Elliptical Trainer Ratings
Elliptical trainer ratings are a great place to start when beginning your shopping, but there are a few things you should know first about how to interpret these ratings.
Elliptical Trainers are Rated in Specific Price Groups
There are really 3 categories of elliptical trainers: Economy Buys, Mid-priced and Commercial Grade Ellipticals.
Economy buys range from about $300 to $1000, Mid-priced ellipticals range from $1000-$2000 and High End or Commercial elliptical trainers range from around $2200 and above.
Most consumer reviews usually compare elliptical trainers within a certain price class. This essentially amounts to “comparing apples to apples”. It really wouldn’t be a fair or useful comparison to rate an economy elliptical trainer that retails for $500 with a commercial-grade elliptical costing $5000.
So just because an economy elliptical trainer gets 5 stars and a mid-priced elliptical gets 4 stars, that doesn’t mean the economy elliptical is better than the mid-priced elliptical. It just means that compared to other economy elliptical trainers, that one is superior.
Experts Value Elliptical Features Differently
Ever wonder why certain elliptical trainers get rated highly by some experts and not by others? It’s because different elliptical trainer raters value some features over others.
So for example, while give more weight the number of workout programs an elliptical supports or the presence of a water bottle holder and an mp3 docking station, another rater may value smoothness of ride and the length of the warranty.
It doesn’t mean one elliptical trainer is better than another – it could just mean they are rated using different criteria.
As any FYI, I fall into the latter group mentioned above.
Use Caution When Reading User Elliptical Ratings
In addition to expert elliptical ratings, there are also websites that allow people to write a personal review of their elliptical such as epinoins.com and even the manufacturer websites. While these can be helpful when shopping for an elliptical, be cautious of basing your decision just on these ratings.
Exercise equipment is big business and some companies are not above having one of their employees post negative reviews on their competitors or conversely, shilled positive reviews for their own products.
Also, no one elliptical brand has a perfect track record – sometimes even the best brands crank out a lemon. And those are usually the people that go online to post a negative review. People who are quite happy with their elliptical trainer purchase are less likely to post a comment.
The best advice: take user ratings with a large grain of salt and combine them with your own research when shopping for an elliptical trainer.