Gear Tag Help
Setup help for your Gear Tags.
How to Assemble a Gear Tag
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1
Pick a Base Tag — horizontal or vertical, and an appropriate color. Choose what fits your equipment best.
2
Apply it to the machine in an optimal location. See below for recommended spots.
3
Apply the Data Tag in the designated area on the Base Tag.
4
Scan the tag with your camera and go to the link to activate the tag and link it to the equipment.
Where to Place Your Tag
Before You Start
- Wipe the surface with isopropyl alcohol (70% or higher) and a clean cloth for best results. A damp rag works if you don't have alcohol on hand.
- Do not use gym cleaning spray - many contain silicone or oils that prevent adhesion.
- Let the surface dry for 10–15 seconds before applying.
Where to Look
- Find where the manufacturer already put their labels (serial number plate, safety warnings). That zone is flat, stable, and out of the wear path. Place your tag on the same type of surface, nearby.
- Height: between waist and chest (30"–54" from the floor). Below the knee gets missed. Above eye level gets missed.
- Pick the face visible from the main gym floor walkway. Someone approaching the machine should be able to spot the tag from 3–6 feet away.
How to Apply
- Peel off the full backing.
- Align the tag to your target spot. Get the position right before making contact.
- Press from center outward with firm pressure, 2–3 passes across the full surface.
- Press each edge and corner with your fingernail. Edges are where peeling starts. An extra 5 seconds here prevents replacement later.
- Do not reposition after contact. Pulling up and re-sticking weakens the bond.
Surfaces to Avoid
Rubber or foam grips
Chrome-plated bars
Moving parts
Seat pads & upholstery
Weight plates & stacks
Air vents
Floor-level surfaces
Over serial number plates
Below handlebars (sweat drip zone)
Heavily textured / hammertone finish
Common Equipment
Tap a category to browse, then tap any item to expand placement tips.
Avoid
- Console/display (plastic, wiped constantly)
- Motor hood at front (gets hot, often vented)
- Side handrails (chrome, high hand contact)
- Belt/deck (moving)
- Rear base near power cord (too low)
- Motor hoods on commercial treadmills (Life Fitness, Precor, Matrix) can get warm during long use - keep the tag on the upright, not the motor housing.
- Plastic shrouds over uprights work if they're smooth and rigid; skip them if they flex when you push.
- Check the inner side of the upright for manufacturer labels - match that zone on the outward-facing side.
Avoid
- Moving arm handles (swing back and forth)
- Pedal covers (stepped on)
- Flywheel cover at front (vented, warm)
- Rear stabilizer bar (floor level)
- Ellipticals have many moving parts. Before applying, push every arm and check that nothing swings close enough to contact the tag.
- Some models (Precor) have wide plastic shrouds over the center column - OK if rigid, skip if it's a removable maintenance panel.
- Place where the mast is widest if it tapers.
Avoid
- Handlebars (chrome, rubber-wrapped)
- Seat post (adjustable, sweaty)
- Console/display
- Flywheel cover (warm, vented)
- Base feet
- Bikes with belt-drive covers (like Keiser M3i) often have clip-on plastic panels for service access - skip those.
- Recumbent bikes are different: use the side of the seat support frame or the console post, facing outward toward the gym floor.
Avoid
- Flywheel cover (warm, sweated on)
- Handlebars (dripping sweat, aggressive cleaning)
- Adjustment knobs
- Water bottle holder area
- Resistance knob housing
- Spin bikes are the wettest machines in the gym. Place the tag where sweat doesn't drip (not directly below handlebars) and where cleaning spray runs off, not where it pools.
- Some spin bikes have narrow frame tubes (under 2.5" wide) - test fit before committing. If the tag overhangs the edge, try the next wider section or use the vertical format instead.
Avoid
- Monorail/seat track (abrasion from moving seat)
- Handle and chain area
- PM5 performance monitor arm (thin, vibrates)
- Rear legs (floor level)
- Concept2 rowers separate into two pieces for storage. If the gym stores rowers upright, the tag on the front leg may contact the floor - place it a few inches up from the bottom edge.
- Aluminum surfaces (some Concept2 models) bond well.
- The PM5 monitor arm is too thin and vibrates during use.
Avoid
- Moving stairs (revolving models)
- Step pedals (stepper models)
- Handrails
- Console area
- Base at floor level
- Revolving-stair StairMasters (Gauntlet, SM series) have a mix of steel and plastic panels on the mast. Tap the surface - steel sounds metallic, plastic sounds hollow. Choose steel.
- Avoid snap-fit maintenance panels that technicians remove for service.
- The chain-drive mechanism generates significant vibration; place on a rigid structural section, not a thin resonating panel.
Avoid
- Pulleys and cable guides
- Weight stack columns/shrouds
- Crossbar at top (too high)
- Cable adjustment handles
- Base frame at floor level
- Place adjacent to instructional placards on the uprights, not over them.
- Rigid permanently-attached shroud panels work; pop-off service access panels do not.
- Multi-station cable machines where users at one end can't see a tag at the other end may need multiple tags (one per distinct station).
Avoid
- Thigh pad (upholstery, adjustable)
- Overhead pulley bar (chrome, sweaty)
- Weight stack shroud (vented, vibrates)
- Seat pad
- Adjustable arm components
- Weight stack shrouds take a beating from slamming weights - vibration and impact transmit through thin plastic.
- Steel frame members are safer.
- Place the tag on the outer face visible from the gym floor, not the inner face the user stares at while pulling.
Avoid
- Cable pulleys and guides
- Weight stack shrouds
- Cable adjustment columns
- Accessory storage hooks
- One tag is sufficient for the whole unit unless the two sides serve distinctly separate gym areas.
- Some functional trainers (Freemotion, Life Fitness) have swiveling arms - make sure the tag isn't in the swing path.
- Avoid placing where the tag faces inward and gets obscured by the user's body.
Avoid
- Barbell and guide tracks (slides constantly)
- J-hooks and safety catches (repositioned)
- Weight plate storage posts (plates bang)
- Top crossbar (too high)
- Rear posts (not visible)
- Guide rails are sometimes chrome-plated for smooth barbell travel - those sections won't hold a tag. Place on the powder-coated structural section of the post.
- Weight plates on the barbell can swing and contact the uprights; offset the tag slightly from the barbell's travel path or use the perpendicular face.
Avoid
- J-hooks and safety pins (removable)
- Pull-up bar at top (chrome, sweaty, too high)
- The rows of adjustment holes
- Rear uprights (not visible)
- Base anchors, numbered hole markers
- Squat rack uprights are covered in holes for J-hook positioning. The tag needs a section without holes - typically near the bottom of the upright below the first hole, or on the side face perpendicular to the holes.
- Powder-coated racks work well; galvanized steel (common in CrossFit gyms) has a rougher surface and needs extra pressure.
- In CrossFit gyms, place on the side face perpendicular to the barbell's path (barbells get bumped into front-facing surfaces).
Avoid
- Seat pad and back pad (upholstery)
- Adjustment mechanism (pins, levers)
- Wheels/transport handles
- Base feet
- On adjustable benches, make sure the tag isn't on a section that moves when the angle changes.
- Tags near the base get scraped when the bench is tilted and rolled for moving.
- Some benches have very narrow frame tubing (under 2" wide) - if the tag wraps around the edge it'll peel; use the wider leg section or foot-end plate instead.
- Place on the side facing outward into the gym, not toward the mirror.
Avoid
- Individual dumbbells (rubber/urethane surface, dropped constantly)
- Rubber cradle inserts on rack
- Top horizontal rail (items dragged across it)
- Very bottom tier
- Each rack should get its own tag (reporting "broken dumbbell at rack near the window" is more useful than "somewhere").
- Wall-mounted racks with no side panel: use the wall surface immediately adjacent to the rack (clean with alcohol first).
- Place the tag on a section not in the direct path of dumbbells being racked aggressively.
Avoid
- Individual kettlebells (cast iron, too small, dropped)
- Shelf surface (weight placed directly on it)
- Very bottom of rack
- Smaller than dumbbell racks, may not have large flat surfaces.
- If the rack is just a shelf without side panels, use the wall behind or beside it.
- In CrossFit gyms where kettlebells sit on the floor, tag the nearest fixed structure instead.
Avoid
- Sled/carriage (moves on rails)
- Weight plate loading posts
- Seat and back pad
- Safety stops
- Rail surfaces (lubricated)
- Don't place anywhere near the guide rails - lubricant migrates and undermines adhesive.
- The structural frame vibrates under heavy loads; pick a thick structural section, not a thin cosmetic panel.
- On 45-degree leg press machines, the sweet spot is the lower side frame section near the seat.
Avoid
- Weight stack and shroud (vibrates every rep, often vented)
- Seat/back pad
- Adjustable leg pad
- Cam/pivot mechanism
- Ankle roller pad
- Selectorized machines have weight stacks that slam with every rep. Steel frame sections absorb the vibration; thin plastic shrouds may shake the tag loose over time.
- Place adjacent to (not over) instructional decals on the frame.
- Same placement strategy works for both curl and extension machines.
Avoid
- Pressing arms/handles (move every rep)
- Weight plate horns (plates slide on/off)
- Weight stack shroud (vented, vibrates)
- Seat/back pad
- Adjustment pins
- On plate-loaded machines, check that a loaded 45-lb plate can't contact the tag when racked.
- Hammer Strength-style load-bearing posts (thick steel, separate from the moving arm) are ideal.
- On selectorized models (Life Fitness, Cybex, Precor), place below or beside the instructional placard.
Avoid
- Moving arms/handles
- Weight plate horns
- Weight stack shroud
- Seat/back pad
- Adjustment pins
- Shoulder press machines are often positioned with the seat facing outward, meaning the frame column faces away from the main walkway.
- Walk around the machine and find the face most visible from the primary approach direction - it may be the side face of the column rather than the front.
Avoid
- Pull-up bar (chrome, sweaty hands)
- Dip handles (same)
- Back/arm pad (if present)
- Top crossbar (too high)
- Base/feet
- Pull-up bars are a sweat drip zone. Place the tag slightly off-center from directly below the grip area, or on the perpendicular face of the post.
- On large rigs (CrossFit-style pull-up rigs), one tag per bay or section is sufficient - you don't need every post.
- Freestanding stations sometimes have a counterweight at the base, but it's too low.
Avoid
- All pads and cushions (upholstery)
- Foot rollers/ankle locks
- Pivot points
- Base feet
- These are often the lowest-profile equipment on the floor with limited flat surfaces. If the frame has no good surface above 24", place on the highest flat section available rather than on a pad.
- Hyper-extension/Roman chair machines: the vertical post where the hip pad attaches is usually the best option.
- GHD machines have a long flat rail at the base (12–18") - low but viable.
- Ab crunch machines with weight stacks follow the same rules as other selectorized machines.
Equipment not listed?
- Find the largest flat, rigid, non-moving surface that isn't padded, chromed, or at floor level.
- Check for existing manufacturer labels. Place your tag on the same type of surface, nearby.
- Pick the face most visible from the gym floor walkway.
- Height between 30" and 54" from the floor.
- Wipe with alcohol, apply with firm pressure, press the edges.
Still not sure? Take a photo and send it to [email protected]