Best Elliptical Trainers
Spirit XE295
Owned a XE295 v1 since 2012, very dependable and easy to use. Requires minor regular maintenance on the tracks, with silicon spray. Needed to be… Read more
serviced after 10 years when things got squeaky, which has kept it going so far. As of today 13 years and over 450 hours of use (from the odometer) and still going strong.
Only drawback was the heart rate monitor was not reliable after 5 years.
Spirit XE395
Update: **Caveats**: Owned a month, it's awesome - great for an intese workout. No issues it's solid. **Overall rating**: 5/5, method: hands on… Read more
assessment against requirements: - **Mandatory Features**: Low impact full body workout, due to my bad knee. Support for Bluetooth "FiTness Machine Service" for interactive apps to make exercise immersive, and capture workout. Drink bottle holder. Simple display. Reasonable price. * **Optional Features**: Compact - I have plenty of space.
**Write-up**: - **First impressions**: Solid feel and easy to use, better than XE295 from 2012. The preset HR, Fat burning exercise programs work. Old XE295 5KHz heart rate strap transmitter works with the XE395. The immersive Kinomap app connects and I ran a picturesque trail in a forest with dynamic resistance matching the video perfectly. - **Basic features quality**: Solid, intuitive design. - **Special features**: Rotating tablet and phone holder for mixed exercise programs. - **Real problems**: None so far
- **Target market**: Well funded tech savvy fitness enthusiast. - **Test results versus marketing**: works as advertised - **Price VS features**: Only Australian distributed bike which met my criteria. - **Unexpected uses**: I chromecast (project from my phone) the kinomap app to a moniton for a large display of the connected statistics.
* **Things I like:** the stride is smooth, feels like it will last a decade which matches the warranty. It's a great workout, * **Things I dislike**: Still nothing so far.
Bowflex Max Trainer
If you have $1k to drop every 2 years, then buy this machine. I used weekly. My fave machine by far. Control panel suddenly went dead after all… Read more
working fine the day before. After 3 weeks of trying to get support, no help. New CP about $1k. No way I'm investing more money in this machine. I should have paid attention to other reviews with the same problem. Should have just bought a gym membership and had access to all equipment plus a pool. Very disappointed in Bowflex quality and response.
Worked great for 12 months then lost resistance and can't be fixed – I was really happy with his machine for 12 months. Gave a good workout as good as the one at the gym, and is compact and doesn't take up much space,… Read more
but after 12 months it lost resistance and on the highest level I was not using my max. I was told by Orbit to contact their service guy but he was too busy with warranty clients . I was recommended to another who charged $250 for a service but it was no betrter afterwards and it appears it can't be fixed. If you buy one be aware you are only getting 12 months regular use from it and don't waste your money on a service.
Lifespan Fitness Hybrid X-02
New purchased with not working display & noisy – I bought it last week through Harvey Norman online. unfortunately, the display not work and the machine is very noisy. Show details
Won't recommend it! Better look for another brand – It does the job if you are looking for a basic elliptical trainer. But for this particular brand, I won't recommend it. The instruction manual is so… Read more
difficult to follow. I wish they had Ikea-like step by step instruction with pictures/drawings to guide you on how to assemble the whole thing! Since day one I had it completely assembled, the main vertical bar in the front keeps rocking side to side whenever you step on the foot pedals. A technician came and advised to keep tightening the nuts and bolts. I'm afraid this won't last a year at the rate this whole thing keeps rocking. And a plastic cover at the base keeps popping out of place. Even the technician admitted he could not fix it and sort of live with it. So I just taped it over to hold it in place. I could not be bothered sending back the product because I need to dismantle the whole thing and put all the parts in their original packaging/box. And who knows what excuses I would later hear from the retailer to reject the claim! So, my advice is to consider and try other brands, and save yourself money and from grief!
Don't bother. It will end up as nature strip hard rubbish – RRP was $1000. I bought this on sale at $700. Dick Smith/Kogan are are now trying to offload them for $600. That should tell you everything. On the… Read more
face of it, 13kg fly wheel, lots of programs, user definable programs, 500mm stride, rated for 150kg (I'm <<2/3rds that weight) - this unit looked promising.
Despite some pre-assembled items in the box, it took a couple of hours of assembly. When done it looked the business, but it had a loose articulated joint and a thump from the right hand side. The faulty joint actually came factory pre-assembled - nothing I could do to remedy it. DickSmith replaced the entire trainer and I assembled the second one - took an hour this time given that I knew what to do.
Unfortunately another faulty unit. This one didn't "glide" on its rollers - it was lumpy and rough and it left rubber debris on the rolling surface. I asked DickSmith if they could provide replacement rollers and they said they'd check but never got back to me. Radio silence. I was using the unit every other day for about 15mins and it started creaking and groaning despite all bolts/screws being tight. Then a wobble developed on the LHS due to a loosening primary articulated joint despite the screw being tight and my dash was done. Give me a refund. To DickSmith's credit they put the return paperwork through right away.
Now I'm looking at commercially available units for something that will go the distance.
Proof of purchase is available.
Powertrain 2-1 Elliptical cross trainer is a waste of money – Waste of money. It makes a horrible noise and I noticed the wheel hitting the guard. My son adjusted the screws but the wheel would still misalign… Read more
and hit the guard a short time later so I removed the guard. It isnt hitting anything now but the wheel is on a very noticeable angle and still makes a metallic clanking noise. The problem appears to be inside the closed wheel compartment. Will be landfill.
Appalling instructions, defective parts and grab bar is too wobbly to use – I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT. The instructions for this cross trainer are extremely difficult to understand as the diagrams are very hard to read… Read more
and don’t include sufficient detail or guidance. I had a tradesman helping me put this together and it took several hours to do. Also, one bolt was too short, meaning that the nut could not be attached (hence a first trip to Bunnings). I also had to buy a replacement nut as the one supplied did not have a working thread (another trip to Bunnings!). Upon completion, I wasn’t able use the cross trainer as the grab bar wobbles from left to right (the cyclinder it fits into is too wide). Despite tightening the bolt as much as possible, the grab bar still wobbles (I definitely used the right parts as I didn’t have this problem with the other grab bar). A very disappointing purchase and I do NOT recommend this cheaply made cross trainer. They obviously don’t have any quality control in place.
Hello Stone, Thank you for the feedback and… Read more (+1 reply)