CSA Alpine Tracker Wheels needed?

I replaced mine with the drawer guide wheels, as recommended. Make sure you use the lock washers to position the axle toward the side of the hole that will be closest to the track, so foot pads won't be too low when in place. They work fine except that these are hard plastic and are noisy. I used to run my tracker while listening to music through speakers, but the noise of these wheels kind of ruins that.

Dr Leonard
September 2021

I know this is an old post, but i noticed last week that my wheels broke on my CSA alpine tracker when i put it back up after leaving it unused for years. I searched for wheels and couldn't find any, I found this post and did DJ's fix using the cabinetry wheels he used, i bought them on amazon.ca
(https://www.amazon.ca/Prime-Line-Products-7228-Roller-4-Inch-20-Inch/dp/B00E8AF3XC) and it worked, my ski machine is moving perfect and smoothly.

Thanks a bunch DJ you have revived my at home skier.

Lulu
June 2021

I was dumb enough to buy a replacement CSA Alpine Tracker from Buyfitness.com in December 2019 and it was delivered in early January 2020, with the promise that the wheels would arrive about a month later. A year later, many calls and e-mails later, and still no wheels. (And no reply to my e-mails). They are very disreputable.

That said, I'm going to try DJ's fix below. Hope it works. Home Depot is selling the same set of 2 as the link he provided for Amazon for about $5.10. Here's the link:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Prime-Line-1-1-8-in-White-Nylon-Ball-Bearing-Drawer-Rollers-2-pack-R-7228/100142874?MERCH=REC-_-rv_cartempty_rr-_-NA-_-100142874-_-N

Anthony N.
February 2021

I originally tried a variation of jsuvman's solution; I only had one broken wheel, and so I replaced it with several layers of shrink tubing, building it up to the right size, then shaving the edges. This was several years ago; it worked OK, but I stopped using the machine, as I was going to the gym regularly.

Right now, of course, I can't go to the gym. So I went back to the machine, and found I how had another broken wheel; started doing the same solution, then find two other wheels about to come off. So I decided to go back to jsuvman's original solution, but came here to refresh my memory, and found DJ's solution. I bought 8 drawer guide wheels; they didn't come with lock washers, but I had enough, although it was difficult to put the nuts back on, on the side of the footpad which has the belt mechanism. It seems to be working fine, now; loads ot thanks to DJ and The Doctor!

Gene
April 2020

DJ's Answer worked for me. I replaced four broken rubber wheels with four of the drawer guide wheels in one of the sliding footrests. The new ones are a little smaller so the footrest may be slightly lower. When installing, tighten the lock washers to keep the shaft in the part of the hole closest to (what will be the) bottom of the footrest, unless you can find a way to shim the shaft in the hole.

The Doctor
October 2019

I bought these wheels on Amazon and so far they are holding up. Around 28-30.00 for 8 of them. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E8AF3XC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

DJ
March 2019

it's Feb 2018 , I've contacted buyfitness several time , got a run around everytime so I wrote a scathing review about them , the next day I got a reply they still don't have the damn wheels so I'm stuck with an almost $300. Alpine Tracker with flat tres. Looks like it's next trip is the trash , sad really sad.

Charles W Tillinghast
February 2018

My wheels all just started breaking apart after 20 years. Have only used the CSA Alpine Tracker in the fall/winter, before ski season, to get my legs back in shape. The machine is in great shape so I figured I would fix it but like everyone else could not find wheels anywhere. There is one person that says they have black ones for $9.99 each but you would think after all his posts on different sites he would have posted a picture or someone would have commented that has bought them?

Anyway, I decided to try to fix mine and after a bunch of thinking, here is what I did.

I bought some real heavy duty 1” shrink tubing. Sumitube Part # W5DL. Here it the data sheet. It is 1” Diameter and has a Wall Thickness of .075” (1.91 mm) I bought 4 feet of it so I had plenty to play around with.

http://www.seipusa.com/products/W0207001.asp?parm=W5DL

I did not have a heat gun so I used my toaster oven. Shrink temperature for this produce is 140 C (284 F). Would be easier to shrink evenly, I believe, with a heat gun?

I removed the bearings and I cut a piece of tubing 9/16” wide. I sat the bearing on the mounting bolt with the hub side up so there was a space at the bottom or the bearing for the tubing to shrink around.

I placed it on my oven tray and placed the piece of shrink tubing over the bearing and centered it. I put it in the oven about 3” from the element on the top and turned on the oven with the door open so I could watch. Once the element heated up and started to turn red, the tubing started to shrink around that top side and the bearing. Once it shrank about 2/3 of the way over the top I turned the bearing over and let the other side shrink. Once this side shrank all the way I turned it back and finished the other side.

On a few of the bearings it did not shrink even so I used an Exacto Knife the trim around the hub where the shrink tubing was touching. I set them aside and let them thoroughly cool.

I did all eight wheels on the foot pads. I removed the magnet, that the sensor uses, on the one foot pad because I knew the wheels were slightly smaller and it would rub. I put both foot pads back on CSA Alpine Tracker. The foot pads sits lower now because the wheels are only about 15/16” in diameter instead of the original 1 1/4” but the foot pads slide fine. They do not rub anywhere and can not come out of the track.

I used it for about 2 hours, 20 minutes at a time, and removed the foot pads to check the wheels. The all looked fine.

On the foot pad with the magnet, I left the magnet mounting bracket on the foot pad and replaced the magnet with a thinner one. The original magnet was 3/8” thick and I replaced it with a very strong, 1/2” diameter, 3/16” thick, round magnet I had laying around the house. I did not attach it in any way. The magnet was strong enough to just stick to the metal bracket and not move and the sensor works.

CSA Alpine Tracker back in business! :)

jsuvman
September 2012

yes 8 wheels for ski pads

larry pedrys
May 2011

buyfitness online has been out of stock, apparently for more than a year :(

jc
January 2011

Try this site. They sell the CSA tracker and replacement parts: buyfitnessonline.com

Linda Simonet
January 2011