This Nautilus, Inc. Review includes some of the company history as well as products produced by Nautilus, Inc. such as Bowflex, Schwinn Fitness, Pearl Izumi, StairMaster, Trimline, and Universal. Keep reading for information on Nautilus fitness equipment.

Nautilus, Inc. is located in Vancouver, Washington, and is known for such brands as Bowflex, Nautilus, Schwinn Fitness, Pearl Izumi, StairMaster, Trimline, and Universal.  Nautilus and its predecessors have been in the exercise and fitness equipment industry for over 30 years and market, develop, and manufacture health and fitness products sold under the brands named above.

Nautilus became a publicly traded company in May 1999 after the sale of the majority of the company by Nautilus originator, Arthur Jones.  Nautilus itself dates back to the late 1960s or early 1970s and was first just a name for the exercise machines produced by Arthur Jones, but became a corporate name during and after Jones’ ownership.

The Nautilus name comes from a reference to a mollusc whose shell is shaped liked a logarithmic spiral.  Arthur Jones designed his Nautilus exercise machines using a logarithmic spiral cam with a chain wrapped around it connected to a series of weights to control the resistance felt by the user.  Nautilus, Inc. held the patent on this cam design, which allowed for greater expansion of the company.  The patent eventually expired, however, and now several companies are manufacturing machines using similar cam designs.

As of early 2007, the Nautilus company had roughly 1,500 employees and was operating in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, and China, among other locations. 

Nautilus utilizes a direct-marketing approach to selling its home fitness equipment, making use of a combination of television commercials, infomercials, response mailings, the Internet, and call centers.  There are now special Bowflex home gyms that are also available in retail stores.  Consumer fitness equipment and apparel marketed under different brand names are sold through a network of specialty dealers and retailers worldwide.  Also, a few of the other brands such as StairMaster and Schwinn Fitness are marketed and sold through its sales force and selected dealers to health clubs, government agencies, hotels, corporate fitness centers, colleges, universities and assisted living facilities.

The Bowflex is Nautilus’ most popular machine.  Bowflex of America, Inc. began marketing its first product in 1986.  The company then went through a few name changes before it bought Nautilus Corporation, Schwinn Fitness, and StairMaster and became The Nautilus Group before it eventually settled on Nautilus, Inc.  Bowflex machines were revolutionary in that instead of conventional weights an pulleys they use a combination of polymer rods to create constant resistance or tension.  The company advertises that this technology takes up much less space than a complete set of weights and machines.  The patent that the company held on this technology expired in 2004.

The Bowflex name has also been used by Nautilus, Inc. to sell the TreadClimber machine.  The TreadClimber is cardio exercise equipment for the home that is similar to a treadmill, but has two independent walking surfaces called “treadles”.  Claims made in the marketing for this machine include that it burns twice the calories of a flat treadmill at the same speed.  In 2006, the Bowflex Revolution line was introduced.  These machines feature a completely new design and new resistance technology.  This new technology consists of circular plates containing coiled straps around a cam which can interlock in place of the polymer rods.  The company claims that the new system makes the machine easier to use and that it will better accommodate different sized users and more exercise variations. 

Overall, Nautilus, Inc. has a great reliability and quality record.  However, in January 2004 over 400,000 Bowflex machines were recalled due to mechanical problems.  Then in November of that same year, nearly 800,000 Bowflex machines were recalled after reports that the machines were unexpectedly breaking.  No one was seriously injured due to these breakdowns, but there was the potential for injury.  The company offered owners of these machines free safety kits.

More recently, Nautilus has introduced the new Mobia, a TreadClimber style exercise machine.  The Mobia sells for $1,999 and features an attractive design.  The introduction of this new machine bodes well for the viability of the Nautilus, Inc. company going forward.

Nautilus, Inc.

Global Headquarters

16400 SE Nautilus Drive

Vancouver, WA 98683

1-800-628-8458

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