Home Elliptical Trainer - recommendations?

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
I need to buy a new home elliptical trainer. My old one broke in less than two months (the Fitness Quest Eclipse 1100 HR/A), so I need something of decent durability.

Unfortunately, I have one very severe restraint - the only place I can fit the trainer makes size imperative: no more than 68 inches long (including fully extended stride in action) and 37 inches wide (no height restriction :)).

The other thing is that I definitely want arm action - so that I can get an upper body workout as well.

I've seen this:

http://www.fitnessquest.com/scripts...temdetl.html?item=ellipticaltrainer_edge_1400

with assembled dimensions: 50"L X 28"W X 63"H

And I've seen many on Amazon, but a lot of them are of obvious poor quality.

I guess I'm asking for recommendations from anyone's personal experience for an elliptical that fits my requirements that's reasonably durable. Or maybe you actually have experience with the Edge 1400? TIA!
 
if you can afford it, go with a Life Fitness machine. They are health club quality and are tanks. we Bought 2 used and they are awesome. best on the market IMO.
 
Thanks for that suggestion! However, note my very specific size requirements. The ones I see on their site are huuuuuuuuuuge :( That really is a non-negotiable issue for me, simply no space, period.
 
Hmmm. good point. the machines we have are about 4 years old and they are smaller than the newer models. I don't know of any small machines that are built to quality you desire. I do know that the machines they sell at sears, wal mart, etc. will not give you too many hours of service before breaking down. that is tough one. I do know spacesaver makes a decent machine that folds up if that helps. not sure of the dimensions though.
 
Money has to be the guiding force behind your decision.

If you have $2000-$3000 and want something that will last a long time then I would suggest Precor or Life Fitness. These are two gym quality machines that will perform time and time again. They are high quality, commercial grade, and will continue to produce. The problem with these is the cost associated with them. These are not cheap machines but if you have a commercial supplier you can normally get a used model for $1500.

If you are in the $1000-$2000 camp, well now there are a lot of options. Like I originally said, you can go used on the Precor or similar commercial grade (the Precor has a small footprint and is my personal favorite at my gym). In this price range you are looking at consumer stuff. The big supplier of consuder stuff is ProForm which owns Weider, NordicTrack, Horizon, and tons of other brands. I have a NordicTrack personally and while I spent $1000+ on it, it is loud (and I'm waaaay below the max weight) and the construction leaves a bit to be desired (when compared with the commercial grade models). That being said, when it comes to most of these consumer grades you want as few bells and whistles as possible. The NordicTracks are NOTORIOUS for having the iPod stations and TVs go out and it costs MORE than the original unit to replace. It is an absolute scam... plus it's better to have a real TV in front of the machine any way so you keep your back straight and head looking forward.

In the su-$1000 you are dealing with more consumer grade gear that consists of more plastic and less customization (the computer calculates calories but without allowing you to enter your weight so it is not giving you accurate feedback. It tracks every full rotation versus every step so your distance is halved).

I wish someone had told me to buy once versus several times with this stuff because I use mine every day and it is loud and lacks features.

Get the best you can afford... and then search for that model at the cheapest price.

Good luck and happy shopping.
 
Thanks, Jeremy. I'm willing to spend the money to get the quality. My #1 issue however, is footprint. For example, the Precors you mention, are a minimum of 75" long for the home model and over 80" for the gym model. My limitation is 68" max. I live in an apartment, and unfortunately can't fit in anything bigger than that, no matter the quality of the gear. However, yes, I do appreciate what you are saying: quality, and buy it once, but buy it well - indeed, after my original elliptical broke after only two months, I certainly appreciate that point.

As a side point, after doing some research online, I find the world of ellipticals can certainly use some innovation - the choices are not very many, when you come right down to it.
 
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