I searched the archives but there is no definitive thread on brands, only those suggesting that an elliptical trainer is a good thing.
I want to buy one, and saw this one at Sears.
What elliptical do you own, do you like it, and how much do they cost? I was hoping to sepnd $300-$400.
Is an elliptical trainer someone who stands there and says,
“like, maybe you could do … I dunno, something with that barbell over there …?? Just sayin’ …”
the belly laughs are just melting the pounds away…
I do not own an elliptical trainer, but until last January, I sold them. At Sears. ProForm makes a decent machine for the money. Did you actually go to the store and try it, or are you shopping online? Different machines feel different. Some used to make me feel like my hips were being pulled apart. Be sure you try before you buy. I also see that the warranty is still only 90 days. Go ahead and get the maintenance agreement; if you need a repair within the first year, it can be money well spent. If you cancel after that without using it, you can get at least some of your money back (read the instructions in the brochure you get under “Cancellations”).
Most of the technical problems were with the LCD displays; one was with a part that broke inside the magnet assembly. That one was replaced through the Maintenance Agreement, since the part to fix it would not be available for 6 weeks. If the people had not had the agreement, they would have been SOL, as it was after 90 days.
-Snerk- Yer funny. Are you going to be here all week? 
Interesting OP. My big holiday gift is my wife saying, " Oh, and you’re going to buy yourself that Elliptical thing right?". :rolleyes:
I am also heavy in the market for one. The gym I belonged to had an amazing one. Zero impact, zero torque to the lower back ( my particular area of concern ). The ones I see all are "pump up and down with your feet " types. I really cannot afford a seven thousand dollar machine that allows my feet to swing to and fro, but the machines I have seen ( like the one at Sears ) has me pumping my feet up and down- and my feet impact at the bottom of every stroke. Hell, that’s as bad as running around a track and is, IMHO, completely opposed to the idea of an ellipitcal training machine.
Cheez_Whia, do they all have that “hit bottom” feeling until I get into the really high end machines? Otherwise, I liked how they felt and I got a great cardio workout with puh-lenty of sweating when using them.
I agree with the comment that you simply cannot buy this kind of a thing online. You have to physically feel it through it’s range of capabilities, otherwise you’re buying an ad campaign and not a machine that your body will work with.
Cartooniverse
If you are “bottoming out” on a magnetic resistance machine, you probably have the resistance set too high. Back it off a little, macho man :p. You should be doing smooth rotations, especially on a machine with straight rails. You may have also been on one of the previous models that had the flex-rail system. They tended to bottom out at higher resistance also. The real bottom-end craptacular machines (Sears brand is Weslo) are belt-driven and are nearly impossible to keep going in a smooth manner. The high end (for Sears) is NordicTrack. They have much smoother operation, mainly because of their increased rail length. That tends to flatten the ellipse and makes for a smoother workout. BTW, all three are made by the same company :eek: .
shameless self-bumpage…
Helping give this thread some more life…
I can’t recommend any specific ellipticals to you, unfortunately, but I do want to add to the chorus of “try them first”. I know that I love the (expensive gym-quality) Precor ellipticals, but there are a few of this other brand at one of the gyms I go to that I can’t stand. The placement is weird and it just kills my right knee after a bit, no matter how I try to adjust my stride.
I joined a health club a few weeks ago and have bee nusing an elliptical trainer for an hour a day every day since then. (14 pounds down! Woo! 46 to go…ugh)
I went and tried a few different kinds and I have to say I would join a health club that had the Precor LifeFitness machine before I’d buy a cheaper one at home. I also have a pretty messed up back and this machine literally allows me to exercise for a useful length of time for the first time in 10 years.
Just today the one I usually use was taken so Ihopped on the other tpye they had (I dont remember the kind) but I was on it for 3 minutes and got right off, it killed my back, the impacts were jarring and for some weird reason it was straining the hell out of my upper legs
Well, hell Mike. I had not really considered that as an alternative, though it works well. I too cannot afford a three thousand dollar machine. The gym is, if I catch both lights, 90 seconds away. I think membership is $ 500.00 a year. If I were to belong to that gym for 4 years I wouldn’t come quite close to a Precor. They had one I think, it was astonishingly smooth.
I have a broken L-3 and degenerative arthritis below the break point, and like you, this machine is the ONLY THING I’ve touched in 5 years that wasn’t agonizing. Perhaps… I need to go and join the gym again? Thanks for the idea- so simple I’d overlooked it. Additionally, a decent elliptical would have taken over my somewhat small office space forever…
thanks for the replies… after research and trying out several machines in the $400-$800 range, I went with this one which was a bit more money but was 20% off today.
Felt quite good and more in the class of the commercial grade machines…
Search on Ebay and other auction sites. I bet you can find a used one for MUCH cheaper there. Try also the used sports stores, Play It Again Sports and the like. You’ll probably find one that was used twice and then used to hang ironed clothes on.
Try Craigslist.com in your local for cheap used ones. Sadly, this isn’t the best time of the year to buy, resolutions and all. Can you hold off until spring?
I like the Life Fitness and the SportsArt ellipticals, but that is more than you mentioned. But what I like about those is that they have a longer stride, so even on a hi setting you don’t get that bottoming out feeling. I’ve got screwy knees sometimes when I run, and the good ellipticals are a great break from running, the bad ones aren’t. One thing I have noticed about the better ones is that the machine itself is longer at the base. And the wheel is on the back.