How can we determine quality of a treadmill?

Last Updated on November 27, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org

We have seen that a low-cost treadmill as the Xiaomi walking pad treadmill:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/xiaomi-treadmill-walkingpad-integration/204713/13

weight around 30 kg,

whereas a GE healthcare system which costs 14 000 USD

weights around 200 KG (treadmill weight):

https://www.gehealthcare.com/products/diagnostic-ecg/stress-exercise-testing/case-cardiac-assessment-system-for-exercise-testing

14 000 USD are a lot of money. But we an find treadmills which where used in fitnesscenters who where sold new for more than 7 000 USD now used starting from 1000 USD in Switzerland. But why where they pulled from the fitness centers? Devices in fitness centers usually have a revision every year where the devices are tested and repaired. So why where they pulled from the fitness centers? Was it not worth anymore to repair those? And what are the criteria to judge if a treadmill is still good or not?

One device which could help to answer this question would be a Raspberry Pi treadmill sensor re-coded for Python:

https://gallochri.com/2020/05/universal-treadmill-speed-sensor-for-zwift-with-ant-stick-and-raspberry-pi/

and connected to a data analysis software.

Unfortunately we do not know anything about how determine the quality of these treadmill. And is DC Rainmaker who makes «fun tests» helpful in this respect? We have to become testers and evaluators by ourselves. We can find tons of treadmill tests on YouTube and WordPess, but where can we find reviews which help us to answer these questions?