Do All Ellipticals Have An Incline?
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Looking for an elliptical trainer with incline?
You’re not alone. A lot of people prefer to have incline on their crosstrainer.
That leads to the question:
Do All Elliptical Trainers Have an Incline?
Or, if you’re on this site, you’re probably wondering – Do all Nordictrack ellipticals have incline?
It’s a great question.
Incline was not originally a feature found on most brands of early elliptical trainers.
Precor originated the concept of incline – or ramp – on their early machines. Ramp helped to change the slope of your running pathway and thus used more lower body muscles.
This was a unique advantage and a popular one.
However, it didn’t take long for other, more affordable mainstream brands like Nordictrack to start adding their own version of incline to their machines.
As of this writing many major brands do have models that have incline.
However.
Not all brands offer incline. And, more importantly, not all models within those brands have incline.
Most starter elliptical models for example, will not have incline – since incline is more of a premium feature. And it costs the manufacturer extra to include it in the machine.
And many of the cheaper elliptical trainers that you see for a “great deal” in big box stores will not have incline.
In their rush to get a great deal, many people miss out on the fact that they aren’t getting incline – because they’re blinded by the great deal.
For these reasons, it can be a mistake to assume that you’re automatically getting incline on your elliptical.
For example, Nordictrack Spacesaver folding elliptical trainers are very popular. There are two models – the SE9i and the SE7i.

The Nordictrack SE9i (seen above) does have up to 10 degrees of incline. But the lower priced Nordictrack SE7i does NOT have any incline.
It’s easy to assume that because one model in the series has incline, that the other model will have incline as well. But this isn’t the case.
If you’re buying a Nordictrack elliptical – no matter where you’re buying it from – it’s always a smart idea to check with the Manufacturer before you buy.
That way you have the most up-to-date information and you won’t have any nasty surprises when you get your trainer home.
There are also a few other things to consider when asking the question – do all ellipticals have an incline.
Other Things To Consider About Elliptical Incline
Let’s say you have a few elliptical trainers in mind and you confirm they have incline – what then? Well, you might want to consider just how MUCH incline you’re getting with each one.
For example, some inclines go up to 10 percent (or degrees) – and others can go up to 20 percent.

So if you’re comparing, let’s say, the Nordictrack SE9i elliptical vs Nordictrack Commercial 14.9 elliptical – the SE9i has up to 10% incline and the Commercial 14.9 has up to 20% incline.
So the Commercial 14.9 trainer gives you double the amount of incline. That’s a lot more calorie-burning potential!
It also gives you more room to grow and challenge yourself as your fitness level improves over time.
So that’s another thing to consider when comparing elliptical trainers with incline: how high an incline do you actually get?
One more consideration?
Well, this may not apply generally to other elliptical trainer brands. However Nordictrack also makes one elliptical trainer – the FS14i Freestrider trainer with incline AND decline.
So you can not only run uphill – but downhill as well.
This is great for giving you extra crosstraining power.
You’ll probably see more brands – or even Nordictrack – add decline to more of their models in the future. But as of this writing, unfortunately you can only find decline on the Freestrider FS14i model.

So those are some things to consider when asking whether all elliptical trainers have an incline.
Now that you know that some elliptical trainers do – but some trainer do not have incline – you may want to know WHICH elliptical trainers offer incline.
Since this blog is about Nordictrack elliptical trainers specifically, I’ve listed current Nordictrack models that have incline below – along with where to read more about these trainers direct from the Manufacturer:
Nordictrack Ellipticals with Incline
Nordictrack Freestride Trainer FS14i – This trainer has up to 10 percent incline and 10 percent decline. It also has a completely adjustable stride of up to 32 inches and an extra-large, full-color, HD touchscreen console.
Nordictrack Freestride Trainer FS10i – This model has up to 10 percent incline. It also has a completely adjustable stride of up to 32 inches and a large full-color, HD touchscreen console.
Nordictrack Commercial 14.9 Elliptical – This trainer is a front drive model and gives you up to 20 degrees of incline, one of the highest you can find on a Nordictrack crosstrainer. It also gives you an extra-large, full-color, HD touchscreen console and incline/resistance controls on the moving arm bars.
Nordictrack C9.9 Elliptical – This is another front-drive elliptical trainer that’s a bit more affordable than the 14.9 model. It comes with up to 20 percent incline as well, but with a smaller console and a lower-weighted flywheel.
Nordictrack SE9i Crosstrainer – This popular rear-drive elliptical is the premium folding trainer in the series. It gives you up to 10 percent incline as well as a large, full-color, HD touchscreen.
Not sure which trainer is best for you? Check out the link below to compare all current Nordictrack elliptical trainers for sale right now.
Click to Compare All Elliptical trainers