elliptical machine

I thinking about getting a commercial grade elliptical trainer/machine for my house for cardio/general excerise.  Any thoughts/expereince/opinions of the best brand/model and potential purchase options new vs used.  I'll probably go used as new ones are pretty expensive.  I'm not interested in the lesser grade "home-machine" stuff, I want something solid that will last.  Will be going into my basement with a concrete floor.

I have found the single most important elliptical machine aspect to be the actual stride mechanics.  The best brand with a stride that's too long/short/tall/choppy will be awful.  

That said, I've been through a number of commercial gyms, and the ones that always felt the best were Precor machines with the rear mounted flywheel.  I have never felt "right" on a front or mid mount setup.  The nice thing about Precor is that parts will be available forever to service them, as they're a workhorse machine deployed by the thousands.

I have one that I have had for a long time that has worked really well.  I like PreCor best but they are pretty spendy.  Mine is a Sports Art.  It's about 15 years old now, but still solid.  I love it and I don't think you can go wrong with that brand. Two things to look for 1) stride length.  You need to ensure it matches yours.  Some are adjustable.  2) Resistance wheel in the back.  The one's with it in the front just don't seem to have the right type of stride.

Audi driver said:

The one's with it in the front just don't seem to have the right type of stride.

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That also have a higher propensity to rock/shake/vibrate.

I think mine weighs close to 200lbs .  This is a review of it:

https://www.ellipticalreviewguru.com/the-sportsart-e81-elliptical-review-highest-quality-low-price-fantastic-elliptical/

I recall at the time I got it that reviews were saying it was the best value for home use with a commercial quality to it.

Don't know what's out there now, though haven't even thought to look until your post.

thanks for the input.  I've used machines at he gym (I think they were Precors) and never adjusted the stride.  The foot pedals were really wide/long and I think you adjusted the "stride" by where you stood on them.  Does that sound correct?  Curiously, how would you measure stride?

I would honestly just find a cheap gym, YMCA, etc and pay the $30/ month and let someone else maintain them...

Road Guy said:

I would honestly just find a cheap gym, YMCA, etc and pay the $30/ month and let someone else maintain them...

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This.

With a little searching, you can find gyms that don't offer classes end up being even cheaper.  Used to have one that was only $10/month.

Plus the scenery is usually not bad

MA_PE said:

thanks for the input.  I've used machines at he gym (I think they were Precors) and never adjusted the stride.  The foot pedals were really wide/long and I think you adjusted the "stride" by where you stood on them.  Does that sound correct?  Curiously, how would you measure stride?

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No, some have actual adjustments to the bars you stand on.  That is what I was referring to.  So far as stride length goes, you really just need to try a couple models and figure out what length is most comfortable for you.

Screw the elliptical and get a rowing machine!

leggo PE said:

Screw the elliptical and get a rowing machine!

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Too hard to watch TV.

Supe said:

Too hard to watch TV.

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Listen to podcasts!

leggo PE said:

Listen to podcasts!

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Hard to do WITH YOUR EYES.

One more on the stride length thing. I had an elliptical and hated it and think it had to do with I never felt quite right. 

(I also hate exercise that doesn't translate to something real world, so take that with a grain of salt. No one is ever going to have elliptical anywhere.)

(Minus those stupid ElliptiGo things)

we went and looked at this new gym called Chuze fitness (not sure where else they are located) but they have nearly full size movie screens and tons of cardio **** (bikes, treadmills, elliptical, rowers, etc) and you can choose between a couple of movies but it looked liked a cool setup

I actually belong to a cheap gym but I just can't get motivated to go.  I figure I can turn on the TV and do 30 minutes at home on a regular basis.  Especially in the winter time.

I need to get motivated to go to the gym for the other machines.  I really need the cardio for wind/stamina.  When I went to the gym regularly I liked the elliptical machines.

For what its worth we bought one when my kids were too young for me to leave them to go run outside or at the gym,(wife was working nights so there was not much time to get away from the minions)

I do not recall the brand but we paid around $1000 bucks and it didn't last a year.  When I went to bitch to the commercial vendor we bought it from they basically told us we "used it to much".. I paid $150 bucks to get it fixed and then practically had to give it away to get it out of my garage..

If you want to buy one I would try and get a good used one - I think on our neighborhood site nextdoor there are always at least 3 on there for sale or nearly free

I bought what I thought was a commercial upright exercise bike about 10 years ago.  It was a Life Fitness brand which is a popular brand in gyms, and my dad had one for well over a decade at that point with no issues.  Well, either their QC went WAY downhill or I ended up with a residential version (although I specifically requested a commercial version from a licensed Life Fitness dealer).  I had the tensioner go out on that thing at least 3 times, the frame broke once, and I went through about a bazillion foot straps before I just replaced the pedals with toe-clip pedals from a road bike.  The last time the tensioner went out, they told me the bike was out of warranty and it would be $300+ for a new one.  I told them where they could shove it, and scrapped that bike. 

I bought a much cheaper, obviously residential Sole Fitness bike, and I've already had the tensioner go out on it once.  But I can buy 3 of these bikes for what I paid for that Life Fitness model.

Our gym has a bunch of Life Fitness stuff (including the ellipticals).  I definitely do not like it as much as I did the Precor machines.  They always seem to need some sort of service, i.e you can feel some loose play in them and get clicking or clunking noises on several while you're using them.  And they don't appear to be more than a few years old.  The stride definitely does not feel as natural as some of the others, and I find that my foot always ends up migrating to the front of the pedal pad.  The heart rate monitors tend to crap out on them too, or just read waaaaay off all the time.