Shopping for an in-home Elliptical Machine..any advice? (gym, reviews, glute)

[GoTexan]

For the past few months, I have been researching buying an ellipitcal machine for our home.

I have had an opportunity to work out on different brands in Hotels when I travel and must say, I have not found anything that compares to the quality of the Precor.

For example, I used an elliptical machine the other morning in the hotel workout room and my body felt like it was leaning forward too much and the machine did not have an option to adjust or elevate the foot pedals, so my body was in an awkward positon.

I am a huge fan of the Precor Elliptical machines but the best price I have found is $1300 for a Precor EFX 5.17i Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer (used condition).

Any rec's or advice on this deal?


Or any rec's for another brand that is just as durable but price may be a little less?

Thanks for any help.

[LynnePatrice]

I purchased a Sole brand machine this month. It was around $1200 and in my opinion, one of the best I have ever used, and I have used lots of different ones in gyms/hotels over the years. The foot pedals adjust, there are multiple programs to choose from, a built in fan, 2 places to hold water/ipod, etc., and you can plug your ipod into it and use it without your headphones if you want because it has built in speakers. The display is fully digital and it came with a heart rate monitor as well. Great purchase for me.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by GoTexan

I am a huge fan of the Precor Elliptical machines but the best price I have found is $1300 for a Precor EFX 5.17i Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer (used condition).

Or any rec's for another brand that is just as durable but price may be a little less?

Thanks for any help.

Precor makes the best Elliptical machines with Life Fitness being second. They are definitely expensive but they will not break as easily as other brands and they have much better warranty.

If its still under warranty and you've tried it out for at least 30 minutes and like it I say get it. Precor and Life Fitness are the ONLY brands of ellipticals I will ever consider because they are in a class all by themselves. No other brand compares - check Consumer Reports.

[DennyCrane]

Besides Precor and LifeFitness, another brand to consider is Octane Fitness. The company was started by people who used to work at LifeFitness. When I was shopping for ellipticals, I tried all three of these brands but settled on the Octane for several reasons. First, it takes up less space. Second, the pedal spacing is closer, which is great if you're shorter. The problem with a lot of ellipticals is that if the pedal spacing is too far, you can develop hip problems over time. I think some manufacturers design it with taller people in mind. The more advanced models may offer adjustable pedal spacing, but with Octane, the base model already has it. I've had mine for over 4 years and I've never had a problem with it. There are two issues with the Octane, however. It's 300 lbs so it's a pain to move. Even the movers I hired were dreading have to move it up stairs. The other issue is that the base resistance is higher than on other ellipticals. It took me a while to get used to, but now I can do an hour on it fairly easily. And the glute kicker workout is great.

[LynnePatrice]

Here is a good link to check out. It reviews various brands and all aspects of the machine and warranty are covered.
Elliptical Trainer Review : Elliptical Reviews

[GoTexan]

Thanks for all the helpful responses, I have been reading the reviews and feel more confident about my purchase of a Precor elliptical machine.

Thanks again everyone!

[OA 5599]

Both gyms I've been to (a Gold's Gym and the gyms here at the University of Texas) have had LifeFitness ellipticals. I've really enjoyed using them, the quality always seemed really good as they get used all day by a LOT of people, and neither gym seems to have problems with them breaking down. I like the various options and settings the LifeFitness models have, the heart rate monitors, and many of the newer ones at the campus gym have built in TV's!

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by GoTexan

Thanks for all the helpful responses, I have been reading the reviews and feel more confident about my purchase of a Precor elliptical machine.

Thanks again everyone!

Congrats. You will not regret your purchase. Precor really does make the best elliptical. They have several patents on their design that no one else can duplicate.

[TXboomerang]

Precor makes a great product. I have their gym model bike at home. Very expensive, but also very high quality, smooth and consistent. Not sure I'll ever be able to wear it out.

[titaniummd]

Schwinn just came out with the 460 Variable Stride Elliptical that works for just about anyone. It is solid in construction, has a small footprint and doesn't cost much.