I used to work in a sporting goods store and we sold treadmills. We had expensive treadmills and cheap ones. A lot of people were interested in the cheaper models because they were often less than $100. People always asked why it was so cheap. "It's a manual treadmill," I told them. They'd look at me funny and ask, "What's that mean?" I'd reply, "You don't plug it in. You have to get the tread moving by yourself, which is a bit hard, but once you get moving it's relatively easy." Invariably the reply would be, "That's sounds like too much work." And they'd walk away.
It always struck me funny that people wanted to exercise but wanted to expend the least amount of energy doing it. Maybe I'm just cynical.
My best advice, snakeyes, with any treadmill you get is don't stand on the tread when you start it up. That will wear the motor out quicker than anything.
