Elliptical, Exercise & Fitness Articles

In the fitness industry we all spend a lot of time talking about manufacturing in Taiwan versus China versus the US. What we tend to forget is there is still some very fine manufacturing being done over in Europe. So, to broaden all of our horizons the Treadmill Sensei wants to answer an email from the Reader Mailbag about the quality of a long standing German company called Kettler. Let’s see how Kettler measures up to its Asian cousins out in the marketplace. Take it away, Don!
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The end of the Summer and the start of Fall brings in new treadmills and ellipticals from manufacturers as they launch their new lines for the upcoming holiday season. But, before the new equipment arrives buyers still have time to check out some really cool equipment in the current line…and even save some cash at the same time..

Note: The Spirit ZE120 is an older model that has since been discontinued. If you’re looking at current options, you can check out our latest Spirit elliptical reviews here.

To be perfectly honest, the Treadmill Sensei was very unsure about whether or not to review the Spirit ZE120. You see, Spirit is discontinuing the unit and it will no longer be available once current stock is sold off. The current Spirit Z Series is being replaced by their new Esprit line which is less than impressive. However, I wanted to go over the Spirit ZE120 elliptical in order to give my readers one last look at a top rated elliptical before it is gone and, hopefully, give you a chance to pick one up before they are all gone.

To start off, the Spirit ZE120 is basically just a slight upgrade of the Best Buy Award winning Sole E25 Elliptical. They share the same frame and same mechanical parts, with the only difference being the lighter color paint and more programs, including a heart rate control option. If you like the Sole E25 but want more exercise programs or want to do heart rate workouts, then the extra $100 is a small price to pay.

The Spirit ZE120 is a very solid elliptical, featuring 4 rear rails to assist in giving you a very stable workout. Spirit has also done a great job with the articulating foot pedals and their 2% incline to give the ZE120 elliptical’s 20″ stride one of the most natural and comfortable feels on the market. All of the Spirit and Sole ellipticals share this great feature.

The unit also comes with 13 workout programs, heart rate monitoring (pulse grip but also with a wireless option), heart rate control and 16 levels of resistance. For the price point it is an excellent buy.

Spirit has produced a very fine elliptical in the ZE120 and it will be a shame to see it vanish from stores in the next couple of months. If you want a top rated elliptical best buy for under $1100 then you’d be foolish not to check out the Spirit ZE120 elliptical. Luckily, if you miss out on the ZE120 version, the Sole E25 will still be around.

For being a well-designed elliptical in the $1000-$1100 range, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Spirit ZE120 Elliptical 4 out of 5 golden buddahs…we’re sad to see you go!

4 gold buddahs out of 5 for the excellent Spirit ZE120 Elliptical.

Spirit ZE120 Elliptical Specifications
Stride: 20″
Flywheel: 24lbs
Display: LCD
Programs: 13
Resistance: 16 levels
Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Max User Weight: 300lbs
Unit Weight: 160lbs
Cost: Under $1100

-The Treadmill Sensei

Continuing in my review of budget treadmills and ellipticals under $1000, this time your Treadmill Sensei answers something from the Reader Mailbag. Today’s question is from Pam up in Toronto, Canada. Let’s see what she has to say…take it away, Pam!

Hi Sensei,
I love your website and your sense of humour/style! Great info for someone like me who knows little about fitness equipment.
The Ignite 821 elliptical has been recommended to me by a local fitness equipment seller (and they’re willing to give me some $ for trading in my treadmill). Of course, they’re recommending what they’re trying to sell. I haven’t been able to find any reviews of this model and I’m hoping you have some advice you can share.

Many, many thanks!! -Pam in Toronto

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Probably the single most asked question the Treadmill Sensei gets here at the DOJO is “How can I look as handsome as you, O Great Sensei?” The second most asked question is “Where can I get a commercial quality elliptical for under $500?” Unfortunately, the answer to both of those questions is “you can’t.”

In all seriousness, if you’re looking for anything that even remotely feels like a commercial quality product for under $500 (heck, even for under $1000) then you’re in for some terrible disappointment. There just isn’t anything out there like that. However, if you’re on a budget and looking for a decent performing elliptical under $500 then Lamar Fitness may just have an possible answer for you in their Ignite 436 Elliptical (I couldn’t figure out if this was called the Lamar I 436 or the Ignite 436 Elliptical…it was listed as both everywhere I looked!).
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Last week your Treadmill Sensei and master of the fitness world took a look at the A 4200 Elliptical from the little known Lamar Fitness. The unit was a great buy at under $1300 and the only thing it was really missing with wireless heart rate monitoring and heart rate control programs. Luckily, in their infinite wisdom, the fine folks at Lamar have released the Lamar Advantage 4400 Elliptical which is an upgrade from the Lamar 4200 Elliptical.
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The Treadmill Sensei constantly gets emails from his readers asking “why haven’t you review such-and-such elliptical” or “such-and-such” fitness brand. Truth be told, we’re not like some other review sites who just type up a review based on what everyone else online is saying about the equipment. We literally get on every single piece of equipment we review and workout on it. What that means is that we’re limited to the amount of reviews we can get done at any point and hope our quality hold out over the quantity of the other sites and what their prescriptions for good equipment are. But I do hate when I’m not able to answer reader requests about information on brands or units I haven’t been able to cover.

So, in order to fix that little issue we ordered a few different treadmills and ellipticals from manufacturers I haven’t had a chance to review yet. Those units have been filtering in to the DOJO over the past 8 weeks or so and I’ve got a new one for you, my loyal readers. Today’s offering is the Lamar 4200 Elliptical, sometimes called the Advantage 4200.
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At the Denver Fitness Expo earlier this month, the Treadmill Sensei saw a lot of treadmills and ellipticals he hasn’t gotten a chance to check out yet. Being at the show helps me to figure out what machines I absolutely need to check out before we post our Ichi-Ban Best Buy Awards later this year. What we’ll be doing over the next 2 months here at the DOJO is begging, borrowing and buying as many possible units as we can get to review. I’m hoping to have another 200 reviews done by the end of October! Of course, people say I’m crazy so we’ll see what happens.
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Now that that the Health & Fitness Expo in Denver is over the Treadmill Sensei can get back to reviewing treadmills and ellipticals.

Here at the DOJO we interact with a lot of retailers — some from here in the SOuthern California area and some from all over the country — and what I’ve learned is that every retailer has his or her own favorite brand of equipment. Some love equipment because of quality but for most the love affair comes from how much margin (or profit) they get from a brand. So I’m always getting request from dealers to review whatever brand they are wanting to push in their store.
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Readers here on the website are always sending me nots at the DOJO asking about which is better: front drive ellipticals or rear drive ellipticals. What I always say is “they are the same and have the same basic mechanics.” The only reason there are different styles of ellipticals is because of design patents. However, my preference on lower end, non-commercial ellipticals has almost always leaned towards front drive units, not because of any mechanics in the pedal or flywheel dynamics but because the cheaper rear drive units always feel a bit too light and flimsy up front to me. During an elliptical workout you through all of your weight forward and the rear drive units generally aren’t solid enough to support the necessities of an elliptical workout….for higher end and commercial ellipticals, this isn’t as true. The Precor and Life Fitness rear drive machines, for example, are incredibly sturdy.
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A common complaint the Treadmill Sensei receives here at the DOJO is from readers who are used to working out on ellipticals at their local gyms and who quickly discover that they can’t get that same feel in ellipticals under $700. They also complain about how flimsy and shaky most budget ellipticals feel. Unfortunately, there just aren’t any commercial feeling ellipticals around in that sort of budget price range, especially with the number of features a commercial quality elliptical will have. I’d love to be able to tell you otherwise but I’d just be lying.

Now, before you run off pouting, the Treadmill Sensei is a kind and merciful reviewer and will let you on a little secret of the elliptical industry. This secret won’t get you all the bells and whistles of a Precor or Life Fitness elliptical, and won’t get you one of their 20″-21″ strides. What the secret will get you, however, is the single sturdiest and most solid elliptical manufactured under about $1000 in price. That secret comes in the form of an often overlooked elliptical manufacturer from Texas by the name of MultiSports fitness. The unit I’m talking about is the MultiSports ECT-3000 Elliptical which is priced at under $700.

MultiSports has been around the fitness industry for a very long time and has made their reputation in producing some of the most durable, long lasting equipment on the market. In terms of durability and product life I’d rank them up there with Tunturi, Precor and Life Fitness. MultiSports uses 11 gauge steel in their welded frames. For a sub-$1000 unit, the Multisports ECT-3000 Elliptical will stand up to even the heaviest of workouts.

The ECT-3000 elliptical doesn’t come with a whole lot of bells and whistles. It only has manual programs, pulse grip heart rate monitoring, no heart rate control and only 8 levels of resistance. The unit may be stripped down in features but it performs where it counts: in solidity of frame, smoothness of elliptical motion and with a comfortable stride. The Multisports ECT3000 is an elliptical for someone looking to do more intense workouts without having to pay $1000 or more. You won’t feel the “bouncies” on this machine.

The only downside to this machine is the lack of crosstraining handles. It makes up for this missing feature with very long static handles which are easy to use and comfortable to hold on to.

We don’t get many of the Multisports ECT3000 Ellipticals in here at the DOJO. When they do come in, the service is generally because the owner didn’t take care of the elliptical and not because of any failure of the ECT-3000 itself. The unit I worked out on for this review came in from a customer who hadn’t lube his ECT3000 in the year he’d owned it, causing the wheels to make some horrible sounds on the rails while he used it. Some quick clean up and lubrication and he was good to go again. These machines are solid and will last a long time if properly cared for. I’d recommend the ECT3000 for anyone looking for performance over bells and whistles.

For being a budget elliptical that doesn’t skimp on quality components, the Treadmill Sensei gives the MultiSports ECT-3000 Elliptical 4.5 out of 5 golden buddahs.

An excellent low-priced elliptical entry from MultiSports, the ECT3000 gets 4.5 golden buddahs out of 5.

Get more information on the MultiSports 3000 Elliptical and find the lowest price online.

MultiSports Elliptix 3000 Elliptical Specifications
Stride: 18″
Flywheel: 11lbs.
Display: LCD
Readouts: Calories burned, Speed, Time, Distance, RPM, Pulse
Programs: Manual
Heart Rate Monitor: Yes
Heart Rate Control: No
Resistance Levels: 8
Max User Weight: 250lbs
Unit Weight: 115lbs
Cost: Under $700

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com