Bowflex Series 5 Treadmill Review

Just like every other industry, the treadmill makers follow trends. One trend in the treadmill industry is to manufacture a low end, mid range, and high end treadmill. Amazingly enough, they all follow a similar pricing structure: $600-$999 for low end, $1000-$1299, and $1300-$1600 for high end treadmills. It seems to me Bowflex just wanted to follow the pack and build a set of three treadmills for the Bowflex Series line of treadmills because the Series 5 hardly distinguishes itself from the Series 7.

The Bowflex Series 7 retails for less than a hundred bucks more than the Series 5. I don’t recommend buying the Bowflex Series 5 unless you absolutely can’t afford the extra $70 or so and you need a treadmill immediately. There’s a huge performance gap between the Series 5 and 7 I feel it would be irresponsible of me to even recommend you consider purchasing the Series 5. Rather than giving a full review of the Bowflex Series 5 Treadmill I think it will be far more useful to my audience to go into detail about the differences between the Series 5 and Series 7 and exaplain why I feel the Bowflex Series 7 is worth your extra hard earned dollars.

Main Difference #1: Horsepower
The Series 7 has significantly more horsepower than the Series 5. The more horsepower a treadmill has, the longer it’s going to last. Greater horsepower means your treadmill is going to work far less hard, resulting in fewer service issues an a longer lasting treadmill.

Main Difference #2: Speed
I know it’s not a big deal to people intending to walk on their treadmill, but if you plan on running you’re going to get a 12 MPH top speed with the Series 7 and an 11 MPH top speed with the Series 5. If you’re seriously training for a marathon or sprinting competition that single MPH is definitely going to show up on the track.

Main Difference #3: Better Display Screen
It might seem like a small difference, and once again if you plan on using the Bowflex Treadmill for walking you’re right. It’s small, not worth mentioning. But if you plan on running with your Bowflex Treadmill Series 7 screen is going to be much easier to read, enabling you to keep track of things like heart rate, distance, and speed better.

Final Analysis
I’m not calling the Bowflex Series 5 a bad treadmill in this review, far from it. As a matter of fact, I think it’s one of the best treadmills on the market right now. What I am saying is it’s not the most cost effective. The best rated treadmill in the Bowflex Treadmill product line is less than a hundred bucks more and you get a whole lot more for your money! This may change as Bowflex tweaks MSRP, dealer cost, etc. But at the time I wrote this article the Bowflex Series 7 stood head and shoulders above the Bowflex Series 5.