Elliptical machines - good/bad/ugly?

[JeF4y]

Anybody wanna share their experience? Model/price would help.

Thanks.

[Mongo]

I like ours, no clue on model or price tho :D Got it from Fitness Resource.

[Mongo]

Okay, so I looked over my shoulder, Life Fitness is the brand name.

[JeF4y]

Thanks Mongo... If it turned you from your old avatar to your new one, I'm SOLD!!!

[Ian178]

get a bicycle, it's more fun to get outside so you will probably use it more

[R Acree]

Thanks Mongo... If it turned you from your old avatar to your new one, I'm SOLD!!!

You want a sex change?:wow:

[Smokes35]

Life Fitness makes some good stuff...


Pre-core makes the best tho.

[Spicoli]

Yeah, aren't the Life Fitness and Pro Core models a few thousand $$?!?!

We've got one in our basement, and it's in front of a television, so it actually gets used a good bit. I'm trying to remember the name of it, I wanna say Nordi-Track, but I'm not sure. We got it at Sears a couple of years ago, and it was right at $1000. I remember the model number is something like 1055x. It's pretty nice, it's got a power adjustable ramp for inclines, and the computer has like 20 different settings, or you can do it manually. It's also got a fan built in that works pretty good. Also, I believe it has an 18" wheel. The wheel diameter is key. The smaller the wheel, the smaller the stride, and vice-versa. If you're over 5'6", you'll want at LEAST an 18" wheel. I'm 6'0", and to be honest, I'd like a larger stride, but to get the bigger wheel, I believe it only comes in the higher end machines mentioned above. $3-4000 was just a tad out of our price range! :D

[JeF4y]

To preface all of this... I work out at home. My wife, kids and I all do. We have a 'Body Solid' gym and a Pro-Form recumbent bike. The bike probably has 10,000 miles on it now and it's getting quite noisy. Considering an elliptical as another item which would really replace the bike. We've been the treadmill route and don't like them.

Supersquid - The bicycle idea is great, but I'm doubting how much use I'd get out of it. Honestly prefer to be at home. I thought of getting a recumbent to ride to work (15 mi), but don't know how realistic it is.

Acree - if it made me that hot? Sure...

The life fitness stuff seems to be excellent. Will have to try some out in the store though before I plunk down +$2G for the basic model though... Honestly would like to be around $1k for it, but understand the importance of something WELL BUILT.

[JeF4y]

I'm 6'2" and the wife is 5'3". Need something we could both use... (kids are 5'3" and growing).

I spent the night last night and morning today reading a LOT of bad reviews on Nordic Track (they certainly outweighed the good reviews), so I'm kinda shying away from them.

[Spicoli]

I spent the night last night and morning today reading a LOT of bad reviews on Nordic Track (they certainly outweighed the good reviews), so I'm kinda shying away from them.

Hmm, what models were the reviews for? We've had ours for about 2 years, and I know we've logged a LOT of miles on it (Okay, my wife more than me :D), and no problems at all. You do have to keep grease on a couple of the moving parts, and when you let them go, they get dirty and noisy, but regular maintenance has kept them running fine. Also, to be honest again, I don't know for certain if it is a Nordi-track or not. It was about the most expensive one that Sears had.

As for the heights, then you'd probably be best to go with something around an 18" wheel. It will feel a little awkward for you, but since the shorter people outnumber you in the house, it will work a lot better for them. My wife is 5'8", and she says that it's a tad too short for her, but she's all legs! :D

[Crashfest]

This is the least expensive elliptical machine I've found that feels like a gym machine. I have a Sole treadmill and the quality is superb.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2510833&cp=2367453.693947&view=all&clickid=topnav_exercisedrop_5&parentPage=family&searchId=693947

[Marcmcm]

I saw a treadmill at Sams Club last night with a TV in it. First one like that I've seen. I had a Nordic Track staitonary bike that I bought at Sears that was a piece of junk. I hardly even used it and it went bad after 1 year.

[Mongo]

Ours wasn't cheap, but it's also held up to me using it so it's well well worth the money.

[JeF4y]

Yeah, the life fitness ones do look great. They're at the place that I bought our gym from, so I'll swing by and look at them today.

[Mongo]

Okay, looks like ours is an X3, they had higher models that had more bells and whistles but didn't seem worth it for us.

[Spyderchick]

A plus for the Life Fitness models is that most have a heart rate feature; you can use them with Polar Heart rate monitor products. I wear my chest strap to the gym and the HR automatically pops right up on the display. Something to consider.

[Mongo]

That is cool to know, ours has the wireless one too.

[JeF4y]

The big thing I like about the life fitness (so far in looking) is having user customized profiles. That would be great for me & the wife..

[Mongo]

I didn't step up that far although I kind of wish we'd gotten the X5 for her stubby legs. She might use it more (well, she'd lose one excuse).

[Cuddles de Sade]

I'm the dude that hooked the Czar and Mongo with their elliptical.

pm me for more detailed Q&A, but as a rule...NO SPORTING GOODS STORES OR BIG BOX STORES!!! this means no Dicks, no WalMart, no Sears. for sure nothing made by Icon Industries (ProForm, Nordic Track, Image, Weslo, etc...all an absolute waste of $$$, you might as well just burn the money in the fireplace instead)

go to a fitness specialty retailer in your hood. there'll be a range from $1100ish to $5000. that covers from Hyundai to Ferrari. yes you will pay more than you would in a big box store, but you get something you can ACTUALLY USE. there's a reason my company doesn't carry any elliptical under $1100...it's not cuz we don't want to...there just isn't one that will last for any period of time and/or has anything even close to a bio-mechanically correct motion. I'd love to have a $500 one, but we can't risk our name and reputation.

[Cuddles de Sade]

A plus for the Life Fitness models is that most have a heart rate feature; you can use them with Polar Heart rate monitor products. I wear my chest strap to the gym and the HR automatically pops right up on the display. Something to consider.:beer:

HR training is awesome. quality over quantity. you know exactly the workout you're getting instead of going by how the workout 'felt'.

[Cuddles de Sade]

Jeff-

I don't know for sure who carries Life Fitness in WI...but I think it's a company called Second Wind. my boss knows their boss, etc...I'll see if there's someone I can point you to.

[hank748]

I bought my wife a Kettler eliptical - they also rebadge the same models under the 'Smooth' brand name. The action on the Kettler is better than the machines I use at the local gym.

[wolf44]

jeff, shoot me a pm with your email. I can get you hooked up with some people from 2nd wind and probably get you a decent discount.

[Big Deezul]

my wife did mad shopping around for hers and loves it 100% it is actually is nicer then the ones at our gym. and they deliver it right to your door
http://www.smoothfitness.com/ptr_cj.php?AID=6945545&PID=1871900&SID=fitness-equipment-web-site

[JeF4y]

Yep, 2nd wind is the local place. We bought our Body Solid gym from them.

I went over at lunch yesterday and reviewed the decent options.
Octane & Life Fitness

Both ranged from $2k - +$5500.

I didn't necessarily had a preference. Both had some features I liked. It would be up to what the wife was comfortable with.

Took the wife out last night and we checked them out. We both liked the SILENT movement of the life fitness, but Jen did not like the feel of the arms or the rear movement (too many moving parts to snag people/dogs/etc). She REALLY liked the octane.

I really wanted something that would interact with a heartrate monitor which put us up into the mid-grade equipment (Q37E). We chatted and talked deals and ultimately got what we felt was a reasonable deal so we bought it.

Brought it home and got a hell of a workout getting it out of the jeep and into the house. Setup was about 30 mins. Very quick, clear & easy.

I'm still in sticker shock over the thing, but it gives a good workout and I know it will last. I spent 10 mins on it last night and 15 this morning. Still getting the hang of the menus, but that will come with time...

Some of the other things we liked were the shape of the arms/handles with multiple grip points, the cross-body motion of the arms instead of just going straight, and of course the electronics of it.

Here's some pics of it:

http://www.octanefitness.com/files/image/item/LARGE/Q37_front_C.jpg http://www.octanefitness.com/files/image/item/LARGE/Q37_Back_C.jpg http://www.octanefitness.com/files/image/item/LARGE/Q37_console2_C.jpg

[Marcmcm]

Damn smoky! That's a sweet machine. Does the heart rate monitor work with a chest strap or is it wireless?

[JeF4y]

Wireless... It's pretty cool..

Ultimately it came down to "why spend $1k on something that isn't going to fit right or perform the way we want it to. Nobody will use it if we do", so we went for what would definitely work for the whole family.

[Cuddles de Sade]

congrats!!! the Q37e is an awesome machine and one of the top selling ellipticals in the industry right now. very unique upper body motion...the converging arms makes it much easier for shorter ladies. there's actually a three position adjustment that you can make (probably saw that if you read the instructions, but I'll assume nothing from a racer)

you did the right thing if it's the one she really liked...makes all the difference when you are going to have the unit for a decade or so...

the X Mode is my favorite part of the programming. you can adjust the intervals and create an Ultimate Random type program. super cool.

Octane is a great company (ironically I'm wearing one of their shirts today) and they make a damn good product. a handful of ex-Life Fitness guys started the company and all they focus on is ellipticals.

congrats again and great choice!

[JeF4y]

Thanks Bret. Yeah, I went into this thinking they were all pretty much the same but QUICKLY learned otherwise.

As for the arms, yep, we tried it all out before I put the 'hood' on. Since the wife read the directions and I clearly followed her instructions nothing was missed, and peace remained in the Kufalk house.

I have the book here today and went through it. I think tonight I'll set up my profile in it and tomorrow will go for a heart-rate program.

Now if you have any workout suggestions, I'm game!

Ideally I'm planning on 30 mins x 5 days. Right now though, I'm well under that, doing a couple mins warmup, 10 minutes routine, couple minutes cool-down.

Will see how the heart rate programs work though as that seems to be the safest and most 'accurate' approach to what I should be doing.