Elliptical, Exercise & Fitness Articles

Today the Treadmill Sensei got in here at the DOJO one of those types of jobs he really enjoys: Star Trac commercial equipment going in to a gym. The freight company dropped off 6 Star Trac treadmills and ellipticals which we’re going to install at a Fresno area gym later on this week. I’ll talk about the ellipticals today and then review the treadmills tomorrow.

The ellipticals are the Star Trac Pro Elliptical (I believe the model number is 6130, but all you need to know is PRO), and they are about as close to the top of the heap there is. If Matrix is the Lexus of the fitness world then Star Trac is the Mercedes. If you need an immovable elliptical that will hold up to any work out you can imagine (bar none), then the Star Trac pro is the way to go.

The Star Trac Pro Elliptical uses the same frame and basics as its big brother, the Star Trac Elite Elliptical, but doesn’t have the changeable arm settings. You just get the standard elliptical workout with the Pro, but really, that’s all you’ll ever need, especially when you’re able to save hundreds of dollars by not getting the Elite upgrade.

The Pro ellipticals have a very smooth 20 inch stride, 8 programs, heart rate monitoring and control and weigh in right at 400 pounds — getting these things off the freight truck took 5 guys from the DOJO. I supervised because I am a delicate flower. I’m not sure why the max user weight is listed at 350 pounds because I’d guess it can support 400-450 with little or no problems. These machines are elegant tanks!

As I type this review, we have the 3 ellipticals lined up in the repair bay and everyone in the building is taking turns at working out on them…and these are some seasoned repair techs. I’ve never heard a complaint about a Star Trac Pro Elliptical ever. The only disadvantage that I can see, as I talked about in the Star Trac Elite Elliptical Review, is that the units come just about fully assembled and have difficulties in fitting through smaller doorways.

The Star Trac Pro Elliptical is definitely in the top 10 commercial ellipticals of all time. For being so damn good, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Star Trac Pro Elliptical a perfect 5 out of 5 golden buddahs.

For full commercial equipment, the Star Trac Pro Elliptical is about as good as you can get.

Get more info and compare the Star Trac Pro Treadmill and find the lowest price online.

Star Trac Pro Elliptical Trainer Specifications
Resistance Levels: 20
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and Wireless
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Programs: 8
Readouts: Time, strides per minute, heart rate, course profile, resistance level,1/4 mile motivational track display, calories, calories per hour, watts, distance, speed and MET’s.
Max User Weight: 350 lbs.
Grade: Commercial
Product Size: 70″L x 27″W x 67″H
Product Weight: 450 lbs.
Price: $4199

-The Treadmill Sensei

Ohiyo!

Today I’d like to start with a story and tell you about my first encounter with Horizon Fitness and their equipment. It all started about 4 years ago out in the now-defunct Van Nuys, California DOJO location we had for about 10 years. An Internet company (which will remain nameless but I hear is now going out of business) had a customer in the area who needed a then-new Horizon T54 treadmill set up in their garage. The seller had a freight company deliver the equipment to our warehouse. I happened to be at the DOJO location and decided to help unload the treadmill.

Bad, bad idea.

You see, the driver was what I like to call a “moron” and he proceeded to drop the boxed treadmill (weighing in at around 210 pounds if I remember correctly) on my hand. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Now, you’re probably saying to yourself “you had your hand in his way 3 times, so who is the real moron, Sensei?” and you’re probably right, but that’s not the point. Because of those injuries I never forgot who Horizon was and, in spite of the pain (and me yelling “Use your damn head, man!” a couple of times), was happy to see they made some darn good treadmills and ellipticals. I never did find out what happened to that driver.

Horizon Fitness is one of the newer kids on the block that is fitness industry. They are one of the many Johnson Health Tech sub-companies — Johnson itself has been around since the mid-1970s while Horizon has only been around for the last 6 or 7 years. In that very short time Horizon has used the Internet to make itself in to a very fine brand (they even produce some of the better equipment for the Schwinn line at Nautilus). Early on, the only retailers to carry or push Horizon were the Internet dealers. Over the past 2 years or so Horizon has expanded much more in to the big box retailers such as Sears.

Unfortunately, with that expansion has come a a bit of a dilution in their product.

When Horizon started they had somewhere around 12 units (6 in the “Horizon” series and about 6 in the “Elite series — the major difference in the two lines was where to buy the units (the Elites were available exclusively through brick and mortar dealers) and the cost (the Elites tended to be quite a bit more expensive without any real upgrade in components). Now, however, a quick Internet search will show somewhere in excess of 30 units…every dealer out there seems to have their own model numbers in spite of the units being almost exactly the same from location to location. I’m assuming this is to keep customers from price matching in order for Horizon to keep all of their vendors happy.

**If you’re interested in a Horizon Fitness elliptical machine you can visit the official Horizon Fitness site and get free shipping on new models or glance at some of the older models still for sale here.

Luckily, all those varied units tend to be well engineered and well manufactured. In other words, if you see the Horizon name on a treadmill or elliptical then you can be confident in the quality of the unit. Their parts are of a better quality than most everything else in a similar price range as long as that price range is under $1000. Once you hit that magic $1000 price point the competition gets a lot tougher and higher end Horizon treadmills and ellipticals don’t quite match up.

If you’re looking for good solid equipment from around $500 up to $1000, then keep Horizon in mind: the do good work. If you’re wanted something a bit heavier and over $1000 then I’d suggest looking elsewhere.

Here’s to hoping that Horizon gets their insane range of model numbers down to something a little more reasonable in the next couple of years. I can’t imagine the customer confusion has done their sales any good.

Horizon Elliptical Reviews

• Horizon CSE 4.6 Elliptical: Solid performing. Same as the EX75 with spiffier handles.
• Horizon E30 Elliptical: A folding elliptical that doesn’t suck! 3.5 Buddahs.
• Horizon E70 Elliptical: A let down elliptical from an otherwise good company.
• Horizon E900 Incline Elliptical: 4.5 buddahs for this budget incline elliptical.
• Horizon E1200 Incline Elliptical: 4 buddahs for this excellent adjustable incline unit.
• Horizon EX55 Elliptical: A great budget elliptical for under $600. 4 Buddahs.
• Horizon EX56 Elliptical: 2007/2008 elliptical for under $600. 4.5 buddahs.
• Horizon EX65 Elliptical: One of the best performing ellipticals under $1000 with 4.5 buddahs.
• Horizon EX66 Elliptical: 2007/2008 elliptical and best buy under $800 at 4.5 buddahs.
• Horizon EX75 Elliptical: A best buy elliptical under $1000 and the top end unit from Horizon. 4 buddahs.
• Horizon EX76 Elliptical: 2007/2008 elliptical with an adjustable stride and incline feature. A best buy under $1000 with 4.5 buddahs.

Ohiyo!

The Treadmill Sensei is a bit tired today. You see, Mrs. Sensei and I went on a little trip down to Santa Barbara for a couple of days this week. And, as I’m sure most of you already know, I’m more tired after my “vacation” than I was when I left. The only highlight of the trip was me sneaking down to the business center at our hotel to post yesterday’s review. Hehehe…don’t tell Mrs. Sensei I snuck out to do some work on, as she calls it, “that silly website thing.”

I’m sure a lot of my readers know that I’m a big fan of certain high quality treadmill and elliptical manufacturers. Smooth, SportsArt, Matrix, Star Trac, Sole and Spirit. For the most part these companies all consistantly produce some very nice equipment…but every so often a turkey will slip in to the mix. To give you an example of a “turkey product” I want to go over the Spirit XE850 Elliptical.

The XE850 is Spirit’s sole entry into the light commercial arena with their equipment. In other words, this is the only unit they have enough confidence in to warranty for use in small gyms, apartment complexes and so on. They also pitch it as perfect for rehabilitation centers. Unfortunately, rehabilitation centers may be the only places who would see any benefit in picking up this uninspiring Spirit elliptical.

Now, uninspiring may be a bit harsh. You see, the Spirit XE850 Elliptical itself is just a tweaked version of the Spirit XE350 and XE550 Ellipticals. It’s got the same frame, same foodpads, same stride length and so on. As we all know, those two units are very well made machines. The problem with the Spirit XE850 is the upgrades (and downgrades in some instances) just aren’t enough to warrant the huge jump in price. As a consumer you’re really just paying for a commercial warranty you can’t even use.

Let’s talk about the upgrades on the Spirit XE850. The main differences are going to be a higher number of resistance levels – 40 levels instead of the 20 levels on the XE350 and XE550 ellipticals. And, speaking of resistance levels, the Spirit XE850 can be tweaked up to 200 levels of resistance. The XE850 is self generating instead of plug in. And, finally, the XE850 elliptical has a metal shroud on the back of the unit instead of the plastic cover on the XE550.

And that, my friends, is it for the fairly useless “upgrades” on the Spirit XE850 Elliptical. The downgrade is the lack of the adjustable foot pedals on the Spirit XE850 ellipticals. That’s right, one of the major selling points of the XE350 and XE550 ellipticals is gone. You’re unable to adjust your comfort level on the XE850 and that is a poor choice of features to drop, at least in this Sensei’s humble opinion.

Now, to be fair, the unit is still as smooth and solid as the other XE Ellipticals from Spirit. That is because is has the same basic frame, the same size flywheel, the same stride length, and most of the same features as the rest of the Spirit XE models. And therein lies the problems. It’s too much the same and not enough of an upgrade. I’d suggest checking out the Sole E55 instead so you can save yourself from spending more for a lesser machine.

Or, if you absolutely HAVE TO spend $1999, check out the Smooth CE7.4 elliptical instead. You won’t be disappointed.

For being a solid machine at much too high of a cost, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Spirit XE850 Elliptical 3 out of 5 Golden Buddahs.

UPDATE: Thankfully, this unit has been discontinued and is sold out.

The Spirit XE850 Elliptical gets 3 gold buddahs out of 5 for not having enough “bang” for the buck.

Find out more about the Spirit XE850.

Spirit Elliptical Trainer XE850 Specifications
Stride Length: 20″
Max User Weight: 400 lbs.
Resistance Levels: 40 standard; modifiable to 200
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and wireless
Heart Rate Control: No
Programs: 6
Display: LED
Readouts: Time, distance, calories / weight / speed / rpm, level, laps, heart rate / age
Special Features: cushioned foot pedals
Adjustable Foot Pedals: No
Grade: Light commercial
Product Size: 78″ x 24″ x 68″
Product Weight: 203 lbs.
Flywheel: 30 lbs.
Parts Warranty: 5 years residential/ 3 years commercial
Labor Warranty: 2 years / 1 year commercial
Price: $1999

One of the popular lines of treadmills and ellipticals right now is by Sole Fitness out of Utah. Their units are all produced by a Taiwanese manufacturer by the name of Dyaco, who is best known for owning Spirit Fitness and having produced equipment for a number of other companies, including Free Spirit, SportsArt, Red Zone and a few others I’m sure I am forgetting in my old age.

Sole itself has been around since around 2002-2003 and have been known more as a repackaging/relabeling company than anything else, as well as being some of the best internet marketers around outside of Smooth Fitness. From what I remember, before Sole hooked up with Dyaco, they were putting out units based on old Reebok Bodytrec designs (does anyone else remember the horrible Sole E89 ellipticals?).

Due to the high quality, mid-range product that Sole sells, they signed a fantastic deal with the Hilton Hotel chains with Sole equipment, which helped to heighten the public’s awareness of the Sole brand. In a further effort to expand their visibility, Sole also signed with Dick’s Sporting goods as their major brick and mortar vendor within the last 2 years.

Overall, thanks to some fine equipment produced by Dyaco, Sole has a very solid line of treadmills and ellipticals which are on the top of most “best buy” lists. The only downside to their product is the aforementioned Compton shipping warehouse. This past year, Sole has greatly improved its shipping department and has become one of the quickest, most reliable fitness equipment shippers around. Combined with its top-notch and highly rated customer service department, Sole is one of the most well rounded fitness manufacturer active in the market today.

Sole contines to be one of the best rated fitness companies by both experts and consumers alike.

For reviews of all of the latest Sole elliptical just follow this link. Here you will find ratings, specs, overviews and more for each of the available models.

Every so often a new treadmill or elliptical comes through the DOJO that the Treadmill Sensei hasn’t had a chance to work on before. When this happens, I make sure that I’m the one who does the service or setup so that I can run the equipment through a review process for this website and for you, my loyal readers.

This past week I was very excited to see a pair of 7.9 Ellipticals by BladeZ come in to the shop to be installed at a local apartment complex. I was surprisingly impressed by what I saw.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with them, BladeZ is best known as the manufacturer of those nifty little scooters like the Razor. What a lot of people don’t realize is that BladeZ is a part of a company which has been manufacturing fitness equipment for 30 years and is, in fact, one of the largest such producers in the world! They provide OEM for a number of other treadmill and elliptical companies (meaning “Original Equipment Manufacturing — they make the equipment and someone else labels and sells it). For isntance, they were the manufacturer for the True Fitness equipment for quite some time.

Another thing to know about the BladeZ equipment is that they were the first fitness company to integrate a TV screen in to their equipment and have been doing it for a long time now. If you’re wanting a TV on your elliptical that won’t break down during a hard workout, then a BladeZ treadmill or elliptical would be an excellent choice.

The two BladeZ 7.9 Ellipticals that came in were boxed and unassembled. The actual assembly of the ellipticals would get about a 6 or 7 for level of difficulty. They weren’t hard to put together for me but they might prove a little challenging for someone less mechanically inclined — Make sure to take your valium if you get frustrated easily! Also, it might be easy to misplace or lose the remonte control for the TV if you’re not careful. Total assembly time was about 25 minutes — figure an hour for a regular customer.

Getting on the BladeZ 7.9 Elliptical for the first time was a real treat. BladeZ likes to brag about their “robotically welded frames” and I must say they have every right to brag. These ellipticals are solid as a rock. Not only does the stability come from the welded frame, but also from the very solid approximately 30 pound flywheel and the 220 pound weight of the ellipticalitself. If I didn’t know better I would have guessed this was a light commercial elliptical.

Next I noticed the pedals and the stride of the BladeZ 7.9. The elliptical has very large, well-padded pedals placed at a slight tilt that were very very comfortable. On top of that, the 7.9 elliptical has a fantastic 21 inch stride which was one of the smoothest I’ve ever felt on a residential grade elliptical.

From there everything else was just icing on the cake. The TV was clear and bright. The BladeZ 7.9 Elliptical featured 16 levels of resistance, heart rate monitor and control, a reading rack and 8 workout programs. Very nice overall. If I had to nitpick I’d complain about the warranty on the units. 3 years for parts and 1 for labor isn’t terrible, but with a 5 year parts and 2 years labor warranty, this would easily be one of the best ellipticals under $2000 – I believe the going price is around $1599.

For only having a couple of minor quibbles, the Treadmill Sensei gives the BladeZ BF 7.9 Elliptical 4.5 out of 5 Golden Buddahs.

UPDATE:The BladeZ 7.9 Elliptical has been discontinued. Check out the newest models here.

The BladeZ 7.9 Elliptical gets a nearly perfect 4.5 gold buddahs out of 5.

BladeZ BF 7.9 E
Stride: 21″
Programs: 8
Max User Weight: 300 lbs
Resistance: 16 Levels
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Display Type: 7″ LCD TV, LED Console
Readouts: Time, Distance, Speed, Heart Rate, Level, Mets, Calories, Watts
Special Features: Reading Rack, Bottle Holder, Oversized Pedals with Soft Grip Inserts, Cable/DVD ready TV
Product Size: 28″ Wide X 80 ” Long
Unit Weight: 220 lbs.
Parts Warranty: 3 years
Labor Warranty: 1 years

Ohiyo!

Your Treadmill Sensei feels a bit like a lazy boy because he hasn’t done a new review in far too long. In an effort to get back in to the swing of things I’m going to dust-off a reader email from a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been holding on to this note from “Maria” because I hadn’t had a chance to get my hands on a Lifespan elliptical for quite a long while. Luckily, I was able to find one at another shop here in the area (thanks, Charles!) and I got to do a nice run through on the EX3 elliptical.

Let’s see what Maria had to say:

Morning Sensei
I have been having trouble finding any info on Lifespan EX3 elliptical. It looks like a great machine and offers quite a bit of features. I am torn between it and the Sole E25 in the same price range. Can you please help me narrow my decsion? Thanx, Maria

Thanks for your note, Maria. I don’t know that I can help you choose an elliptical, but I can give you a review of the LifeSpan EX3 Elliptical and, hopefully, give you enough information to choose for youself.

I want to start off by saying that I very much like PCE Fitness, the company the produces the Lifespan line of equipment. The reason for this is they produce some great equipment and also target a lot of their focus on seniors and the over-55 crowd. A lot of other manufacturers forget about this very strong area of customers that needs equipment (and value/budget equipment) to help them stay in shape and better thier lives. I think about this quite a bit as I, myself, get closer and closer to my golden years. Hats off to PCE and Lifespan for those efforts.

The Lifespan line itself is a medium aged line and has been around for about 6 years now — PCE has been around since the early 1990s. And don’t let the “senior-friendly” face of the Lifespan equipment fool you, they put out some great equipment for all ages of use.

The first thing you notice about the LifeSpan EX3 Elliptical is not only how short but how solid the unit looks. Because of the shorter length of the machine and the bulkier front drive system, you’ll find this to be one of the sturdiest elliptical rides in a home-grade elliptal. These things are solid and do not move thanks to their 210+ pounds of weight.

The next thing you’ll see is the rear step-up or rear access of the machine. This is great, especially for those of you like me who have very little coordination, because of how easy it is to mount the LifeSpan EX3. Walk up behind it, place one foot on the pedal and then the other. It’s that easy. No more trying to get on from the side or having to step over long rails.

Please do me a favor and completely forget about what Lifespan calls their EX-Link drive system. Every manufacturer out there is going to try and tell you their trademarked and patented systems are the very best. It’s really not true. The 20″ stride on the EX3 Elliptical is nice and very smooth, but it’s nothing overly spectacular or revolutionary. It feels good and that’s all that matters.

All-in-all, the LifeSpan EX3 Elliptical is a very good unit that meets or exceeds everything else out there at its price point of around $999.

Unfortunately, where this elliptical comes up short is in the warranty. Unfortunately, the Lifespan EX3 doesn’t give you much of one. With 2 years for parts and 6 months on labor, the LifeSpan EX3 Elliptical is sorely lacking, which is a shame for such a decent machine. If you’re picking one up, make sure to barter a bit to see if you can get the dealer to toss in an extended warranty as part of the sale. They may or may not doing it but it’s definitely worth a shot. If you can get that tossed in you’ll have a nice machine to help you get in shape. I believe Amazon offers a slightly longer 3 years for parts and 1 year for labor on their site.

For having only one bump in an otherwise smooth road, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Lifespan EX3 Elliptical 3.5 out of 5 golden buddahs.

For being a solid machine, the Lifespan EX3 Elliptical gets a solid 3.5 gold buddahs out of 5.


Get more information and compare the Lifespan EX3 Elliptical

Lifespan EX3 Elliptical Specifications
Stride: 20″
Resistance: 16 levels
Resistance Type: Magnetic
Console: LED
Display: Time, Distance, Speed, Calories, Resistance Level, Heart Rate
Heart Rate Monitor: pulse grip and wireless
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Programs: 10
Transport Wheels: Yes
Max User Weight: 350 lbs
Unit Weight: 213 lbs
Dimensions: 67″ L x 29.2″ W x 63″ H
Grade: Residential
Frame Warranty: 15 Years
Parts Warranty: 2 Years /3 years
Labor Warranty: 6 Months / 1 year