Elliptical & Other Cardio Machine Inventory Seems To Be Coming Back
When the pandemic first hit back in March of 2020 and gym doors were shuttered, there was a mad rush to buy home exercise equipment. Treadmills, Peloton bikes, rowing machines, benches, free weights, dumbbells…you name it, people were buying them as fast as they could. As such, inventory dropped significantly and the price of anything that was left was jacked up to meet the rising demand.
Before long, inventory all but dried up at most of the cardio equipment companies. Manufacturing, shipping, fulfillment…everything was backlogged, so even if you were able to find an elliptical or treadmill for sale, you were likely going to wait quite a while to receive it. We did a post on this a few months after COVID first hit about why you can’t find any gym equipment for sale.
Well fast forward about a year later and although it’s certainly not back to normal, things seem to be moving in the right direction. We’re seeing a lot more ellipticals and other cardio machine back in stock, especially the low to mid range ones that were unavailable for quite some time.
Let’s take a look at some of the top brands to see what the current situation is…
Brands That Had Inventory All Long But Delayed Shipping
NordicTrack Ellipticals
NordicTrack has removed the delayed delivery label from most of their ellipticals. They recently narrowed the line down to just 6 machines, 2 in each series, and all seem to be readily available to purchase. As of this writing the FS10i, FS14i, Commercial 9.9 and 14.9, and the SE7i and SE9i are all able to be purchased on the company site.
ProForm Ellipticals
ProForm, which is the sister company of NordicTrack, doesn’t currently show any delays on delivery of their elliptical trainers. You can purchase any of their 8 ellipticals, including the new Pro E14 model (one of the new 2021 elliptical releases), and experience regular shipping times.
Sole Ellipticals
Similar to NordicTrack, Sole has removed their delayed delivery labels from their ellipticals as well. All 6 of their ellipticals, including the E25, E35, E55, E95, E95S and top-end E98 are all available to purchase without shipping delays.
Horizon Ellipticals
Horizon seemed to have fared very well, as they did a pretty good job of keeping their ellipticals and other cardio machines in stock. There were some periods where a few of their machines weren’t available, but overall they’ve been consistent with availability.
You can purchase their popular EX-59, as well as the Evolve 3 and 5 and advanced 7.0AE ellipticals without shipping delay.
Brands That Were Out of Inventory on Most Ellipticals
Horizon Ellipticals
Diamondback ellipticals were not available for quite some time during the pandemic, but now they both seem to be in stock and have been for the last month or so. Both the entry level 1060eF and top of the line 1280eF are available for purchase as of now.
Life Fitness Ellipticals
Of all of the brands we keep an eye on here at Elliptical Review Guru, Life Fitness seems to have suffered the most. For over a year none of their entry level ellipticals, treadmills or bikes were available for sale. Although everyone was blindsided by the pandemic they seem to have been hit the hardest.
The good news is as of our latest review they seem to have almost everything back in stock, including the E1, E3 and E5 that were MIA for such a long time.
Life Fitness has added a new label to all of their equipment indicated how long the lead time is on delivery, ranging from 6-12 weeks total depending on which elliptical you choose.
What’s the Bottom Line on Elliptical Inventory?
As everyone is vaccinated and things return to normal, or more accurately the new normal, we think inventory levels on ellipticals, treadmills and other cardio machines will remain steady. We’re past the holiday and New Year rush so companies have time to figure things out before it all starts up again…typically Black Friday is the start of the demand surge.
Companies will likely streamline their product lines, as NordicTrack and ProForm have recently done, to focus on those ellipticals that are worth producing. They’ll figure out the best ways to manufacture and distribute their products going forward, and do their best to avoid inventory issues in the future should we ever face another pandemic.
So the good news is you can probably find the elliptical you want currently and it will be delivered to you in a shorter amount of time than it would have been if you ordered it in the height of the pandemic. Here’s hoping everything returns to normal soon!