I know there are a few posts on elipses, but mostly dealing with some more basic models.

I am looking at getting an elliptical cross trainer. I've used them in the gym and love them. Since I now live in a rural area, getting to the gym is very difficult and I know that I won't use home equipment unless it's sturdy and of very good quality. I've narrowed my search to 2 machines and have quotes on them. Would like advice especially if you own one of these models:

1) Precor 5.23 MSRP $4000
The top of the line model for residencial use. Arms do not move, but it has the variable incline ramp which adjusts from 13-35 degrees. Has the chest strap cardiac monitor. Smooth and quiet. Board has all the bells and whistles. You can program your own courses, random mode, unit will recognise different users. I have never used the arms in the gym (I usually do not hold the handles) and have always enjoyed the variable ramp angles.
Offer is for $3599 and a free home gym (Body Solid EFX1500S-MSRP $1095, real world price $600-$700). Delivery and set up $150. With tax $3993 total. The home gym is quite nice and compact but moderately heavy duty for a basic home gym. Has high mid and low pulley, chest press, lat pull down, seated row station etc. 160lbs weight stack.

2) Life Fitness x9i: MSRP $4000
I believe it's the top of the line for residencial use. Arms move, cardiam monitor in the hand grips, but the strap is recomended. There is no cross ramp, so the angle is fixed. The store also offers a home gym ($700 value, but seems far more basic, have to pay an extra $199 for the weight stack, no lat pulldown, more limited exercises (Hoyst Prime 8). Delivered and set up and tax for $4200. The motion seems smoother and it is definately quieter. My wife prefers this unit to the Precor and would be more likely to use it.

The machine is mostly for me. She has a treadmill (which bothers my knees) but if she likes it, she would certainly use it. The weight machine is just for me. She could care less about strenght training. We both agree the Body solid is much nicer. I am definately leaning towards the Precor. Slightly cheaper, has the features I was looking for and better freebie home gym. But the Life Fitness impressed me in terms of smooth and quiet movement.

If anyone has either and has any insight into pros/cons on either machine, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Raymond

I like the life fitness myself. I tried both but was more comfortable on the LF. If you don't need all the bells and whistles, you can get the basic life fitness cardio sport from sportauthority.com. It is called the Bally E200, but it is made by life fitness and is in fact their cardio sport model. It is $1299 including shipping. It is as sturdy as the higher priced models and feels about the same. The electronics are fairly basic (get a polar heart monitor). You can find it on the LifeFitness web site under cardio sport.

I own a Precor 5.23 and love it. Keep in mind that I am, perhaps, biased as I also use the Precor commercial units (544 and 546) at my gym for cardio... I like the ramp feature a lot as you can really tell the difference between muscle groups being used depending on what angle the ramp is set at. The Precor has held up very well and is virtually silent, unlike its commercial cousins... I attribute this to the one wheel several-hour-a-day-use design as opposed to the double wheel all-day-use industrial design of the 544 and 546. I do think I remember the Life Fitness unit being a bit quieter when I looked at it before buying, but the Precor really doesn't make much noise at all in any event...

The Life Fitness X9i doesn't have their adjustable stride length feature, which I find to be a nice one (though not as nice as the Precor ramp). Adjustable stride length is a very nice feature in my opinion, though it does little good if you're not going to adjust periodically or if the Precor stride length fits you properly from the start... Anyway, adjustable stride length is a moot point with the X9i...

It's been my opinion, though I do work upper body in a variety of other ways, that the arm movement on the Life Fitness units is really more of a novelty than a value-add. It's very difficult to get any meaningful resistance at the arms without significant concentration. Don't mean to start a flame war or anything, as I do like the Life Fitness units, they do facilitate arm movement (without much resistance though), and I don't rely on an elliptical trainer to provide my upper body workout for me... I do like the Life Fitness units. I just like the Precor ones better.

FYI: I never use the heart rate monitoring on the 5.23, as I find the strap annoying and cumbersome. The only reason I bought it instead of the model below it was the additional 5 degrees (I think it's 5) of ramp angle... The Life Fitness has a leg up with heart rate monitoring for sure, if you're really interested in that feature and don't like the strap.

That price of $3599 is good (that's what I paid a year ago) and the Body Solid gym is a middle of the road piece of equipment. I own a Precor multigym too, but the Body Solid will suit the purpose as long as it has the features you'll use... If you decided to forego the free gym you might be able to get them down another good chunk of $$ on the 5.23... Just a thought...


Regards,
Marc





I know there are a few posts on elipses, but mostly dealing with some more basic models.

I am looking at getting an elliptical cross trainer. I've used them in the gym and love them. Since I now live in a rural area, getting to the gym is very difficult and I know that I won't use home equipment unless it's sturdy and of very good quality. I've narrowed my search to 2 machines and have quotes on them. Would like advice especially if you own one of these models:

1) Precor 5.23 MSRP $4000
The top of the line model for residencial use. Arms do not move, but it has the variable incline ramp which adjusts from 13-35 degrees. Has the chest strap cardiac monitor. Smooth and quiet. Board has all the bells and whistles. You can program your own courses, random mode, unit will recognise different users. I have never used the arms in the gym (I usually do not hold the handles) and have always enjoyed the variable ramp angles.
Offer is for $3599 and a free home gym (Body Solid EFX1500S-MSRP $1095, real world price $600-$700). Delivery and set up $150. With tax $3993 total. The home gym is quite nice and compact but moderately heavy duty for a basic home gym. Has high mid and low pulley, chest press, lat pull down, seated row station etc. 160lbs weight stack.

2) Life Fitness x9i: MSRP $4000
I believe it's the top of the line for residencial use. Arms move, cardiam monitor in the hand grips, but the strap is recomended. There is no cross ramp, so the angle is fixed. The store also offers a home gym ($700 value, but seems far more basic, have to pay an extra $199 for the weight stack, no lat pulldown, more limited exercises (Hoyst Prime 8). Delivered and set up and tax for $4200. The motion seems smoother and it is definately quieter. My wife prefers this unit to the Precor and would be more likely to use it.

The machine is mostly for me. She has a treadmill (which bothers my knees) but if she likes it, she would certainly use it. The weight machine is just for me. She could care less about strenght training. We both agree the Body solid is much nicer. I am definately leaning towards the Precor. Slightly cheaper, has the features I was looking for and better freebie home gym. But the Life Fitness impressed me in terms of smooth and quiet movement.

If anyone has either and has any insight into pros/cons on either machine, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Raymond