Woodway

Woodway makes the treadmill most other treadmills are measured against. It is also a $4,000 to $19,000 decision, which is why we would rather you came and ran on one than read about it. Our San Mateo showroom has Woodways set up and plugged in. Turn one on, put it at your pace, and see whether the difference is worth the money to you. Plenty of people decide it isn't, and we are fine telling you that.

We are an authorized Woodway dealer serving the Bay Area, from San Francisco and the Peninsula down to San Jose and out to Marin and the East Bay. We deliver, install, and service every unit we sell with our own people.

What you are actually paying for

A conventional treadmill runs a single belt of thin material over a deck. It wears, it needs waxing, it needs tracking adjustments, and eventually the deck gets flipped or replaced. Woodway does not use one. The running surface is built from individual slats of vulcanized rubber running on ball bearings, and it changes four things:

• It lasts. Woodway rates the surface past 150,000 miles, roughly ten times a standard belt. No waxing, no tracking adjustments, no deck to flip, because there isn't one.
• It's softer on joints. The slats absorb impact individually rather than transmitting it through a single sheet. This is why you find Woodways in physical therapy clinics and rehab settings, not just gyms.
• It's quiet. Quiet enough to hold a conversation while someone runs. That matters more than people expect in a house, and a lot more in a shared building.
• It costs less to run. Around half the electricity of a comparable motorized treadmill, because the bearings do not fight the deck.

There is also no hood over the front of the belt, so you get the full running surface and a natural stride instead of shortening your gait to avoid the housing.