I'm sure you are interested in more than just elliptical reviews. You might want to learn how to choose a good machine, what to look for as far as features, resistance, drive systems, strides and more.
You have questions, and we have answers. Whether your question is about elliptical machines specifically or exercise in general, please contact me and if I can help I will. I will also share your questions with our visitors if it will help them out as well.
I will also be posting announcements here as well, such as when there is a great sale going on, new machines have been released or I have updated a review. So be sure to check back often to stay up to date on all the latest!
Ohiyo!
Do you know what the best part of the Treadmill Sensei’s job is? No, it’s not dating super models. It’s getting to play with a lot of really cool equipment. But, being able to date super models would be great too…although, I doubt Mrs. Sensei would approve!
A lot of the cooler equipment I get to mess around and test comes out of Sole Fitness in Utah. Well, their equipment actually comes out of Taiwan, but Sole is in Utah. And one of the better units to come out of their stable is the Sole E35 Elliptical.
The Sole E35 is easily one of the best ellipticals in the $1001-$1500 range and was the winner of the Ichi-Ban Best Buy Award in that price range for 2006-2007 here on the Treadmill Sensei. It is a great elliptical at price just under $1300.
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The readers on here really surprise the Treadmill Sensei sometimes, and not in a bad way at all. I recently had a reader in the area ask if he could bring by the elliptical he just purchased for me to review. The request was a bit unusual and even tho the week was more than a little hectic, I told the reader to bring it down and I’d give it the full review as soon as I could. However, I mentioned that I had no idea how long it would take me to get around to it and that the review process would take 1-2 weeks beyond that. The reader (a pleasant man by the name of Greg W.) was so in love with this machine and wanted to share it with my readers that he agreed to give up his Lifecore LC990 Elliptical for God only knew how long…and, knowing me, if was probably going to take a while.
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Sometimes fitness manufacturers completely confuse the Treadmill Sensei. It seems like more and more, some manufacturers are making decisions on product design with little or no regard to logic. You’ll see manufacturers completely drop their top selling model, or paint them weird colors, or lie about specs, or try to sell the exact same model under different names and at different prices. It’s enough to give me a Bowflex-sized headache while I’m working at the DOJO.
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One of the cooler new trends the Treadmill Sensei really enjoys is what people are calling “interactive fitness.” Now, I could have sworn all fitness was interactive or it wouldn’t work, but marketing people love their buzz words. What they mean by “interactive fitness” is usually a piece of fitness equipment which hooks up to a video game. There have been quite a few “interactive fitness” items on the market for a while now, such as the Game Bike and DDR Dance Pads, but what I’ve always wanted was a Game Elliptical which hooked up to my computer to play MechWarrior/Giant Robot type games.
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Regular readers of this site know that tomorrow is the Treadmill Sensei’s 1-year anniversary. That’s right, I have been sharing my fitness wisdom with you, my loyal readers, for 365 days now. In celebration of that anniversary, I’ll be giving away a Quantum Q 210H Elliptical to one lucky newsletter subscriber. In the spirit of full disclosure, the folks at Quantum Fitness sent this unit in for a review, knowing full well that I would be extra hard on the unit as well as let my readers know where it came from. Since we do not sell equipment here at the DOJO, I have decided to give away any equipment which a manufacturer sends in for review (that means good and bad equipment)…it was either that or hauling a test unit out to the treadmill graveyard out back!
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Ohiyo!
I would like everyone to know that the Treadmill Sensei is a gentleman and a humanitarian. You see, for some reason I’ve received 10 or 15 requests for me to review and rate a low end elliptical from Icon Fitness over the past month or so. I can’t figure out why but the Reebok RL545 Elliptical has received more requests as of late than any other single piece of equipment. I’m guessing it’s because of a huge price drop for the elliptical on Amazon.
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Ohiyo!
Working in a service/repair facility like the DOJO, the Treadmill Sensei gets to see a lot of treadmills and ellipticals. I’m also able to get a good sense of what equipment is popular among customers, at least here in Southern California. This past season, perhaps the hottest model on the market was the Spirit XE350 and its counterpart, the Sole E55. From what I’ve seen and heard, retailers have had a problem even keep these units in their stores. Read More
Ohiyo!
The Treadmill Sensei had a bit of insomnia last night. You see, Mrs. Sensei left for Phoeniz, Arizona yesterday and after more than 25 years of marriage I have a bit of a problem sleeping in bed without my wife. I know it’s a bit corny but I miss my wife already…don’t worry, though, she gets back on Saturday!
Since I reviewed one of their ellipticals yesterday, and since I’m sleep deprived and don’t really know any better, I thought I’d talk a bit about Schwinn Fitness. Schwinn as a company has been around since the late 1890s and has been producing bicycles ever since. In fact, Schwinn is probably the most recognizable bicycle brand in the world and their reputation has been excellent for much of its existance.
In the late 1990s, Schwinn enters in to the non-bicycle areas of the fitness industry and then is purchased by Nautilus (known originally as Direct Focus) in 2001. Unfortunately for Schwinn and consumers, the quality of those early Nautilus-produced fitness units did not live up to the 100+ year old standards of quality Schwinn was known for. In the eyes of the fitness industry (and lowly service techs like the Treadmill Sensei), Schwinn became known for putting out some pretty low end, poorly manufactured units…even their higher cost units were full of manufacturing and quality control problems. Top this off with the level of customer service at Schwinn/Nautilus being known as some of the worst in the industry and you’ve got a company in need of improvement.
I am glad to report those improvement came in 2006 with refinements in the Schwinn ellipticals in general and the production of the very fine Schwinn 430 and 438 in particular. The Scwhinn treadmill line is anemic and a bit of a disappointment, but the ellipticals are solid and worth checking out if you’re looking for a good workout on a budget. Finally the company seems to be getting back on track. Hopefully they will be able to overcome their continued reputation for terrible customer service and live up to their 100+ year legacy of quality.
Schwinn Ellipticals:
Schwinn Treadmills:
-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com
One of the problems with the way your Treadmill Sensei does reviews is that I just don’t have the time to search out every single elliptical or treadmill out there. And, unlike some other review sites that like to prescribe equipment to you, I don’t want to write up a mass of reviews on equipment I’ve never seen before. It’s not fair to you, my readers, and it’s not fair to the manufacturers. Unfortunately, that means I miss some equipment and some equipment doesn’t get reviewed fast enough to make it in to my Best Buy Awards.
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Ohiyo!
I can’t believe it’s been over 6 months since I posted the Ichi-Ban Best Buy Awards for 2006-2007…and I still haven’t finished doing my extended reviews for the winners of those awards. Doh! The Treadmill Sensei is a lazy bum. I promise to have the reviews done in advance of the best buy awards later on this year. Read More
This is currently one of the top selling ellipticals at NordicTrack. And with these features and this price it's no surprise why.