A few years ago, my wife and I decided to invest in a higher-end Precor for our home. We were kind of sick of the whole gym scene and thought it would be cool to get our cardio in at home. It’s proven to be a wise investment as we’ve easily put close to 1500 miles on it since purchasing the floor model unit.
As the machine has been used more and more, I’ve noticed the belt slowly shifting to the left. It’s only about a quarter inch off, but off none the less. I’ve also noticed, in recent months, that the belt has started to make more noise than normal.
I recall reading either in the owners manual, or online, that Precor recommends having their treadmills serviced by a professional. Reading that stuck in my head and sent me on a search for a suitable service technician in my area to come out and service my unit. The only problem is, Precor doesn’t recommend who’s best to service their products and it’s been difficult to find a service company that’s not vague in the descriptions of the services they provide.
The whole process made me lag on getting my treadmill serviced, and at the same time, made me feel like my machine is in dire straights because it’s taken me so long to get some one out to give her the once over.
Today I decided to break out my manual again and re-read the maintenance section and I discovered how easy it was to adjust the alignment. I figured since it hadn’t been serviced yet, the least I could do is give that a shot.
So I broke out my tools and followed the instructions and attempted to recenter the running belt. After a few attempts, I got the belt to line up exactly in the center. Right on! Not only did it feel good to look down and see my treadmill was back in perfect alignment, I noticed the belt noise reduced significantly, which made me feel much better about the condition of the machine.
My point is, don’t accept what you’ve got in your head as what you need to do in order to move forward. Revisit other potential solutions, try something else, learn how to do it yourself to see if you can cross that thing off your list that’s been on your mind for far too long.
Not only did I learn some basic maintenance for my home exercise unit, I fell in love with Precor 9.35 again because instead of waiting to find someone else more qualified than I to do the work, I accomplished it. All it took was teaching myself how to do it. » Bryan
Tags: forward momentum