Merit 710T Treadmill Review

Good Afternoon!

It seems winter is finally leaving Southern California. I had to open up a window today to finish writing my treadmill reviews! Please forgive me if my review stinks, it’s covered with sweat from my bare hands!

I’m sure you’re wondering why a Merit Treadmill is being included on a site called Horizon Treadmill Reviews. That’s because Merit and Horizon are manufactured by Horizon Fitness. Kind of like how Scion and Toyota cars are made in the same factories. The parent company of Horizon Fitness and Merit is Johnson Tech, one of the best treadmill manufacturers out there. I’ll do a brand review and explain the differences between Merit and Horizon Fitness another day, right now let’s get to my Merit 710T Treadmill Review.

Treadmill Review: Merit 710T
Treadmill Rating: 5 stars out of 5 for being the best low cost treadmill on the market!
Price: $399
Click Here To Buy The Merit 710T Treadmill

The Merit 710T isn’t for everyone. It’s not for most runners and joggers, and definitely shouldn’t be used by a bulky high school football player like my nephew Jesse. (He is 6’3” and weighs 235 lbs.!) But, if you weigh under 225 to 250 lbs. and are less than 6’ in height this might be the best treadmill deal on the internet right now. Coming in at just under $400 this is the cheapest motorized treadmill offered by Johnson Tech, the parent company of Horizon and Merit Fitness.

Frame construction is a little flimsy compared to some higher end treadmills such as the Horizon T81, but considering the $200 price difference it seems like a fair tradeoff to me. The 16” x 45” running area doesn't accomodate larger users. If you're over 6' you're probably not going to feel comfortable working out on this treadmill, and if you're not comfortable you're probably not going to work out, you can do the rest of the math. The Merit 710T isn’t built for large contestants from The Biggest Loser, but it should be fine for most other people.

The Merit 710T has a 1.25 HP motor; the Merit website claims 2.25 HP. Merit Fitness isn’t lying, they’re just playing a numbers game. The 1.25 HP rating is based on continuous duty, the amount of horsepower a treadmill can produce at a constant rate and the 2.25 HP rating is based on peak duty, the highest amount of power a motor can produce for any length of time. But, 1.25 is pretty good considering most treadmills offer less than 1 HP or no motor at all for $400.

The last things worth mentioning are fitness programs and speed. There are 4 fitness programs. Most treadmill manufacturers leave out fitness programs and well designed control consoles to deliver treadmills of this caliber for under $500, but I’m extremely pleased with the programs on the Merit 710T. The maximum speed is 10 MPH, and blows away every other treadmill I’ve read about or used in the $500 price range. I’m extremely pleased with the maximum speed. Very pleased. Oh, did I say I was pleased with the 10 MPH maximum speed? If I didn’t I am pleased with it.

I think that sums up everything I wanted to say about the 710T Treadmill by Merit. If you have any questions, comments, or criticism you can email me at: treadmillmaster@gmail.com