NordicTrack X7i Incline Trainer Review

By Ethan Lee on April 27, 2010

Tags: fitness, nordicktrack, product trials, Reviews, Top Stories, treadmill, x71

After sitting around reviewing the latest products that made my life easier or satisfied some gadget craving, I thought it was time I punish myself with a treadmill review.

NordicTrack’s new X7i Incline Trainer was the perfect fit that allowed me to take in a treadmill while reviewing some reportedly good technical features.

Boasting of Google Maps integration, NordicTrack makes a good marketing pitch with the X7i. Who doesn’t think it’s cool to virtually walk a trail or race of their choosing? What person wouldn’t get a kick out of running the Vegas strip or some remote canyon?

The technology in the machine, iFit Live is supposed to make that possible.

After dropping around $2,000 in hard-earned dollars on this machine, our crate arrived several weeks later (two weeks late) and our first impressions were not good ones.

Out of the box the product wasn’t just broken, it was smashed. The trip from China had not been a kind one and a shoddy packing job made it worse. The product was scuffed and scratched, looking like it arrived from Goodwill.

While the main 350lb capacity treadmill seemed to be unfazed, the flimsy plastic cover for the computer had bits and pieces broken off of it and poor packing allowed pieces to vibrate on the treadmill’s belt and wear two quarter-sized chunks into the new machine.

Damage aside, I managed to put the machine together and get it in working order – but that was not without its challenges.

For the most part, the machine’s parts fit together, but there were a few issues that made it clear that NordicTrack had fairly loose tolerances in their machining operation.

One of the arms had a bad receiver for a screw that didn’t allow it to tighten fully. Additionally, the banged up cover did not align with the pre-machined holes for screws in the metal backing.

Thankfully, NordicTrack has a warranty on the machine and covered any shipping damage. However, even that came with a caveat.

Their support division quickly shipped out a new tread belt (although we at ConCrave can’t figure out how to put it on) and they also shipped out a new arm. But the plastic cover has been on back order for well over a month with no shipping date in sight.

Regardless of the aesthetic damage, I figured we could give it a good test.

Once we flipped on the power, things were looking up.

We setup our account with iFit Live, connected the treadmill to our Wifi network and within minutes our first tester was running up some random inclines in a far away place.

The fun lasted for about 30 minutes and the NordicTrack experience turned south faster than a downhill skier.

The first thing that was noticed was the construction all around was poor when you took a look above the deck itself. The uprights, arms and computer rattled and shook with every single step. When we tried to speed up above a brisk 3mph walk, the shake became a death rattle.

Forget about putting a book or any drink without a tight sealing lid on the console.

Figuring that couldn’t be right, we pulled out the massive machine, flipped it over and torqued down four screws with about 100 lbs of force.

That deadened the vibration a good deal but the shake makes reading while running nearly impossible.

Thinking the worst was behind us, we logged back into iFit Live to explore their programs and loaded up our X7i with the sights and topography of Americana.

As it turns out, iFit Live is still in “beta” and has just a few quarks that make owning an X7i a less-than-enjoyable experience.

First, the much touted Google Street view does not exist and I doubt it ever will. Random photos will pop up in the middle of your run (if you’re lucky) but nothing resembling Street View is there and it’s unlikely the X7i has the processing power to support it.

The iFit Live service is full of so many bugs, it’s really in “alpha” and far away from any type of a release candidate.

For the first several days, we were stuck with the same run because once you loaded in a workout, it could not be removed until it was finished. The sweet catch was that we couldn’t finish the run in one setting so we just had to let the sucker whirr away until it cycled through.

NordicTrack fixed that problem – kind of – but product bugs and quarks remain within the service not to mention an extremely limited number of X7i compatible workouts – eight to be exact.

Reviews on Sears and other sites show several very unhappy early adopters of the Jillian Michaels endorsed Incline Trainer due to the shoddy iFit Live service.

Buggy beta software aside, the X7i has several pre-programmed runs that were worth checking out.

And that’s where I personally began to throw up my hands in frustration.

NordicTrack didn’t even bother creating a bug-free console before shipping. If you program in a 3 mile run it will calculate your run time based upon your selected speed. If you change your speed in the middle of your run (which happens each time) the time will not adjust to the new speed.

Additionally, if you were to pause a workout, you lose your progress bar – quite literally, the bar of progress tracking your workout would stop progressing. This problem was resolved with a firmware update – which the average consumer would never run nor find.

All of the little technical glitches aside, we assumed that the machine would operate fine mechanically, it was a treadmill after all and we’re not talking about new technology here.

Not so fast.

The tread belt requires constant adjusting. It slides to one side or another, slips, stutters and groans. I found myself adjusting the belt four or five times in the middle of a run – requiring me to stop the workout, grab a tool and get on my hand and knees, sweating and cursing. Thankfully, being out of shape, the frequent adjustments were welcome.

Once I managed to get the slips taken care of, horrible sounds would start coming out of the machine at random. It would be fine for miles and then I would stop and restart and then for no good reason, it screeches like a banshee.

With all of the negatives above, there were some positive attributes carried by the X7i. First the tread deck is plenty long for running. Commenters on the Internet seemed concerned that it was too short but we had no problem stretching our (stubby) legs on the deck.

Also, the deck has good bounce and reflex making it soft, but not too soft. Perfect for running, walking or climbing.

Finally, the incline is INSANE. There’s no doubt you burn five times the number of calories at a 40% incline, the problem is that your legs won’t survive one fifth of the time.

Our final verdict is this . . .

If you want to pay two grand on a treadmill that supposedly does cool things with Google Maps, is well build and mechanically sound, don’t buy a NordicTrack X7i Incline Trainer.

If you like being a first adopter and spending big bucks on products that don’t work very well, then the X7i may be just what you’re looking for.

While we would like to test out some other unique treadmills (are you listening Mobia?) we’re too broke to buy another and too lazy to move this one again.

Picture by Ethan Lee

Submitted by Morgan32 (not verified) on Apr. 28, 2010.

Thanks for the honest review. I was on the fence about this one but now I'll look elsewhere. Do you have recommendations a better incline treadmill?

Submitted by Jocelyn St.Denis (not verified) on Jun. 11, 2010.

11 June 2010
We purchased the X7i in Dec 09. It took over 2-hrs to set-up, definitely need 2-people. Treadmill is very heavy. 1st time you power on, the incline automatically goes up and down. The machine needs to be calibrated before use. Calibrate by following directions on Ifit Screen. It you don't calibrate, you will be running and the machine will come to a full stop...yes...we learned the hard way...You will need to set up for Wi-fi so you can do software updates. Okay, getting the machine set-up took us a long time and we did end up calling customer service and they helped us with the calibration. We had a hard time finding the area to get us into the main menu for calibrating.

Once started everything worked good. We used the choices of workouts on the console. We haven't tried the Wi-fi yet.

We also unplug the machine after every use (annoying but for safety purposes). Well go figure we haven't used it in months and when we started using again it's like we had to start all over with setting it up. We noticed the fan wasn't working and the Ifit screen had icons like Desktop folder, recover, Altia, Nonvolatile. We knew something wasn't right because we've never seen those icons and don't know how we got there. The treadmill was useless because there was no option to get out of the area with the icons and there were no choices to even use the machine for workouts. We couldn't figure out how to get out of this screen and machine would not work. We called customer service and they tried to help but said to call the Ifit live number and they can help us. Please note when you call the number, it gives you the option for them to call you back, well if the Ifit live number is busy and you use the call back number, customer service will be calling you back not the Ifit live tech support. You will need to use the wait option.

I waited luckily on 15 minutes this time and the Ifit live tech support ran through procedures but nothing worked. I'm told they are sending me a new console and to return the old in a pre-paid box at no cost. So I'll write again to see how that worked and I'll tell you if we still like the Nordic Track x7i. Feel free to email me if you have any questions apple2969@yahoo.com

Submitted by Kristie (not verified) on Dec. 12, 2010.

I purchased the X7i in dec . I had 3 different machines and they all had the same problems and finally returned it in May of 2010. I really liked the features but wants one that runs.

Submitted by Tonya (not verified) on Feb. 6, 2011.

I've had the X7i for about a year and I have to say, this review is spot on! It progress bar stoping when you pause it is so annoying. Also, iFitLive has only worked properly a handful of times for me. I've tried over and over to get the race option to work but it never has.
Overall, you are better off with a cheaper model that doesn't "claim" to do as much.

Submitted by UpSetinNY (not verified) on Feb. 14, 2011.

In a nutshell: Poor quality control, sloppy software and really, really bad customer service.

I purchased the trainer from the NordicTrack website, it arrived on Jan 17th. 2011. The machine did not work from day one. The deck did not respond to the commands comming from the console and kept recalibrating itself. Customer service was clueless. I had to wait two days for their repair contractor to call me and then another three days before he could get to me.

Even though Customer Service knew that the machine needed either a new deck control motor or a new console, the repairman show up with neither.

After messing with the machine for two and one half hours, the man declare the console bad. It's going to take two weeks to get another shipped to me.

As I said to the sales department, If I wanted a repaired machine, I would have purched a used trainer.

I have been on hold with the 'Returns' department for about 30 minutes now trying to arrange an exchange or return.

I should have purchased from Sears, at least you can talk to your orignal salesman.

The Jillian Michaels workout sound track is a joke. Her comments are not coordinated with the exercise at all.
The Google Maps software is not working either, street view Doesn't work. The website is clumsy and hard to naviogate. It looks like this software was written by someones 15 year old brother.

Think twice before buying this triner... it's not ready for prime time.

Submitted by ConCrave Reader (not verified) on Mar. 2, 2012.

I've owned the x7i since the summer of '10. I bought it to train for the incline of the Pikes Peak Marathon. I was aware of the beta (or alpha) nature of the iFit Live software and didn't really care since my focus was on hitting at least 12-17% inclines and not all the whiz-bang features they were advertising. Plus, they weren't charging for it. After the marathon, I didn't use it that much since I prefer running outdoors and simulating my terrain with, well, terrain.

After a knee injury in 2011, I came back to the x7i as a way to minimize impact for my rehab back to running. It has worked perfectly. I draw a course on the Google maps interface on my PC at iFit Live, add it to my schedule, and go run the thing. Even a portion of it. This way I can simulate race courses for upcoming events without having to travel there.

Another advantage is that it helps me train with a specific cadence to aid in overall development of speed. I use a Garmin Forerunner 405 with a foot pod, calibrated of course, to track my cadence while on the 'mill over changing simulated terrain.

I've never had any issues with the construction or reliability and I've recorded hundreds of miles. A friend of mine purchased a display model at Sears and has had no issues with it either. Granted, iFit Live is a little sketchy and street view requires a separate computer to "watch live" as you run (still haven't seen this feature work yet) but it does follow the overview satellite map just fine. On the plus side, I haven't paid a penny for iFit Live so far. Although they're now reminding me that it's time to pony up the membership fee. I haven't listened to Jillian and her workouts and, quite frankly, have no plans to do so.

I assembled the x7i myself but I wouldn't recommend that level of stupidity. Use at least 2 people. It's heavy. And bulky.

I do update the firmware periodically and there are still "features" that are not enabled. That's a bit disappointing considering the maturity level of iFit Live and the x7i. Why offer to calibrate speed if you can't do it?

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase but I paid well under $2k. At $2k or over, I'd probably think seriously about a quality treadmill first and skip the "features" promoted here that are now an additional annual expense.

Submitted by ConCrave Reader (not verified) on Mar. 2, 2012.

I assembled the x7i myself but I wouldn't recommend that level of stupidity. Use at least 2 people. It's heavy. And bulky.

Submitted by chris (not verified) on Mar. 20, 2012.

I bought my Nordictrack from Sears just over a year ago. I’ve used it for 10 months and then the problems started. 1) Belt wouldn't stay tight. Called extended warranty company (UCS) and got replacement parts. Simple they used the wrong screws when it was built. 2) Belt won’t keep constant speed and sometime stops. Called warranty company again. They sent out a motor control board. 3) Belt won’t keep constant speed and sometimes stops- call warranty Company again, they didn't know how to fix it. So they connected me to Nordictrack. They trouble shooted it and suggested a motor, another motor control board and a reed switch. Guess what...not fixed. 4) Now the tech needs to come out to either figure out what can still be wrong or say it can’t be fixed and it needs to be replaced. So now I have to leave work a 4th time to handle this piece of S*** machine.
I wouldn't buy another of these machines. If you do I would get the extend warranty. It’s certainly has paid for its self.

Submitted by gavi1126 (not verified) on Apr. 19, 2012.

We ordered ath Nordeic Track x7i and put it together. The caliberation process got stuck at 40 incline and never came down. The software would not download... For a treadmill this expensive, such issues should NOT occur. Very frustrating. However, in my case...customer service was helpful and we returend the treadmill.. Then we ordered the same treadmill again from nordicktrack.com. However...when the folks came to pick up our first nordick track..they said that the incline issue is the main reason they pickup these treadmills back all the time. So I went back and cancelled our 2nd order. THe issue seems to be typical to this perticular model.. Our older version of nordicktrack 40 incline works just fine. Do not buy this perticular model... they need to work on the software and hardware