Motive Fitness Speed 2.5 Treadmill Review

Having been around for a long, long time, Motive Fitness is one of the more venerable brands in the industry. Their treadmills have a reputation for being sensibly priced and reliable. We took a close-up look at the Motive Fitness Speed 2.5 treadmill to see how it performs and what you’re getting for your money.

Assembly is a simple enough affair with two people on hand and the resulting treadmill is solid and even with a good deliberate shake, really doesn’t move much. The addition of a cross-bar between the front posts adds stability, though the overall look is hardly contemporary and seems to hark back to the 1990s or early 2000s, so it’s definitely a case of function over form here. The look and feel of the Speed 2.5 are distinctly outdated. The general build quality is decent but not on parr with models from some of the best-known manufacturers carrying similar price tags, and when directly compared with some of those models it does feel somewhat cheaply manufactured, utilising less than premium plastics in many places and on the console in particular.

Thankfully the fundamental specs of the Speed 2.5 look much better than it’s physical appearance does. There’s a 2.5 continuous duty horsepower motor which is relatively quiet and doesn’t struggle even when pushed to high speeds, nor at higher incline settings with a larger-than-average person putting pressure on it. The cushioning too is good, providing a nice soft landing while maintaining a firm surface to push off from. The max speed is 12.42mph ( 20 km/h), which is more than enough for the vast majority of potential users of this machine, even for the more experienced runners out there. The incline has 15 levels but doesn’t feel like a true 15% and while it will provide a reasonable challenge for most users, it’s unlikely to be quite enough to satisfy those already used to training on steeper incline settings or already have high fitness levels. The 140cm x 48cm running deck is well proportioned and certainly provides plenty of space for a full-speed run and high-intensity bursts without worrying about the space around you.

The console on the Speed 2.5 has 16 preset workouts including a heart rate program, target time, target distance and target calorie mode. There’s also a body fat test you can take by holding onto the grip sensors. The LCD screen does a reasonable, but not amazing, job of displaying your training data while the buttons feel somewhat less than premium. There’s nothing wrong with that in itself, of course, there are plenty of treadmills that feel this way and deliver a great run. But considering the price of this treadmill, this is something of a let-down. At nearly a thousand pounds we’d also expect to see a wireless heart rate receiver (in truth we’d expect to see one of those for a lot less than this) and the fact there isn’t one negatively impacts on the relatively few training options this treadmill has to offer. Namely the heart rate control programs. Don’t take our word for it, find a treadmill, any treadmill, and try running for 30 minutes without letting go of the handgrip sensors and see how you get on! The fact is that grip sensors aren’t reliable enough to safely and effectively work in context of a heart rate control program anyway (they’re just not accurate enough) but demanding that you run with your hands fixed to the handlebars is just a non-starter meaning that to all intents and purposes the heart rate control element can be safely discarded as an option on this model.

Other features include a tablet holder (named a bookshelf here, which is a nice bit of fun), water bottle holder/accessory holder, and stereo speakers which do a job but aren’t great so headphones are a better option if you want to listen to music.

Lastly, the Speed 2.5 comes with a 12-month on-site, manufacturers warranty cover.