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 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]

Originally Posted by JeF4y

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

You want a sex change?

[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!

[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]

Originally Posted by JeF4y

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 ), 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!

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/pr...earchId=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).