Hello all,

I would like to tell anyone who is deciding between these three peices of equipment my personal expirecne with each, which one I stuck with and why.

First of I was in the military for 8 years and always had access to a full gym with plenty of equipment. They had all the freeweights you would ever need. They also had hammer strength eqiupment, and the standard cable machine where you have the option of up to 150lbs on each side with the pull up bar in the middle. I am 5'8", 180 lbs and have been lifting since high school.

Now that I am out of the military I have no gym access and started with the bowflex. This machine is ok if you don't care about getting a full rep or constant resistance throught the rep. Quality of the machine was good, but the quality of the exercise was not. I felt like I was getting half workouts due to the fact that each rep starts at 0lbs(as with anything else), but the difference is when you start lifting. With the bowflex the farther into the rep you go, the more weight you are lifting. This really bothers me as I like to get the same resistance throughout. The range of motion with the boxflex was horrible.

The Crossbow had the same problems as the bowflex with worse quality to add to the list.

The nordictrack 360 was a little different. Right away I realized the machine was not smooth. I would put 10 or 20lbs on and the weight would not return. I would have to feed the cable back in the machine with my other hand. This was a very easy fix. The problem causing this is the stiff cable supplied with the machine not the friction created. I went to Lowes and bought a new cable (they sell cable with the plastic covering by the foot and it is 10 times more flexable) for $8 (approx 24') and the problem was completely eliminated. Now I put 10lbs on and the 360 is as smooth as with 100lbs. Next thing is this machine gives the greatest range of motion between the three peices of equipment (NO COMPARISON). I did encounter the problem of not enough weight (example: I do dumbbell presses with 100lb dumbbells, the machine supplies plenty of weight for this. Few upper body exercises & leg exercises need more weight). To fix this I added a bar under the first plate that sticks out on both sides with enough room to add as much weight as I want (by changing the cable I was able to get a stronger cable with more flexability). However, by adding the bolt you can no longer use the bottom weight but that does not matter as you can add as much weight as desired. Quality of exercises on this machine is fantastic. Quality of build is the same as the bowflex. I encountered no problems assembling this machine. I noticed some people stated they had to grind the seat bracket, I did not.

Overall
Bowflex = C
Crossbow = D
Nordictrack 360 = A

Could you be a little more detailed about how you changed the cables and added the bar.

This process takes aboul 15 mins
First pull out the pin for the weight. Then locate the black rubber ball on each end of the cable (this is where you attach the handle to exercise). Pull the cable and place something under the weight to allow yourself some slack. Slide the black rubber ball up the cable (I had to use a flathead screwdriver and slid it between the rubber and metal in the front). this will reveal 4 allen wrench bolts you have to remove. This will allow you to remove the entire end piece from the cable (don't forget to remove the black rubber piece also). Now slide the black rubber ball onto your new cable and attach the end piece with the 4 allen wrench bolts and slide the black rubber piece into place. Tape the other end of the new cable to the end of the old cable (both ends that have nothing attached). Now, pull the old cable from the end that still has the rubber piece attached. As you remove the old cable the new one will be automatically be fed through the machine. Once you get the old cable out remove the tape and the item from under the weight. Ensure the pulley holding the weight is in the top position. Put the arms in the #4 position and trim the new cable to fit the machine. remove the end still on the old cable and attach to the new cable.

Remove the pin from the weight. pull the weight up and place a bolt in the top pin hole. You can get a threaded bolt the size of the pin hole of any lenght from Lowes (this bolt is simply a threaded bar). place a lock nut on either side of the bolt. Place two nuts with a lock washer between them on EACH side of the bolt (do this far enough out so when you put weight on, the nuts will act as a stopping point for the weight so it does not hit your machine). add another two nuts with a lock washer to each end of the bolt (this will keep the weight from sliding off). WHEN YOU ADD WEIGHT, DO IT EVENLY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BAR (ie: a 2 1/2lb weight on each side for 5lbs). Now you can increase the overall weight or the already existing weight by 5lbs instead of 10lbs.

Thanks for the info

I would first like to thank you guys for this awesome thread and the help you have given. But i have a quick question...could you give me the name of the cable (brand etc) so I could go to Lowes or somewhere and pick it up without having to choose between a million cables. Also an even dumber question I'm assuming that you could just use this cable to install the machine in the begging by following the normal instructions but just using the new cable right? Thanks for your help

firas

First I would like to thank ajyatc for solving the problem concerning the sticking 10 and 20 lb weights. I am a newbie and need to do more reps and this was definitly a big problem for me. I changed out the cable doing exactly as ajyatc described. Problem Solved.

Now I can answer firasb's question concerning which cable to get. I found it at Lowe's in the hardware section that has chains, etc. It is 3/32" coated cable and has the Lowe's item number 62760. 24 feet will be sufficient for the job. You will need to have access to a cable cutter in order to trim it, other than that it is a simple process. I also bought new clips (the next size up) and found they make changing the equipment much faster.

Again, thanks ajyatc, that was a terrific and well written solution.

Has any one had a problem with the bearing sliding out of the 4" pulley of one of the arms on your nt360? No matter what I do it keeps happening.

Great posts everyone.
I'm wondering if anyone is finding it difficult to do preacher curls.Where the preacher bar connects to the eye of the leg developer,it seems to be right over the eye giving almost no leverage to curl the bar.Is anybody having the same difficulty? Does anyone have a fix for this?

So this horse walks into the bar and the bartender says, "Why the long face?"

Dear Customer (ajyatc)-
My name is Cameron and I represent NordicTrack fitness. I read over your post on this site and am glad you got your machine fixed. Please let me know how your machine is working now. Also we want to offer you something for those first initial problems. We want our customers happy. My email is cstechops@iconfitness.com. Thank you.

Cameron
Icon Health & Fitness
Customer Care
September 14, 2009