NordicTrack Treadmills
The NordicTrack brand is owned by Icon Health and Fitness, which is one of the top 3 fitness equipment companies in the world. Icon Fitness also owns ProForm, Healthrider, Freemotion, Reebok, Image, Weider, Weslo, Epic, Gold's Gym and the iFIT workout technology.
Icon Fitness purchased the original NordicTrack Company when they went bankrupt, a few years ago. From that moment on, NordicTrack has been transformed into a well known exercise and fitness equipment brand.
Specialists say that in the past NordicTrack was forced to have a top design since they worked with cheap parts. Now they use better components and, as a result, they have invaded the market with top class products.
NordicTrack sells mostly residential products and their offer includes treadmills, ellipticals, incline trainers, exercise bikes, strength equipment, skiers and striders.
Reviews and Additional Info
As an overall opinion, NordicTrack treadmills are decent products, with competitive features and accessible price. They stand up with technical innovations that are helpful to the end user, and they are the first to bring these upgrades on the market.
In 2011, they surprised us with new features, which we enjoyed testing: Android touch screen technology, decline options on all new models, new preset workouts.
NordicTrack is the first brand we know to have launched a competitive workout system with low budget models. We are talking about the new iFIT LIVE system (with direct access to Google Maps). This extended the brand awareness all over the world.
As a personal note, in 2011 other brands decided to invest resources to copy the move and launch similar products, based on the touch screen technology Android platform supports. NordicTrack is a pioneer, and we highly respect that.
Main Strengths
User Oriented: NordicTrack changed their philosophy about how treadmills are produced when they were bought by ICON. Today NordicTrack Treadmills are better, stronger and more good looking than those produced just a few years ago. The fact that they have improved the treadmills' quality is a big plus.
Workouts: Each NordicTrack treadmill comes with at least 25 preset workouts. Plus, all models have the iFit cards/IFIT LIVE Module (included or compatible) which allows downloading hundreds of workouts in your treadmill console from iFIT official website.
Incline Trainers: Incline Trainers are available only for brands owned by Icon, and they stand up with their high incline option (up to 40% supported). We have discovered that, with Incline Trainers, it is more efficient to do our daily cardio workouts (for losing weight or simply staying fit) than with treadmills. The high incline and the decline options help simulate hills and valleys better, and, from the user end perspective, this brings only benefits to your workout routine and health.
Motor Warranty: Almost all machines come with a life motor warranty. This is a serious and valuable detail since the motor is the most valuable part of a treadmill which can be extremely expensive to replace.
Weaknesses
Parts Warranty: Even if they offer a lifetime warranty for motors, NordicTrack gives only 1 or 2 year warranty for parts and in home labor. The In Home labor warranty is not included in all offers. All you can do is buy an extra warranty coverage.
Customer Support complaints: Unfortunately, we have received several complaints from our readers about the customer support delay when assessing their issues with NordicTrack treadmills. Although we haven't yet experienced any significant failures during our reviews, we have to mark this as a weak point. We will update our opinion following our readers' feedback.
Buying Tips
When you decide to purchase a NordicTrack treadmill, you must first see their promotions. They have relevant SALES ongoing almost all the time, and you can find terrific bargains for their all their latest models.
The second recommendation is to buy a treadmill with the iFIT LIVE included. It doesn't matter if you get the touch screen system or not (although it is a super neat feature). The iFIT LIVE connects you to a large workouts variety, which automatically control your NordictTrack treadmill speed and incline. This is one of the main reasons we recommend this brand.
Assembly and Maintenance Videos
We love to help our readers to buy the right treadmill, so if you have any question, contact us anytime.