NordicTrack Select-a-Weight Adjustable Dumbbells

The NordicTrack adjustable dumbbells are a real winner that are working out well for my wife and I.Pros:1) Nice weight range (10-55) and sufficient increments for me. We have a small set of 2.5 to 8-lb individual dumbbells to fill in on the very low end.2) Compact dumbbells. The dumbbells are no longer than needed for the weight you are using. The 10-lb configuration is narrower than the 20-lb, which is narrower than the 30-lb, which is narrower than the 40-lb, which is narrower than the 50-lb. DO NOT DISCOUNT this when shopping for adjustable dumbbells. You do not want to be swinging around a 2-ft long bar in each hand when simply using a 10-lb dumbbell. It gets in the way and limits the range of motion for some exercises. These incrementally add plates to the end as the weight goes up. So they are compact at low weights, and very much the size of a fixed dumbbell of similar weight at heavier weights.3) Easy to adjust. The adjustment system is low effort, but locks solidly and seems unlikely to fail long term, normal use.4) Value. Not the cheapest, but give a great bang for the buck.Cons:1) Slower to adjust, relatively. Some changes require moving 4-adjustment levers on each dumbbell, depending on what weight you are switching between. A single or double dial is quicker, no doubt. But, note that I said "relatively". They really only take a couple of seconds to adjust, and it has been a non factor in my workouts.2) Missing some weight choices. You can add 2.5-lb or 5-lb to the coarse 10-lb, 20-lb, 30-lb, 40-lb, 50-lb settings. So you can do 12.5-lb & 15-lb, but not 17.5-lb, etc. The next increment after 15-lb is 20-lb. You could fudge around this by selecting an uneven amount to each end of the dumbbell, which would make them unbalanced by 2.5-lbs and give you a 7.5-lb increment. But I don't suggest doing that. For me, the increments are fine enough for what I do, and I move up and down in 5-lb amounts anyway.3) maybe more fragile than fixed weights? This is actually a comment that applies to probably all adjustable dumbbells, simply because they have a selection mechanism added to them. These do not appear fragile in the absolute sense, but I have no plans to drop them the way you see some guys do with fixed weights at the gym.I researched buying these quite a bit, and narrowed it down to several contenders. The Bowflex dumbbells were one finalist, and are undeniably slick, with the one-knob adjustment system. But, they (and some others) have a disqualifying flaw (in my opinion) where the dumbbell bar is always full length, regardless of how much weight you've selected. Even at whatever their minimum is, you are swinging around like a two-foot rod with each arm.Anyway, I'm a happy customer, and these are working great.5/2/2025 UPDATE: 15-months later, and these are still going strong and doing the job. One annoyance is the lack of labels indicating which way to move the 2.5-lb/5-lb levers. But I solved that by putting a small dab of silver automobile touchup paint on the 5-lb side (SEE photo). Seems like an obvious issue that the manufacturer would address, but it only took a couple of minutes for me to fix it permanently.

I really really love these. They are perfect for what I needed: user friendly, easy to adjust, intuitive, doesn’t slow me down in my workouts, more affordable price point while also maintaining quality. I’ve been using these for 2 months. They’ve been helping me to stay accountable to working out even at home.

I was a bit concerned reading other reviews about the shipping, especially when it changed from 3 day UPS to 7 day USPS. That said, the package arrived ok. The packing material inside was destroyed, but the dumbbells were fine. As others have suggested, I recommend you check every plate once you receive them to make sure none are cracked.The mechanism for changing the weights is a little less convenient than others, like Homefitness or Nubell, as you have to adjust up to 4 levers rather than just twisting. However, it only taken me about 10 seconds to make the changes and then check to make sure I have not made an error.The grip feels nice and I prefer the metal to plastic. The balance on the dumbbells is ok. It's definitely not perfect, but I became used it after only about a week. I can't compare to others as I have not spent any amount of time lifting with other brands of adjustable dumbbells.The size of the dumbbells has not been an issue for me yet. They are a bit more bulky than normal dumbbells, particularly at higher weights, but they haven't restricted my motion in any way.Overall, I can recommend these.Update: I've been using these for about 1 month now and my experience has been positive. Recently I noticed the plates not lined up 100% after putting them back, making it impossible to move the orange tab and adjust. It has only happened once. Here is a tip if this happens to you. The bottom of each plate has a small portion that is flat. This is not to prevent them from rolling, rather it is to align the plates into the cradle. If it is aligned properly and the flat portion of the plate is in the grove that is at the very bottom of the cradle, the plates will not easily shift in the cradle and the adjustment should work ok. Note the plates must also be slid into each other if they happen to fall out of the cradle.My only other suggestion is to mark which side is the 5lb setting. Unless I am missing something, there is no way to tell by just looking. If so, this was a small design oversite.