Cushion Tiles, Arobotile, Rubber Flooring - Thoughts

Cushion Tile also known as Arobitile is an interlocking portable flooring system that can be used in a variety of ways. One of those ways is as gym flooring. They come if a variety of colors - Yellow, black, deep blue, medium blue, red, green, white, dark and light gray. The tiles are 1 foot by 1 foot and approximately 1/2 inch thick. You can also purchase borders and corners for a nicer, finish look.
They are relatively cheap compared to other flooring systems but the price can still skyrocket depending on how many you purchase.When I bought these for my town home basement, initially I was looking at creating an 8 X 8 area, so I ordered 64 cushion tiles plus the borders and corners to go with it, I later decided that it wasn't big enough and went back and ordered 40 more tiles plus the borders. With that I was able to create at 10 X 10 area.

This was back in 2008. I paid $506.80 for the materials, which include (104 tiles, 4 corners, & 44 borders) + $156.6 for shipping. Now that shipping cost is spread across two separate orders. So the total cost for the flooring including shipping was $663.40.
Initially I ordered red and med blue tiles. When I went back to get more tiles, they didn't have enough quantity of either red or med blue so I got dark grey. A cool feature of the tiles is that you can make some cool patterns. My initial pattern, I had blue in the center, red surrounding blue, and grey surrounding the red. It was great for when you are doing any type of exercise that require a grid or a place marker, because it created a natural mark or section on the floor.

Over Berber Carpet:

The basement in my town home had Berber carpet over concrete. I wanted a flooring that I could afford that would allow me to easily turn, spin and that also provided support for the joints. So I thought this would be a good compromise. It delivered on the extra support and it was much better to turn on it than it was to turn on the Berber, but it still wasn't as smooth as I would have liked.
I created a pretty big mat, 10 X 10 space plus borders and corners. When all tiles are connected in this faction, the flooring (mat) is very difficult to move as one piece. Almost impossible. You have to go through disconnecting many of the tiles to move a section of the tiles.
Also, I did get some rising or tile separation. I really tried to make sure all the tiles were firmly connected to start and then I would go back over the tiles stepping on the "joints" one by one to make sure they were connected. If I placed a step on the mat, I would try to line the step up to hit the center of the tile. If the step is on the tile joints, when you step on the step, it can cause the tile to sink and the one it is connected to, to rise. This can lead to you getting your foot caught.

Over Base Grade Cut Pile Carpet:
So I moved, and when i moved my plan was to put in a real gym floor in my basement. Until I was able to do that, I took an extra room and set it up as my gym.Well this room has base grade cut pile carpet. This space is not as big a the previous space I had in my basement, so I was only able to create at 9 X 8 area. So I put down the cushion tiles over the base grade carpet and became immediately annoyed with my workout space. Because on this surface, the tiles do not work very well. While on Berber, I used to have a little rising of the tiles. On this carpet here, I have a lot. During dance workouts, step workouts or hi/lo workouts, I am constantly catching my feet on tiles that have risen because the tiles do not maintain a consistent smooth surface. So before each workout, if it is cardio, I am going through making sure all the tiles are level. It doesn't do any good. The tiles still rise depending on where you step. It is just very annoying because it stops all momentum you have while working out.

Over Puzzle Mats.

I got so frustrated that I went out and bought puzzle mats to put underneath them because I was told I needed a more solid surface and with a solid surface there would be less rising. So now, I have the base grade carpet, puzzle mats, and the tiles. Now the tiles are extremely difficult to move when all connected together. They weigh a lot.However, somehow, even with them on top of the puzzle mats, the puzzle mats were shifting or slipping underneath. The whole puzzle mat was doing this. I had a treadmill off to the side and I would notice that it was butting up against the treadmill when before there was plenty of space between the mats and the treadmill. It absolutely did not make since to me. I can't move them when all the tiles are connected. However, after a workout, you could noticeably see how the whole thing had shifted. After adjusting this twice (which requires undoing the tiles, so I could move the puzzle mats) I got rid of the Puzzle Mats and just went back to the tiles being directly on the carpet. To make matter worse, the puzzle mats did not eliminate the rising and tile separation.

Over Concrete:
So someone on one of the exercise forums was asking about the cushion tiles, and I gave her my experience. She then ask me about what if they were on concrete. Well I am actually in the process of redoing my basement, so I have a lot of exposed concrete. So I took some of my excess mats down there to test out the tiles on concrete.I found that placing them on concrete gives the tiles an incredibly smooth surface. No rising, no tiles separating. I was impress. Very easy to turn and do dance steps. The only thing about them being on concrete is that you can tell they are over concrete because the cushion and support is noticeably not there. It is certainly better than working directly on concrete. It is just that after having the tiles over various surface I could tell the difference.

Other characteristics of the tiles:
They are great for weights. They really absorb the impact of the weight if you drop the weight.The underside of the tile has a definitive pattern that when placed on carpet leaves that pattern in the carpet. It even left the pattern on the puzzle mats. They can be slippery when wet.And while portable, they are heavy to move in a bunch. I notice this when I moved and had to carry them up a flight of stairs.They are not difficult to connect, but can be cumbersome depending on whether you are connecting the male to the female or the female to the male - one is easier that the other. When putting a mat together, after I have decided on the number of rows and columns, I will go through and create columns and then connect the columns together, instead of trying to connect one square at a time. For me, it is easier.
All in all this has been a good investment and served its purpose. I wished it work better over carpet than it does. I like the portability and how you can create a define area within another area.

Two places where these tiles can be purchased are:
http://www.dynamicfitness.com/detail.aspx?ID=998
http://www.greatmats.com/products/cushion-tile.php

3 1/2 stars