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Pro Fitness Folding Manual Treadmill

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7 Reviews

Manufacturer: Pro Fitness / Sports Genre: Fitness / Sporting Equipment Type: Exercise Equipment

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    7 Reviews
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      03.03.2014 12:43
      Very helpful



      Great for beginners to exercise

      I have felt for a while that I needed to improve my fitness, as I never seem to be able to find much time to fit exercise in. I certainly haven't got time to nip the gym for an hour every night! For that reason, I wanted to try using a treadmill at home, as I quite like walking at a pace (but not progressing to a jog!). As a lot of things with me turn out to be a fad, I looked at the offerings in Argos priced lowest first and came across this pro-fitness treadmill priced at £69.99, reduced from £79.99. Perhaps if I'd have read other reviews I'd have not bothered as it seems to score pretty low from other users, but based on my use, I've experienced mostly positives. We were able to pick up at our local store via the reserve and collect option, so there was no extra charge for delivery. It is extremely heavy though - an Argos worker carried it to the car for us and there is no way I could have done it myself. I would advise the delivery option for £3.95 extra.

      The treadmill was pretty easy to set up - the frame is almost complete in the box. The belt on the main part is already fixed on and the main frame is in place, just needing the handles to be screwed on, as well as a small undersection that holds the board in place. There are clear instructions provided and it only took me and my husband 10 minutes. Once built, it measures 120cm x 60cm x 120cm and can take a maximum weight of 15 stones 10lbs.

      The treadmill comes with a small display that will count the time, calories burned, distance travelled and speed while in use which is great. They even provide the 2 AA batteries that it requires. It's very handy - I usually set myself a target number of calories per go.

      The treadmill is non-motorised, which is expected given the price. Some motorised ones in Argos reached over £500 - cash I wasn't going to part with given my limited use each day! The idea with this is similar to motorised ones, although the belt moves in relation to the movement of the user, rather than being powered. It works by standing onto the belt and starting to walk, holding onto the handle provided at the top at all times. The handles provide a good grip.

      The belt is a little stiff at first and is quite hard to move - you need to wear trainers or appropriate footwear at all times on this to provide grip to the belt. I felt it was a bit wobbly at first - care is definitely needed when in use especially as you're getting used to it because it did feel very strange with the belt moving to my movement. I soon got used to it though. I have read reports of people with a large stride struggling with this as the belt area is around 1m long - I am only 5ft 2" so it's never been an issue for me but it is something to consider if you are tall.

      At first (given me being very unfit!) I struggled to do more than 10 minutes fast walking at a time on it - although within 10 minutes, it told me I'd burned 200 calories which was a nice incentive to carry on. I've now started to combine my use with a slight change in diet (cutting out the chocolate) and I have started to notice a real improvement. One major issue is that the treadmill base is on an incline - quite a steep one at that. The back end is on the floor yet the front end is around 30cm away from the floor - the incline is also something that's fixed and can't be adjusted to the user's needs. I quite like the idea of the incline as it makes the user work harder to burn those calories but I would have much preferred this to be adjusted for those lazy days where I just fancy a stroll!

      The treadmill will fold, albeit in quite a limited way. Two large screw pieces are removed, which then allows the treadmill base to be folded up into the handles, but as the handles are large, it is still pretty bulky to store. The places I'd originally chosen to keep it in had to be discarded because it is too large. It is also a bit of a pain having to remove two large plastic screws in order to fold it and then having to replace them when I come to use it again. There are wheels at the bottom that enable it to be pushed while folded so it can be placed wherever it's needed. I always ensure it is on a sturdy carpeted floor when in use as I found it slipped a bit on our laminate.

      I'm not big on exercise - I think if you are then this is not the piece of equipment for you. I would only recommend this for beginners. But for people like me, who want to fit in some exercise in their spare few minutes of time each day, then I feel it's a good buy. I have never tried to jog or run on this so I can't comment on how it works then, personally I wouldn't like to try as it feels much more suited to fast paced walking. I'm not sure the belt could handle a fast pace of jogging or running. But, I find it ideal when it's rubbish weather and I fancy a walk. I pull it up in front of the TV and away I go! I've rated it three stars - ideal for beginners like me but for those more experienced with fitness, I'd recommend paying a bit more for a motorised one. I'd also advise taking note of other reviews because although I've experienced mainly positives, there are a lot of others who have not had such a good experience.

      Thanks for reading :o)


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        04.12.2011 05:17
        Very helpful
        1 Comment



        Cheap home fitness but you might be better buying a used electric treadmill

        I've always taken part in outdoor sports such as snowboarding,climbing,cycling,running and surfing but have never enjoyed going to gyms or any other indoor exercise. The idea of paying a fortune to go
        cycling or running on a fixed machine and getting nowhere always seemed pretty pointless to me when I could go outside to pretty much do it for free and actually get somewhere at the same time.

        After an ankle injury last winter which resulted in a fracture and severely damaged ankle ligaments I needed to find a way of exercising at home to try and get back to fitness. As I was in a lot of pain
        and my ankle was still unstable I wasn't too confident about going out for walks especially since the
        roads and pavements were covered in snow and ice at the time. We decided that a cheap treadmill
        would be a good solution allowing me to slowly build up my fitness without the risk of injuring myself further.

        We decided to buy the pro fitness treadmill for one reason it was cheap! After looking at other more expensive versions we decided that since we probably wouldn't use it after I recovered there was no point in paying a fortune for one.

        This is a manual treadmill so unlike the posh electric ones you find in the gym where you walk or run
        on a constantly moving belt the power is provided by you as you walk or run the belt moves over the rollers. Likewise the speed adjusts by how fast or slow you walk or run not by pushing buttons to increase speed as on an electric model. I thought that the manual treadmill would be quieter to use
        than the electric ones and would be better for us as I would mostly be using it at nights but there's
        not much difference and definitely not enough to warrant buying a manual over an electric treadmill.

        The treadmill is relatively easy to assemble although getting the belt just right caused us a few
        problems as we'd think we'd got it ready then try the treadmill and the belt would slip off to the side
        after a minute. The LCD monitor if you want to use it requires 1 aa battery and gives functions of
        speed, distance, time and calories burned please note if anyone is thinking of using this to lose
        weight the calorie function is theoretical or in other words completely random! The treadmill is
        reasonably compact and takes up less room in use than an electric treadmill it also folds up easily
        for easy storage when you're not using it which is helpful if like us you don't have much space
        available. According to the Argos site the dimensions for this are 122cm x 61cm x 111cm it weighs
        23.7kg and is suitable for users upto 100kg or 15st 10 lbs.

        The treadmill frame is made from tubular steel and seems quite sturdy which roughly translates as
        none of the kids have managed to break or bend it yet but I'm sure they'll keep trying. The running platform has a fixed incline of 6% so you can't adjust the steepness of the running platform to suit.
        The platform is quite short and narrow on this at only 102cm long and 32cm wide which on one hand
        is good as it doesn't take up much room but it seems too short when you are using the treadmill especially if youhave previously used the electric treadmills. The handles are padded and comfortable
        to hold while you use the treadmill and the platform is grippy enough so there's not much chance of
        you slipping or falling when using it.

        The treadmill is easy to use and does the job but unless the belt is adjusted perfectly on the rollers
        it will continually slip off to the side which means you spend more time adjusting it than actually
        using the treadmill. I find that this treadmill is okay for anyone who just wants to walk or slowly jog
        on a treadmill but due to the short platform,slipping belt problems and fixed incline it's not much use
        for running.I did find that using this regularly for walking and slow jogging helped build my ankle
        strength back to near normal but I would have preferred to have one that I could actually run on in
        which case I might have kept using it to exercise at home when it's pouring down outside.

        Like probably 90% of home exercise equipment that's ever bought after the initial period of use this
        has ended up being used as a clothes horse in our house and seems to attract my other halfs shirts, jeans and jackets on a regular basis. We never use this anymore although the kids still play on it
        when they visit I have to admit due to the continual problems with the belt slipping it probably is
        more use for hanging clothes on than using regularly as a treadmill.

        For anyone looking to buy a treadmill on a budget I would seriously recommend a look at the local
        free ads paper or local Gumtree site as there are plenty of cheap electric treadmills available due to
        many people buying treadmills then not using them after the initial novelty wears off a couple of
        months later. Friends of ours recently bought a York electric treadmill from Gumtree for £95 which is
        only £15 more than we paid for this so in hindsight we would have been better buying second hand
        and getting a decent machine that might still be used rather than an expensive clothes horse.


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        • More +
          22.08.2011 11:59
          Very helpful



          I would be better of just Jogging on the Spot!

          I had always wanted to own a treadmill but the expensive state of the art models were well out of my price range so I knew that I'd only be able to buy a Manual treadmill instead. I had heard many people saying that manual treadmills were rubbish and a waste of time, but I figured they would be better than nothing.

          I bought the Pro Fitness Folding Manual Treadmill from Argos and it cost me £79.99 which is about as much as I could stretch to at the time. My reason for buying a treadmill was because I felt like I'd put on weight and I also noticed my fitness levels were really bad for my young age, I couldn't even run up the staircase without getting out of breath. I wanted something I could use in the comfort of my own home instead of having to go to a gym full of people, that way I would be able to use it in my own way and own time and also be able to take breaks whenever I wanted.

          First of all I have to mention that bringing the treadmill home from Argos wasn't easy as it was very heavy! It comes packed in a considerably large box that 2 of us struggled to carry, I found myself wishing that I'd ordered it for Home Delievery instead of Collection. I was then concerned about how well I'd manage to assemble the treadmill as I imagined it wouldn't be easy. But thankfully, the instructions that were included were really easy to understand and it only took me about 20 minutes to put together.

          The base of the treadmill which is the part your run on, is on a slight incline of about 6% so it's as though your are running up a small hill which is good fitness wise, but there is no option to flatten it which would have been nice. To get the belt of the treadmill moving and ie. get it to work, you have to manually get the belt moving by starting to walk or run on it which was tricky at first to get moving but then once it did start moving at a fast pace I instantly had to hold onto the handle bars and whilst running you cannot let go. As a result my hands were really hurting trying to do any exercise on this, the faster you try to run the more your hands hurt trying to grip onto this stupid thing!

          The little computer thing on the front of the treadmill supposedly calculated how far you've ran and how many calories you've burnt etc. and for me it certainly wasn't many as I could barely manage 8 minutes on the treadmill without having to stop because my hands were so sore. It really was useless and eventually got stored away in the corner of my bedroom, and although it folds up it is still quite a big size though with a Length of 102cm and a Width of 32cm and it looked hideous in the corner of the room, it ended up getting used to hang clothes on it most of the time!

          I couldn't wait to get rid of this as it was just a waste of time and space, I ended up giving it away for free as I was that fed up of it. I'd definetely not reccomend it I'm afraid.


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        • More +
          27.07.2011 14:43
          Very helpful



          A wasted £80

          The profitness manual treadmill is a fixed incline, manual powered, foldable treadmill from Argos. The product cost me £80 but was difficult to use and had a variety of problems.

          The appearance of the treadmill was in my opinion ok, is in silver and black in colour. It has a mixture of plastic, steel, foam and rubber construction, with the walking belt area a PVC plastic type material. The product has a height of 122cm, a length of 111cm and a width of 61cm. I am a man of slightly above average height and I found the length and width in particular too short for my stride pattern. An error prone computer is mounted onto the top of the treadmill and there foam covered handles which curl out for you to hold on to. The product has some wheels on the bottom of the treadmill so you can move it around somewhat, however I've found it hard to do this and always resorted to carrying it. The weight of the product is about 25kg, this is not a problem for me but for people with less strength than myself it could be a difficult task carrying it around. The product is on a permanent incline of 6% which is steeper than you might think.

          The product is manually powered, which means you have to do the work to get the walking belt area moving. It is initially hard to get the momentum of it going, but once you get it complete it can carry on easily. The product is on a permanent incline of 6% and cannot be flattened out so the walking area is completely flat. The product is foldable, in that the walking belt area folds up to the computer/handle bar region. This is good if the length of the product is too long for you to store, you just fold it upright. The computer is basic and not at all accurate, I've found the timer to be seconds out every minute which gives you a misleading sense of time. The computer has speed functions, the timer, a calorie counter and a distance counter. The computer can also be put on scan, which means every few seconds it skips along to the next feature rather than just sticking on one feature like the speedometer all the time. The computer just requires 1AA battery in the back of it to work.

          The product was relatively easy to assemble, it took me about 20 minutes on my own to construct it. The instructions are quite clear and the product on the whole doesn't take much time to figure out what goes where. Even if you're not very handy in DIY, I still think you can assemble the product in a reasonable time limit. All of the bolts, screws and fixtures were included.

          I've had the product for quite a while now and it's holding up quite good. However, the computer no longer works and the slightest knock, it will reset itself. The foam covered handles are also missing chunks of foam and have split somewhat. The product has these annoying side panels which run parallel down the walking area belt. Mine have since detached as they were only flimsily held on and now the walking area belt can move around if you're not walking entirely in the centre. I have noticed a little bit of rust on some of the metal areas but this is not too severe and doesn't cause me any problems. The treadmill has held up quite nicely, but as mentioned the foam covering on the handles, side panels, computer and some rust are decreasing the life of the product. I probably would not expect it to last more than a couple of years from home use. From commercial gym use, probably even less.

          I purchased this product from Argos, which set me back £80. The product was quite cheap on Argos and now I know why, the overall quality and usability of the product is so low. There is currently a sale on Argos for a Roger Black motorised foldable treadmill for £199 which is half the price of it usually. I can't help but think that this would have been a more worthy investment because it is more robust, motorised and doesn't have some ridiculously steep fixed incline. I often think you can buy good quality cheap exercise equipment if you know where to look, but you certainly get what you pay for with this Argos product. A waste of £80.

          The drawbacks are plenty with this product. The product is only designed to have a maximum user weight of 15 stones 10 lbs, for a larger man of probably 16 stone or more this is going to be a serious problem. For practicality, this product really needs to have a higher weight tolerance of around 19 stones or more. The walking area is too small for a man, my stride pattern is all off and I have to resort to short quick strides just so my feet don't walk off the belt. Another problem is the ridicuolously steep fixed incline of 6%. Even though I am an athlete and amateur boxer, I still have to hold the handles all the time or else I lose my balance and come off the end of the belt. The incline should be lowered so you don't have to constantly grip the handles just to stay on the product. You can't really run on the product either, just power walk, because it is extremely unnatural and feels weird. I was told by a friend that I looked like a T-rex running on the machine since it's a steep incline, you're constantly holding the handles and your stride pattern has to be short. The computer is low quality, mine resets with the smallest knock and the timer was seconds behind each minute which gave you a false sense of time. One time I was on the treadmill for 45 minutes, but the timer on the computer said it was just 40 minutes!. Another problem is that now the side panels either side of the treadmill have come loose, the belt moves around and grinds against the side if you're not walking completely central on it. The product includes no tray or drinks holder for a drink of water, there is just a metal frame and a computer. Couple this with the fact you need to hold onto the handles constantly and you can imagine how difficult it is to have a drink. Profitness should really implement some form of holder for a drink, it's a simple but serious mistake in my opinion.

          To conclude this product can be bought cheaply from Argos, is easy to assemble and the incline provides a good but very steep workout. However, the downsides are too numerous to warrant you actually purchasing the profitness manual folding treadmill. The durability is not perfect with things detaching, splitting and rusting. The computer is terrible, there is no drinks holder, you have to constantly hold the handles, the incline is too steep so you can't really run effectively on it, just power walk and the weight of the product might be too much for some people. Overall, a cheap but low quality treadmill that is best to avoid. I definitely wasted £80 buying it in my opinion. Thanks for taking the time to read my review.

          © Revo9 (2011)


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          • More +
            23.07.2010 13:48
            Very helpful



            This might have been okay without the 6% incline. With this it's a complete waste for my family.

            As, up until recent months, my daughter's asthma had made life difficult for her in many respects, she became worried about her general fitness. She is a competent swimmer, but found that swimming in indoor pools was worsening her condition. I know asthma is supposed to be helped by swimming but in her case she is highly sensitive to chemicals, and the chlorine was ascerbating her condition. As she wants to pursue a career in theatre, she knows that she'll need to be fit, and so should build up her stamina. She became insistant that she would like a treadmill for her Christmas present (the one before last). I was a little dubious concerning this, as this type of thing takes up so much space, but I thought there would be a plus side to this, being that all the family could benefit and when the better weather came it could be moved to the garden.

            I looked, mainly, at two treadmills in Argos (online). The first was the cheapest and that was a manual treadmill. My husband said this wouldn't be any good at all so, we decided to go for the next one up. I'm not sure of the price at that time but think it was between £80 to £100.

            As this treadmill was magnetic, we thought this might improve the performance. The motorised treadmills were too expensive but, in hindsight, I feel these are probably much better and worth the extra expense.

            This treadmill is heavy and CANNOT be picked up from store, so, with just over a week to go before Christmas, I ordered it online. Soon after I had a telephone call from Argos comfirming my order and asking me which delivery dates I would prefer. The delivery cost was about five pounds. The item arrived on time and I thought I received a good service, in this respect.

            On Christmas morning my husband assembled the treadmill and found this easy enough, although he is quite handy with this type of thing anyway. I was worried straight away by the size of it. Of course, I knew the size but, actually seeing it in my through lounge it was bigger than I'd expected. I wouldn't have chosen this one if it hadn't folded but, even in it's folded state it takes up a lot of space.

            We all had a go. My Westie was eager to get on, so we let him, and my daughter thought she wouldn't have to walk him as much, if he mastered the treadmill!
            I have a neuropathy problem that affects the muscles in my feet and ankles but I had, mistakenly, thought that with this I might be able to exercise at my own gentle pace in the privacy of my own home. Alas, because of the fixed incline of this piece of equipment it caused me pain and just wasn't any use to me whatsoever.
            My husband tried it an didn't like the incline either. As the incline is at 6%, that is enough to mean you really need to hold on all the time as you are walking on this. This is a shame, as I thought it might be alright for power walking. This was not the case, unfortunately. As you start to build a little speed if you don't hold on you're likely to fall off. Of course, my daughter insisted it was okay, for a while and by the time she relised it wasn't up to much, it was too late to return it. I really wish I had though.

            Next came the decision to move it. It has wheels but that doesn't make it's transportation easy. My husband and son struggled to get it upstairs and into my daughter's bedroom. She has a laminate floor and we soon found that if she used the treadmill it was very noisy in the living room, which is underneath her bedroom.

            After a few days I found my daughter had put piles of clothes on it, but then, even folded it took up too much room and she couldn't get to her cupboards.

            We persevered for a while but found it useless. Too big to keep in the house and too big and much too heavy to move around. It is now in the garage, another redundant item that would only have given my husband exercise in opening his mouth to say, as usual, 'I told you so! and unwanted further exercise in the difficult, perspiration making task of moving it!

            This treadmill is currently sold by Argos for, £79.99. That is supposed to be with £20 off. However, I wouldn't bother with this, even if it was given free of charge. It really isn't worth it.

            Here are the specifications as taken from www.argos.co.uk:

            Speed self powered, with adjustable magnetic running belt braking.

            Fixed elevation 6%.

            Running surface (L)111, (W)38cm.

            6-function LCD exercise monitor with calories, distance, pulse, scan, speed and time modes.

            Foldable for easy upright storage.

            Transportation wheels.

            Max user body weight 115kg/18st.

            Size (H)125, (W)71, (L)135cm.

            Gross weight 34kg.

            Requires 2 x AA batteries, not included.

            Packed flat for home assembly.

            Home delivery only.

            Cannot be reserved for store pick-up
            for home delivery
            Store pick-up not available on this order

            Standard delivery £5.95 for this order

            This review may be found on ciao by annelorraine1


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            • More +
              27.01.2010 13:03
              Very helpful
              1 Comment



              I would advise spending a little more on a quality treadmill

              Being a personal trainer, I have experienced a wide range of treadmills, some great, some not so good. Unfortunatly this falls into the latter of the two catergories.

              Theres a reasosn why this treadmil is so cheap. Scrap that, theres lots of reasons why this is so cheap.

              Firstly its important to point out this treadmill is manual, so it doesn't have a motor. What difference does that make? Well it means that the running belt wont move round on its own, you have to push it round with your feet as you run. Therefore thats why the treadmill is slightly inclined, to make the belt go round easier. So to get the belt moving, you actaully have to go at quite some speed, digging your heels into the belt, trying to push it around. Once it gains momentum you are ok, but as you can probably tell, that initial burst to get the belt moving can be quite dangerous, espicially on a incline of 4%, and espically if you are a beginner!

              Once the belt is moving, it does tend to keep sticking, so it doesnt allow for a smooth running senstaion. A point to make here as well it that you shouldnt really be running on a incline anyway, as inclines are only really for walkers who cannot run. Trying to have someone run on such a high incline is not only dangerous to them falling off, but also will impact their knees a lot more, and stres the joints.

              The display is ok for telling you what you are doing, and giving you the time, but I would have to question how true a lot of these readings are, particulary the distance reading, which seems to be way out.

              The only redeeming feature I can see about this is that it folds away. As a piece of home gym equipment, most people dont want to turn their front rooms into gyms, so this will tuck nicely away into a corner when not in use. Its just a shame that because it folds away, I think thats what loses a lolt of strenght in the design, and makes it feel very unstrudy.


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              • More +
                20.11.2009 18:39
                Very helpful



                Thanks for reading :-)

                Pro Fitness Manual Treadmill.

                I purchased mine from Argos around 3-4 years ago for £80.00

                The treadmill comes flat packed, if you are collecting this item from the store, you may want help getting it too your car as it's quite heavy, it fit in my normal saloon car no problem.

                This item requires assembly and it is really easy to assemble and it can be assembled easily by one person.

                *** the following information is taken from Argos.co.uk

                Self powered.

                Fixed elevation.

                Elevation position 4%.

                5 function lcd exercise monitor with calories (theoretical calorie burn), distance (miles), scan, speed (mph) and time (minutes / seconds) modes.

                Foldable for convenient space saving storage.

                Transportation wheels.

                Maximum user body weight 100kg / 15.7st.

                Gross weight 23.7kg.

                Belt size (centre of roller to centre of roller) (W)32, (L)102cm.

                Running surface (W)32, (D)102cm.

                Assembled size (H)122, (W)61, (D)111cm.

                Requires 1 x AA battery, not included.


                My opinion of this treadmill!

                I was very keen to get on this treadmill when I first purchased it, I had decided to purchase it as I really enjoy walking and thought this would be a great way of getting into shape, thinking I could use this in the evenings or mornings whilst watching tv.

                It is manual operated therefore you do have to put increased effort into making the belt turn, this could well be viewed as a bonus as you will be working yourself harder and burning more calories!.

                The treadmill is set at a fixed incline, with an elevation of 4% which really doesn't sound much but did feel like a big incline. I personally did not enjoy the fact that the incline was fixed I would have enjoyed a flat treadmill more. When you go for a walk or a run will you enjoy just walking or running up hill all the time? I am someone who loves to walk but the incline on this treadmill makes it feel like a huge chore.

                If you want to use the treadmill for running then this is defiantly not suitable for that purpose.

                The LCD monitor is easy to use and navigate around but I am not convinced that the information it give is particularly accurate.

                THE IMPORTANT BIT

                My favourite bit about this treadmill is that it folds away! it folds in half quite neatly and can be put away in a cupboard or in the corner of the room and doesn't take up a huge amount of space when folded away. This is the most important bit because I predict that it won't be long before it permanently spends it's time in this position in your house. I would also like to point out that the handle on it is great for hanging clothes on either with a hanger or just draping clothes over the handles. You can buy with confidence knowing that when you get quickly fed up of using this treadmill for the purpose it's intended for, it can continue to be used as a clothes rail!

                2/5 It would have got a 1 but for the clothes rail use it earned itself and extra point.

                Don't waste your time buying this treadmill pay the extra money and buy an electric one without an incline or one that has an adjustable incline.


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