Horizon Fitness T101-04 Treadmill Review

Horizon Fitness is a brand that distributes low costing, inexpensive treadmills as well as other home fitness machines. With the T101, Horizon continues their good form of releasing reliable treadmills. The Horizon Fitness T101-04 Treadmill is a budget friendly, entry level machine. It serves quintessentially as the ideal entry level treadmill that isn’t too highly priced while also provides a very decent experience with its features. The Horizon Fitness T101 treadmill has been rated a best 'Value Buy' for walking by the Good Housekeeping Institute and by the Treadmill Doctor as one of the 'Best Buys' in its category. It also holds the esteemed position of being Horizon Fitness’ bestselling treadmill to date, a monumental feat that no other treadmill of theirs has yet achieved. [no_toc]

Let’s then take some time to explore its features to see for ourselves what makes the T101 model so special.

The T101 has assembled dimensions amounting to 70” x 33” x 55”. The machine is portable and has a space saving fold design that allows you to fold the treadmill every time you are done using it. When folded, the dimensions are 45.5 x 33.5 x 61". The folding design is based on the FeatherLight folding technology that features two hydraulic shocks for ease in lifting or lowering the running deck.  It has a running surface measuring at 55 inches length and 20 inches width which is nice and compact while also wide enough to accommodate people with large running action. The length of the surface of the deck is however questionable for tall people.

The Horizon Fitness T101-04 Treadmill has a user-friendly and good-looking console. The T101’s gray console has three data windows with soft orange LED lighting. A cooling fan is also included. The 5 inch green lit LCD system helps track elapsed time, total speed, distance covered, and number of calories burned. It has speeds ranging from 0 kmh to 10 kmh which can be increased or decreased using the incremental speed control buttons on the panel. The treadmill is stocked with more than 30 pre-set workout programs designed under the guidelines of fitness trainers. These programs have already been fed into the treadmill’s programming and will provide you with diverse workout that include a manual workout, 10 Step-goal workouts, 10 distance-based workouts, 6 calorie-goal workouts and 3 intervals workouts. Dual grip monitoring sensors on the handrails help track your heart rate whose readings you will be able to see on the LCD screen. Sonic Surround Sound with MP3 Compatibility allows you to listen to music from the console’s speaker as you work out. The treadmill is also equipped with a safety key which can be clipped on to your clothes and automatically stops the treadmill each time the key is detached.

The Horizon Fitness T101-04 Treadmill is solidly built and made of heavy duty steel. It weighs 165 pounds with a maximum weight capacity of 300 pounds which is a feature that not many budget treadmills can boast of having. This makes the T101 a great machine for people of varying body and weight types. It is also equipped with a 2.25 HP motor designed to give you a consistent and steady workout. The motor varies its speed in demands to your workout necessities and its optimal small size ensures that it doesn’t make noise so you can work out in peace as well as listen to background music while you do. The T101 features a Variable Response Cushioning design which is more flexible up front where the foot lands. A neutral middle zone provides transitions for your stride while the area in back where your foot pushes off from is firm. The right mix of shock absorption and support proves to absorb the impact of your strides and adds less strain on your feet, ankles, knees and hips. This also helps to make the recovery of the muscles run faster. The treadmill has incline options that can be set between 1% to 10% from the buttons on the control panel.

Having seen all the aforementioned features, let us weigh the pros and cons.

Verdict

With tons of workout programs, the Horizon Fitness T101-04 Treadmill guarantees that you will have a diverse number of options that will keep you challenged and will have you coming back for more. Nonetheless, if you’re a new exerciser with a modest budget looking for a decent priced machine that practically offers it all, the T101 is one of the finest options you could opt for. No wonder it is Horizon’s Fitness bestselling treadmill