Best for Home Use
Best for Serious Runners
Best for Walkers
Best for Seniors
Precor 9.23
An Affordable Best Buy from an Industry Leader
The 9.23 may be Precor’s entry-level treadmill, but in a blind “run test” you might mistake it for a fancy fitness club’s equipment. A patented multi-zone shock absorption system eases the impact of training while a 3.0 HP motor easily powers through quick changes in speed and incline.
A sale price of about $1500 combined with a five-year parts warranty helps make the Precor 9.23 a top value in home treadmills. The review below describes more about what we like, what we don’t like, and how this Precor treadmill compares with others.
What We Like:
- Track cushioning: Precor has an edge over Mother Nature when it comes to protecting you from harsh impact. The company’s patented Ground Effects Impact Control technology is a variable cushioning system: It’s firmest where your feet push off the track and more cushioned where they land. This helps minimize fatigue and prevent injury. Further stride support is provided by the treadmill’s automatic micro-adjustments to your speed.
- Track length: The 57” track length is just right for most walkers and runners. The tallest trainees, however, might need a longer track when they run.
- Track incline: The 9.23 treadmill track can be tilted up to 15%. Compared with exercising at a 0% slope, you’ll speed up your metabolism and recruit more muscle tissue.
- Motor: Precor home treadmills have commercial-grade motors that support frequent use, heavier trainees and high speeds. All Precors manufactured for 2013 have 3.0 HP motors.
- Safety feature: A magnetic safety clip can be used to immediately shut off power or prevent unintended activation by children and pets.
- Low maintenance: Cheaper treadmills require occasional lubrication to keep their tracks in good condition. Precor treadmill tracks have dry silicone lubrication and are advertised as “maintenance free.” Also, with Precor’s welded frames you won’t need to worry about frequently tightening bolts, which is a problem with cheaper treadmills.
- Warranty: Customers get lifetime warranties on the treadmill frame, five years of parts protection and one year of labor.
What We Don’t Like:
- Programming: The programming is effective but not plentiful. The six preset programs are named Fun Run, Hill Climb, Interval, Manual, Walk and Weight Loss. (The next step up, the Precor 9.27, has ten presets including two heart rate workouts.) Data are shown on a 4”x3” LCD screen.
See more features of the Precor 9.23 Treadmill on Video!
Our Verdict:
The Precor 9.23 is a smart option for people seeking a basic yet high quality home treadmill. It costs more than the entry-level treadmills from many other brands, but it’s also better cushioned and smoother running – and you can be sure that it won’t quickly break down or become a noisy nuisance. Expect to get a minimum of five years of great cardio training, even with the simplest Precor home treadmill.
Should you upgrade? The next step up is the Precor 9.27. Its main advantages are wireless heart rate monitoring and heart rate workouts. In our review, these are worth the extra $400. (Can you put a price on your heart?) After that there’s quite a price jump to the top three Precor treadmills. All feature foot plant technology, which can adjust belt speed hundreds of times per second in response to your performance. See our other treadmill reviews for details.
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