which one is top brand in Fitness Equipment ?

[shevchenko]

what do u think.
is it precor, cybex, life fitness , technogym ,hammer strength ? or another brand

[wallinghsosa]

I prefer Hammer Strength. Although most that you listed are fine brands. Nautilus, Magnum, Flex, Body Masters, Cybex, etc. are all good.

[ira_est_a_donum]

there are many top brands...some are great at one thing some are great at a few... all have pros and cons... so its all subjective...

[smokeater]

Precor.... all high end equipment. Best ellipticals and some of the best treadmills. Took over Icarian a few years ago so they have a great line of gym equipment now too.

Life Fitness.... all high end equipment. Best stationary bikes in the business. Solid treadmills and ellipticals too.

Nautilus.... some high end, and some mid-range equipment. Nautilus owns Bowflex, Stairmaster, Schwinn, Trimline, and a few other companies so that'll give you an idea of the range in quality and price.

Hammer Strength.... owned by Nautilus. All high end commercial equipment.

Cybex.... some high end, some low end equipment. Cybex used to be exclusively commercial equipment until they were bought out a few years ago. They now make commercial and some mid-range stuff.

Don't know enough about the other brands to comment.

[DC-333]

It all depends on what classification of fitness equipment you are looking for. Residential, Light Commercial, or Full Commercial.

Precor, Life Fitness, Hoist, Pacemaster, Nautilus, Cybex, Star Trac, Tuff Stuff, Vectra all make really great equipment from the Residential side up to Full Commercial grade equipment.

I'd say that Precor makes the best Ellipticals and Treadmills for both Residential and Commercial use. Hoist is my absolute favorite company for Residential and Commercial grade strength equipment. Le Mond Fitness makes some of the greatest exercise bikes out there. Again it really depends though on what you are looking for.

[DC-333]

Precor.... all high end equipment. Best ellipticals and some of the best treadmills. Took over Icarian a few years ago so they have a great line of gym equipment now too.


Life Fitness.... all high end equipment. Best stationary bikes in the business. Solid treadmills and ellipticals too.

Nautilus.... some high end, and some mid-range equipment. Nautilus owns Bowflex, Stairmaster, Schwinn, Trimline, and a few other companies so that'll give you an idea of the range in quality and price.

Hammer Strength.... owned by Nautilus. All high end commercial equipment.

Cybex.... some high end, some low end equipment. Cybex used to be exclusively commercial equipment until they were bought out a few years ago. They now make commercial and some mid-range stuff.

Don't know enough about the other brands to comment.

Good start, I'll elaborate a little for you.

Precor bought out a company by the name of Pacific Fitness about 10 years ago, and changed the name to Precor. This was there entry into residential strength. They then bought out Icarian some years later and again changed the name to Precor for their Commercial Strength products. Precor makes some Fantastic Commercial Strength products (formerly Icarian) and they make some hit or miss Residential Grade Strength (formerly Pacific Fitness), there best being their S3.23 and S3.21 systems.

Life Fitness/Parabody/Hammer Strength, all owned by the Brunswick Corporation produce some good equipment as well. Life Fitness (the Coke or Pepsi..depending on your tastes) of the fitness equipment industry is the oldest and largest equipment manufacturer in the world. They bought Parabody several years back which launched their Residential strength lines and they changed the name from Parabody to Life Fitness. Life Fitness also produces a vast selection of Commercial Grade Cardio and Strength equipment, with their most popular Strength line being Hammer Strength.

The Nautilus Corp. has a whole range of brands and products that they own. Bowflex, Stairmaster, Schwinn & Trimline (Trimline or Hebb Industries has either been absorbed into Schwinn or is no longer owned by Nautilus), and Universal. Nautilus has had a pretty good reputation for building high end equipment. They purchased Bowflex years ago, and about 7-8 years ago they bought Stairmaster, Schwinn & Trimline (Schwinn owned Trinline at the time) out of Bankruptcy. There were and are still some hiccups in the industry when getting service from these guys. The best stuff they make would definately be the Commercial Grade Nautilus branded equipment and their Stairmaster products. Bowflex and Schwinn are sub-par products at best, especially BowFlex with their over hyped inofmercial and internet media, not to mention the numerous safety recalls and fines issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Universal, (I believe) was the first Universal (no pun intended) gym company back in the fifties. Nautilus bought the brand name and rights in 2006 and is currently in the process of restoring brand recognition for Universal.

Cybex originally made Isokentic Rehabilitation equipment back in the sixties. I'm not sure of their history from the late 60's through the early 90's, but I do know they merged with Trotter in 97 and then bought a company called Tectrix in 1998. This was around the time I started to sell their products. They made fantastic bikes and steppers, can't remember much else and I'm not sure who owns them or what they are making today.

[smokeater]

Good start, I'll elaborate a little for you.

Precor bought out a company by the name of Pacific Fitness about 10 years ago, and changed the name to Precor. This was there entry into residential strength. They then bought out Icarian some years later and again changed the name to Precor for their Commercial Strength products. Precor makes some Fantastic Commercial Strength products (formerly Icarian) and they make some hit or miss Residential Grade Strength (formerly Pacific Fitness), there best being their S3.23 and S3.21 systems.

Life Fitness/Parabody/Hammer Strength, all owned by the Brunswick Corporation produce some good equipment as well. Life Fitness (the Coke or Pepsi..depending on your tastes) of the fitness equipment industry is the oldest and largest equipment manufacturer in the world. They bought Parabody several years back which launched their Residential strength lines and they changed the name from Parabody to Life Fitness. Life Fitness also produces a vast selection of Commercial Grade Cardio and Strength equipment, with their most popular Strength line being Hammer Strength.

The Nautilus Corp. has a whole range of brands and products that they own. Bowflex, Stairmaster, Schwinn & Trimline (Trimline or Hebb Industries has either been absorbed into Schwinn or is no longer owned by Nautilus), and Universal. Nautilus has had a pretty good reputation for building high end equipment. They purchased Bowflex years ago, and about 7-8 years ago they bought Stairmaster, Schwinn & Trimline (Schwinn owned Trinline at the time) out of Bankruptcy. There were and are still some hiccups in the industry when getting service from these guys. The best stuff they make would definately be the Commercial Grade Nautilus branded equipment and their Stairmaster products. Bowflex and Schwinn are sub-par products at best, especially BowFlex with their over hyped inofmercial and internet media, not to mention the numerous safety recalls and fines issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Universal, (I believe) was the first Universal (no pun intended) gym company back in the fifties. Nautilus bought the brand name and rights in 2006 and is currently in the process of restoring brand recognition for Universal.

Cybex originally made Isokentic Rehabilitation equipment back in the sixties. I'm not sure of their history from the late 60's through the early 90's, but I do know they merged with Trotter in 97 and then bought a company called Tectrix in 1998. This was around the time I started to sell their products. They made fantastic bikes and steppers, can't remember much else and I'm not sure who owns them or what they are making today.

Yes, that is definitely the exhaustive answer lol.

[RonShipman]

What about Star Trac equipment? It's what they have at my gym.

[njstenson]

what do u think.
is it precor, cybex, life fitness , technogym ,hammer strength ? or another brand

Life Fitness is the number 1 fitness company in the world. Life Fitness owns Hammer Strength and Cybex and SciFit brands. Life Fitness is the leading innovator of fitness equipment in the world.

[Domicron]

Life Fitness is the number 1 fitness company in the world. Life Fitness owns Hammer Strength and Cybex and SciFit brands. Life Fitness is the leading innovator of fitness equipment in the world.

7 year old thread dude

[SomeIronBoy]

Life Fitness is the number 1 fitness company in the world. Life Fitness owns Hammer Strength and Cybex and SciFit brands. Life Fitness is the leading innovator of fitness equipment in the world.

Just had to check this old thread out, life fitness only owns existing hammer strength and scifit brands, Cybex is by itself.

Since we're on the subject of the best though I'd say Keiser and Black Iron Strength.

[deadwoodgregg]

Core Health & Fitness owns Star Trac, Stairmaster, Nautilus, and Schwinn. I think some Star Trac strength equipment is now made at the Nautilus facility in Independence, Va.

Brunswick now owns Lifefitness, Hammer Strength, and Cybex.

Matrix and Magnum are under the same ownership.

[2MoreRepz]

Life Fitness is the number 1 fitness company in the world. Life Fitness owns Hammer Strength and Cybex and SciFit brands. Life Fitness is the leading innovator of fitness equipment in the world.

Do you work out at Planet $hitness mate? Life Fitness? Come on braaa...we all gonna make it.

[Cleveland33]

Do you work out at Planet $hitness mate? Life Fitness? Come on braaa...we all gonna make it.

They have them there? Damn, I would be hesitant to supply my equipment to that chithole of a gym.

[Domicron]

They have them there? Damn, I would be hesitant to supply my equipment to that chithole of a gym.

with the amount of volume they do? i sure wouldn't hesitate.

[Greybird2]

Are you guys judging him? I am turning on the "lunk" alarm...

[SomeIronBoy]

Core Health & Fitness owns Star Trac, Stairmaster, Nautilus, and Schwinn. I think some Star Trac strength equipment is now made at the Nautilus facility in Independence, Va.

Brunswick now owns Lifefitness, Hammer Strength, and Cybex.

Matrix and Magnum are under the same ownership.

Wow, didn't know brunswick owns Cybex as well. Shows how much I know. Lol

[Northernmoris]

Give him a break. Hes from NJ. Teach him about equipment and he can teach you about Pork Roll/Taylor ham, bagels and Pizza.

[2MoreRepz]

Sounds like a bargain.