The Eclipse 2100HRA Elliptical – decent performer under $500

Well, the Treadmill Sensei is both tired and very happy right now. You see, Mrs. Sensei and I took care of my ever so perfect grandson today. Baby Raymond was born this past weekend and we are all incredibly glad he decided to come out and join us. It was touch and go there as my daughter never dialated more than 3 centimeters so the doctors did a c-section on her late Friday evening. Both baby and mommy are doing well, and grandfather Sensei is very proud.

In an effort to try and finish up the reviews from the Ichi-Ban awards, I decided to log on late and do a quick elliptical review for the Eclipse 2100HRA.

Being at the very bottom end of the elliptical spectrum we don’t get many of these units in to the DOJO to work on — they tend to be cheaper to replace than to repair. The Eclipse 2100HRA ranks as one of the very few under $500 ellipticals even worth mentioning. It’s not a perfect elliptical by any means, but you really do get what you pay for.

The pros on this tiny elliptical are the size which allows you to place the Eclipse 2100HRA in virtually any small space. The heart rate monitoring and control are features very rarely found in units at this price.

Some of the things you give up when you drop down are stability – the Eclipse 2100HRA elliptical is a mere 96 pounds, which doesn’t give you a huge amount of support – and the true elliptical motion. These lower end ellipticals have much more of a “D” shape to their motion rather than the elongated oval of the higher priced ellipticals. The feel isn’t bad, but it won’t compare to a Sole, Vision or even Horizon model…and, if you’re used to a commercial unit then the Eclipse 2100HRA won’t even come close to doing it for you.

In closing, the Eclipse 2100HRA isn’t a bad unit…heck, in this price range its down right good…however, it doesn’t really stack up to higher priced units. For being a pretty darn good under $500 elliptical, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Eclipse 2100HRA elliptical 2.5 out of 5 golden stars.