Can anyone recommend a good rear-drive elliptical machine around $1000? I purchased a house recently and my wife & I want to get our own elliptical machine instead of going to the gym (hate the drive to the gym from our new home and the local gym is crowded) I did some research and the top two choices in my price range are Nordic Track 990 and Sole E25 based on most online review sites. We tried Sole elliptical at Dick?s Sporting Goods and don?t really like the feeling of front drive elliptical. ( Not as smooth as rear drive machines and it feels like that we are climbing a hill all the time.) Both of us like the feeling of the Nordic machine at Sears but I have major, major concerns with its quality (it is made by Icon Fitness). We used to own a ProForm (also an Icon Fitness product) treadmill and it broke down very badly (multiple parts) in a year with light jogging. I just don?t want to get another crappy Icon Fitness product that breaks in a year.
Since we will use the machine frequently (30 mins every other day x 2 person), I want get a quality machine that can last at least 3 years. (consider it is a $1000 investment) We don?t need fancy features like build-in fans, music, iFit ? just a solid rear-drive elliptical machine with at least 18? stride length. (ps: I weighted 200 lbs if that matters, my wife is much lighter.)
Other questions:
-- Is it a good idea to buy used machine from local Craigslist? Most of them are cheap machines I am not interested in anyway. The 'good' ones are usually more than 3 years old and I am not sure if they are still worth buying considering all the wear & tear over the years.
-- Is Sears extended warranty on fitness machine really worth the money? (Based on my online reading, the warranty is offered by a third party company. People were reporting bad experience claiming the warranty and they will charge you a out of pocket fee per incident to send the repair man.) However, I think people usually voice their bad experience more vocally online, so maybe it's not as bad as it sounds?
Since we will use the machine frequently (30 mins every other day x 2 person), I want get a quality machine that can last at least 3 years. (consider it is a $1000 investment) We don?t need fancy features like build-in fans, music, iFit ? just a solid rear-drive elliptical machine with at least 18? stride length. (ps: I weighted 200 lbs if that matters, my wife is much lighter.)
Other questions:
-- Is it a good idea to buy used machine from local Craigslist? Most of them are cheap machines I am not interested in anyway. The 'good' ones are usually more than 3 years old and I am not sure if they are still worth buying considering all the wear & tear over the years.
-- Is Sears extended warranty on fitness machine really worth the money? (Based on my online reading, the warranty is offered by a third party company. People were reporting bad experience claiming the warranty and they will charge you a out of pocket fee per incident to send the repair man.) However, I think people usually voice their bad experience more vocally online, so maybe it's not as bad as it sounds?