A good running technique isn't loud. Plus not being overweight. But still, one doesn't stomp on a treadmill. The actual engine is quiet in good quality machines, it's not a blender.

True, but I assumed that the cushioning that all decent treadmills offer exchanges the higher pitch stomp noise for the much lower frequency vibration that travels through concrete across flats.

The low frequency hum could, yes. Like my bass. But I think the gym treadmills are a bit louder if they are infact noisy at all because they are used really 14hrs a day and serviced only once a while. Cheap treadmills will be noisy, imho.

Dunno. I just measured mine, with is not a gym treadmill, but by no means a cheap one either. At 12km/h is very quiet, at 66 dB.

https://streamable.com/8w1dfo

It is quiet because it is stable. Stable and quiet machines are expensive. I don't have one coz I run either in a gym or outside, and I always mix other machines in at the gym. It also take too much space tbh. I like gym as fitness/health factories and home for other stuff.

So true. Luckily I have a dedicated room for my home gym, which is where the treadmill and home trainer/stationary bike are (along with a mat, bench, weights, etc).

Yes this is why we would like a foldable treadmill. We have a basement which is large enough but it also doubles as a wine cellar and work area.... most of the space is reserved for the wine

Yet another little heads-up: many folding treadmills don't fold "completely", but rather around 75° or so:



The end of the running surface "protrudes" a bit from the actual length of the base and the handles, so you got to take that into account.

You are so lucky!

You are so lucky, too!

I have an expensive and stable machine on foam dampers. It’s still not quiet if the engine does more than 7 km/h. The faster, the louder. I live in a house without neighbors underneath- otherwise is it definitely a consideration.

I’d recommend to buy a used machine of higher quality than a 1k new one. The ones who are not foldable have much better decks to run on...

When it's folded it still occupies a lot of space and it's not like you put it in a corner and you take it out when you exercise. You need space, at least for a Paragon. Less wine is better.

As for the noise, somebody asked - yeah, definitely a factor to be taken into consideration if you have neighbours downstairs. Older buildings have poor insulation here. Even if you cushion the surface you place it on, I wouldn't vouch this is noise free for the neighbours. But then again you don't exercise during the night or at totally inappropriate hours.

I agree. The gym machine is on extentions and I run at an angle, anyway. It is quiet but I am probably too light, too.

So true. Although you CAN move it, it's extremely cumbersome and it's a heavy machine (my Paragon is around 80kg). So I think nobody is likely to ever move it at all, other than folding it to make a little extra room. But it's easy to get tricked by the "make room", as you will still need the room when you plan to jog, so that extra space needs to always remain available. It can only be room to walk around, or where you lay your mat.

I have to say mine is a lot quieter than I thought it would be. I will try to get a db measurement over the weekend.



The foot strikes are the loudest thing for sure*. But I'm on the ground floor and the washing machines below have not yet complained about the noise...


Kind regards






Ian


* actually it might be my puffing and panting that is louder...

The treadmill, which we bought from Sport-Tiedje for almost 2000 CHF and which was manufactured by them, broke down and it took them about 5 months to repair it (this happened a few years ago, before Covid-19). When the same treadmill broke down the second time, we threw it away and bought another treadmill from another place. Our second treadmill is manufactured by Kettler. We chose it, because it was sold in many stores and we hope that in case of a breakdown we will not depend on only one repair centre.

I've been running on big gym Kettlers for years, it is grest.