The Nordic Track 990 elliptical trainer is new for 2007. However it appears that this cross trainer is an upgrade of the older 928. Nordic Track is a subsidiary of Icon which happens to be the largest manufacture of fitness equipment in the world. Icon also manufactures Reebok and Schwinn elliptical trainers. The Nordic Track 990 elliptical trainer does have a great feature that the 928 does not. It has the ability to incline which has the effect of changing the shape of the elliptical stride as well as the strides length. We found a Nordic Track 990 that was purchased for home use to test.
We used several people of different size in conducting our test. The max rating for the 990 elliptical trainer is about 325 lbs. One of our testers is a power lifter weighing at 280 lbs. We also have a couple of testers that use elliptical trainers 5 or more days a week. The first thing that everyone did not care for was the non-articulating foot peddles. We also wish the console had been upgrade with a larger display. That being said we really like the power incline feature. There are 5 incline setting that change the shape and stride length. Shortly after making a change in incline you feel the change in your muscles response. However when we tried to conduct an intense workout the machine became very noisy and shaky.
The biggest complaint to come from the purchaser was about the Ifit technology was a “rip off” to get money for what should have been program into the elliptical trainer. The Ifit service is free for the first month but a subscription of $15.00 per month is required to continue the service. Ifit for those who are unaware of its features is a service that sells you a monthly subscription to get a custom 8 weeks of aerobic, strength training and nutrition program base on your individual needs. It is a great market program that makes Icon lots of money.
The people who were so kind to let use their Nordic Track 990 elliptical trainer purchased it online. They hired someone to assemble the elliptical trainer for them. During this assembly there were problems with missing parts but after contacting customer service this issue was resolve albeit slowly. They have been using the elliptical trainer for about 45 days without any major problems. They did the wise thing and purchased an extended warranty to cover any expected problems down the road, The Nordic Track 990 elliptical trainer does have a one year parts and labor warranty but considering the track record of Icon fitness equipment it is very prudent to purchase the extra warranty. Any time you consider purchasing an elliptical trainer for less than $1200.00 you can expect cost cutting in the components and construction.
We do recommend this unit for in home use when it is not used at high intensity levels for extended periods. If this elliptical trainer is used for approximately 30 minutes 3 days a week it should hold up well. If you want to see what long term problems to expect you can check the reviews of the older Nordic Track 928 elliptical trainer.
James Kesel MS. is the publisher of Elliptical Trainer Information [http://www.elliptical-trainer-information.com] website.
