Best for Home Use
Best for Serious Runners
Best for Walkers
Best for Seniors
Woodway Curve Review
Discontinued
The Woodway Curve is a one-of-a-kind commercial treadmill with a curved track made of interlocking slats. The curved design lets the treadmill run without electricity; the workout area moves with gravity and user weight. Compared with other treadmills this unit is especially effective too: Trainees can use the Curve for walking or running and burn up to 30% more calories. Its quick speed changes make it ideal for high intensity interval training too.
The Woodway Curve’s unique running surface, the Slat Belt, glides with virtually no friction. Training on a curve, the user can control the track’s speed with their own body motion; there is no need for outside energy or buttons to increase or decrease speed. Simply striding up the belt increases its speed, and when the user slows down, the belt does too.
The system’s extremely low inertia not only helps trainees, but also brings the ownership benefits of extremely low maintenance. The Woodway Curve can serve for up to 150,000 miles without needing belt adjustments, a belt change or deck swap. Compared with traditional treadmills it also has the advantage of being motor-free. (More motor, more problems!)
Different software packages are available for this cardio trainer’s battery-powered monitor. These are named Curve, Curve 1.5 and Curve 3.0. While the standard Curve software can show readouts during exercise, only the 1.5 and 3.0 versions allow data saving for tracking performance statistics and measuring long-term progress.
What We Like:
- Green Performance: Unlike conventional treadmills, the Woodway Curve is motor-free. Trainees can enjoy workouts without using speed controls, and fitness clubs can benefit from owning machinery without any electrical costs. As a user strides up the curve belt, the speed increases. When they drift backward, the speed decreases. The unique drive system consists of more than 100 ball bearings that glide with almost zero friction.
- Maintenance-Free: The Curve can support training for up to 150,000 miles before its track and deck need replacement. Unlike traditional treadmill belts, the Slat Belt doesn’t require tension adjustment. Owners also benefit from the machine’s motorless design.
- Wireless Heart Monitoring: The Curve treadmill is compatible with wireless heart rate transmitters. With software upgrades it can also track heart rate over many sessions and create graphs for quick comparison.
- Software Options: The Curve treadmill’s monitor shows time elapsed, speed, distance, calories burned and heart rate. With a software upgrade to Curve 1.5 it allows user logins for more accurate data feedback and enables tracking of performance stats for assessing improvement. The software can even generate reports in Excel and PDF formats. Curve 3.0 software gives the additional benefits of gait analysis, racing programs and fully programmable workouts.
- USB Option: Curve treadmills are available with USB ports for saving and exporting workout data.
- User Weight Capacity: The Woodway Curve is even sturdier than most other commercial treadmills. It has a 400-pound weight capacity for speeds over 4.0 mph and an 800-pound capacity for lower intensity training.
- Shock Absorbing: The Curve supports relatively low-impact aerobic exercise with help from a thick shock-absorbing cushion.
- Good Size: The Curve doesn’t demand too much space. It has a 33″ x 67″ footprint.
- Good Warranty: All parts for this commercial cardio trainer are under warranty for five years and the electronics are covered for two years. Labor is free during the first year of ownership.
What We Don’t Like:
- No Fan: Since this treadmill allows high-intensity training, it would be useful if a fan were built into the monitor.
- Small Belt: The track on the Woodway Curve is smaller than those on most treadmills. The workout area measures 17″ wide and just under 56″ long. A larger version of this machine, the Curve XL, provides a larger platform for larger trainees.
See the Promotional Video of the Woodway Curve Treadmill
Our Verdict:
The Woodway Curve is a unique but easy-to-use cardio trainer that’s sure to be popular in any fitness center. Its innovative design delivers excellent value to the purchaser and also helps trainees maximize the effectiveness of workout time. This versatile fitness machine can support walking, running, sprinting and interval training with about 30% more efficiency compared with typical treadmills.
Depending on a fitness center’s membership, the Curve XL might be a better choice; it can accommodate just about everyone whereas the Curve in this review has a smaller workout area.