires between the upright and the handles so that the computer would work, but that was my fault for not paying enough attention. Speaking of the computer, yes it shows cumulative data. If you want to reset it, just press the button down for a few seconds to reset the stats. As for performance, the treadmill is not anywhere near as quiet as I had hoped it would be. I loosened the belt so that I could lift it up and liberally apply the lubricant provided. I also took the opportunity to center the belt, as it came off center. If you find that your belt is slipping in one direction, that indicates that you need to tighten the bolt on that side. After the additional lubricant, the belt moved a little more quietly, though still louder than ideal. The treadmill I received actually has three settings for incline, 7, 8 and 9 degrees which was nice. Remember that you are buying a manual treadmill, there will not be a level setting as it is solely up to you and gravity to move the belt. I would recommend starting at the 7 degree incline and get used to walking at this level first. To use this handsfree, you can either put a belt on the handles so that you can push against the belt. Alternatively, increase the incline and strap yourself in. If you plan on going completely handsfree without strapping in, I would recommend against going to the 9 degree incline as I found that I would just keep on picking up speed until eventually I had to hop off. You can prop the back end up to achieve a level belt, but be prepared to push much harder to walk. This will definitely give you a workout, I can pretty easily keep up a 4 mph pace when walking normally, but on this treadmill I walk at about 2 mph due to the heavier emphasis on the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) compared to walking on the sidewalk and especially electric treadmills. I recommend starting off with shorter sessions and gradually increasing time as your body gets used to walking on the manual treadmill. As a fun bonus, it feels like you're positively flying after you get off this thing! Overall, I would definitely recommend this model. It's not perfect, but I'm looking forward to using this at work for many years to come. UPDATE 6/26/2019 Having used this for almost two months, this thing has held up well to on average at least 4 hours every day during the work week. The only change is that the treadmill performs differently at the same incline day to day. Some days I can comfortably set the treadmill to the 8 degree incline. Other days I have to set it to the 9 degree incline propped up a little by stacks of post-its to get the same level of resistance. Not a huge deal, but something to note. Overall, the sound has decreased very slightly as the belt gets worn in. UPDATE 9/25/2020 Just got my treadmill back from work (thanks COVID). Had to adjust the belt again, but the treadmill still works well despite sitting untouched for six months. Note that after months of use, I now only use the highest incline since it no longer just spins faster and faster. I've also added two pics of my "desk". It wasn't custom made for the treadmill, it was actually used for my standing setup years ago and happily it fit well on top of the treadmill! I believe the key to it working is the triangles in the front that provide vertical support along with the top rail. I've never had a problem with this setup falling off or slipping. UPDATE 11/12/2020 The treadmill/desk setup is still working well. FYI, used an app to measure the decibels during usage. It averaged 70db, with max of 75db. According to the CDC "Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing", so my treadmill is right on that edge. Hopefully yours is quieter, maybe it' time to apply some more lubricant.