Xterra Trail Racer 600 Treadmill Review

The Xterra Trail Racer 600 is the latest treadmill in the Xterra range that we’ve had the opportunity to review. Lighter than the monster 6.8 but considerably bigger and more robust that the TR1 the Trailer Racer 600 is positioned at the mid-point and has some real competition in the form of the likes of the DKN Airun I, and the Reebok One GT60, so how does it stack up against the competition?

The first thing we’ll say is that on paper the Xterra TR600 is very similar in specification to the older 6.3 model but the TR600 does edge out it’s older brother on a number of fronts which we’ll cover a little bit later.

Assembling the Xterra TR600 is a piece of cake. The manual is clear and the build has been broken down into 4 straightforward steps. It really couldn’t be made any simpler. As always we’d recommend 2 people, especially for the part involving fitting the console. It’s too big and heavy to lift out of the box so we’d recommend just flattening the box and building the treadmill on the flattened cardboard.

Aesthetically the TR600 is instantly recognisable as an Xterra machine. It has a little more colour in the way of blue trim than it’s cousins which looks great and combines nicely with the well established Xterra look. A nice, modern machine that looks chunky without being so imposing as to dominate a room.

As you might expect from Xterra, the TR600 is really solid and stable. The cross bar between the two front posts does a great job of adding rigidity, reducing console wobble while you’re running on it, and ensures that it passes the classic ‘shake test’ with flying colours. The 51 x 152.5cm (20″ x 60″) running area provides plenty of room to move around on and should offer more than enough space even for tall runners. The power plant is a 2.75 horsepower continuous duty motor which is smooth and quiet and provides more than enough power to drive the belt with ease. This size of motor is beefy enough to provide long-term reliability in any domestic environment.

There are 12 levels of incline and at its maximum level it’s steep enough to make anybody work seriously hard. Even fit, experienced runners will find that it’s enough to provide a challenge. The transition between levels is smooth and switching even one level up or down makes a noticeable difference. Moving from min to max incline is a little slower than on some other models so it’s not the most ideal for interval training but it will still fulfil this function.

Like the other Xterra treadmills in the current range, the running deck feels nice and firm while still absorbing the shock on landing on impact and has a very comfortable 51cm x152.5cm (20″ x 60″) running area which is approaching the largest size deck size available on home-use machines out there at the moment. The rollers also have a large diameter and have clearly been chosen to ensure long-term durability. Like their other machines, the TR600 is clearly designed to last.

There are 10 preset workouts that are all scalable allowing you tailor each one to your individual needs by adjusting the difficulty of the workout. This has the considerable benefit of meaning that you’re not in the least bit likely to outgrow your favourite workout. And if you enjoy your running, then you’ll run more and the virtuous circle is maintained! In addition, there are 2 target heart rate programmes that have preset levels of 60% and 80% of maximum heart rate. Before you can start using the HRC programmes you need to enter your profile details (age, weight, height etc) which is easy enough to do and doesn’t take long. There are two available memory slots for creating and saving your own programme/s. The user defined programmes are scalable too so once you’ve created a workout you can keep making it harder and harder without having to re-programme it.

The display on the screen is clear and sharp making it easy to read even while you’re sweating in the middle of your workout. You get all the standard feedback such as speed, incline, time, distance, pulse and so on and there’s also a ‘pace’ reading which is your time on the theoretical 1/4 mile track. The fan works surprisingly well for something so small! It’s placed low on the console, not high as you might expect, but it’s set to blow upwards and does a reasonably good job, especially once you’ve worked up a bit of a sweat. Also included are 3mm audio jack socket and built-in speakers. If you’re expecting Bang & Olufsen quality from those speakers you’re likely to be disappointed, however if you’re just looking to run to a beat then the speakers actually do an OK job and there are water bottle holders/accessories trays on both left and right-hand sides.

One not so welcome feature to see is the locking bolt on the side of the running deck. This bolt makes perfect sense when the tread is folded up as it secures the deck in the folded position making it safe. It’s the fact that it engages again when the deck is in the ‘in-use’ position. In itself this isn’t a problem, however, simultaneously pulling that spring loaded bolt out and trying to lift the deck isn’t all that easy due to the location of the bolt. This is by no means a deal breaker and it doesn’t take away from the treadmill at all. In most cases you won’t even notice it, but your reviewer strongly suspects that if you need to fold the machine up after every use, it won’t be long before you’ll be looking for ways to prevent that bolt from engaging in the first place!

Overall the TR600 is a winner. Large deck, plenty of features, built as solid as a rock and most importantly really, really good to run on. It’s also got a great warranty that covers the frame and motor for as long as you own the treadmill, 5 years cover on all the parts and two years on-site labour too.