Months of research have led to this moment: purchasing a home gym machine. I read reviews and compared motors, finally landing on NordicTrack’s S22i. It sounds like a good decision, that is, until it becomes time for a non-fitness obstacle.
It is an architectural one. A giant box has just entered your living room and suddenly, the front door won’t budge any wider. Will that treadmill fit?
It’s the number-one question asked by buyers and the deciding factor between having a headache or getting a workout. It is more than you realize. Getting a returned treadmill is a pain in the butt.
Returning a treadmill is a pain. It involve managing moving parts and coordinating with carriers. This leaves you feeling like you’re falling behind on your home gym dream.
Before the delivery truck pulls up: get the measurements down. Make no guesses. Guessing sucks.
How To Check If NordicTrack S22i Fits Door
Measuring the Shipping Box Dimensions
Get down there and getting measuring. Measuring. With purpose.
These are made for assembly. However, even after assembly, some standard door is just too small for the frame. Understanding the box dimensions is your first line of defense.
The S22i does not ship as one solid block of steel. It ships in a carton that measure approximately 78 inches long by 29 inches wide by 15 inches high. For reference, most interior doors measures 32 inches wide.
Exterior doors tend to be 36 inches wide. So width is usually not the problem. Length is where it gets interesting.
That 78-inch length will cause problems in your narrow hallway or on your tight staircase before you ever arrive at the destination. That’s where the treadmill foot print becomes the real limitation. When you unpack the S22i, the console and running surface leave behind a very wide footprint.
Navigating Doorways and Hallways
It is about 39 inches in total width. It’s like you’re not attempting to get a box through your door. You’re angling a 39-inch wide object around a 36-inch or 32-inch opening.
Geometry doesn’t work for you on this one, you can’t just push it through. You’ve got to angle it. But there is some spatial math involved in angling the treadmill.
To get through the door, you’ll want the S22i tilted so its diagonal width align with the door frame. If it’s 39 inches wide, then its diagonal width is greater than its straight width. So it behaves differently as you rotate it.
What I found in practice was that a standard 32-inch door will accommodate the S22i, but only if you can tilt it sufficiently to pass it through diagonally. An exterior 36-inch door help make this easier. You’ll have more room to work with, plus less chance of scratching your door or frame.
Planning the Delivery Route
The door isn’t everything. The width of the hallway also matters. A lot of folks only measure the door, not the route to the door.
For instance, if your hall is narrow, there’s no way to make the angle required to bring the S22i in. To pivot the unit, you must have a large space on which to pivot. Getting delivered is personal.
Access details are provided to carriers. Disclose any tight spots. Because the machine is heavy, it can’t be carried horizontally down narrow stairs.
Is the staircase too narrow? It won’t matter what the door is. Worried that it won’t fit?
Measure first. Before you order, take a tape measure and measure the door opening, corner to corner. The diagonal is what matters.
The S22i’s assembled size is on their site. You want to make sure the diagonal of your doorway is longer than the treadmill’s longest side. Better to find out now then have a delivery guy leave the treadmill at your curb.
The S22i is not a modular bike that you can break down and send in. It comes all pre-assembled, except all of the pieces are linked together within shipping box. There’s no way to tear it apart and get it into some tiny doorway.
We had to deal with that limitation. You have to accept the size that NordicTrack gives you. There is no making it fit somehow.
The screen and the console are protected during shipping. Messing with it will void your warranty and might even harm it. And sometimes the answer is easier than you imagine.
Using Alternative Entry Points
Measure twice. Look at your stairs, look at your hallway, look at your door. Consider using a wider back door or patio door instead.
If not, will the machine fit through a larger patio door, or maybe a back door? Are you on the ground floor with windows that could be opened? I know it sounds crazy, but yes, people do this.
And it’s worth it if it keeps the S22i from having to make another trip. Finally, yes, the NordicTrack S22i will fit through a typical door. If you can get it angled in with care, then its width of 39 inches isn’t that bad.
But typically it’s not the length of the box. It’s the path. Take measurements.
Double check your measurements. Plan out how you’re going to bring it in. Make sure you’ve got enough room to turn it around.
Spend some time planning ahead and save yourself an hour or two of aggravation. You want to work hard at your workout, not getting the thing in your house.
