I am eyeing getting a new elliptical-I am about 6'1" and 190 lbs so I am a reasonable large/tall. I run (outside mainly) and was eyeing a treadmill but am interested in ellipticals to spare my knees

I used a octane q35 yesterady- felt very much like running and I liked it but I hadn't really looked at them in the past...haven't tried lifefitness yet.

I tried a precor efx556 today at a gym, while it was amazingly incredibly smoooooooth, its stride felt 'small' for me. I don't really understand this since I though it has a 21" stride, but instead of my legs being able to make a fluid running motion, with full extension, it felt like it stopped them right before they reached full extension maybe?? My legs also felt like they were burning some (not my joints), so I'm not sure if it just that I am new to the elliptical and it is using different muscles in different ways or if the precor just simply isn't fititng me.

Any comments? I really love the precor quality, and am able to get a 556 for a very nice price locally, so I want to like it. I'm just trying to figure out if I need to just give it more time and let my legs get used to it, or if it just doesnt' fit me.

I've heard from a few random sources that they felt precor fit smaller people better, but then the precor website (I think) proudly proclaims that it is designed to work from the lower 5% female to the top 95% male...

I am going to some random fitness stores in a day or 2 to try more types out, but honestly not sure how much I trust the salesmen I will run into.

Any thoughts? Do other people experience this, and do they get used to the precor with time?

Not really sure about the specific machines you're speaking of, but I know for a fact that back when I had a membership to 24 hour fitness, two different brands/sizes of ellipticals felt significantly different. Same with my mtn bike and a friend's; same size give or take an inch, but totally different feel overall. I know what you mean by "the burn" - strange sensation, but I feel that it's for the better considering that you're working out muscles you normally would not. If it feels like a "different" workout, and you're able to, I would recommend splitting it up between the machine and outdoor running. I've been running on a treadmill for a few months, however mixing it up between that, biking, and outdoor running, I've seen much better overall results (shorter times on all, quicker off the bat, quicker recovery, etc.) over doing just one type of cardio.

Really, in the end, go with what works. If you're going to make the investment and actually use the thing, it doesn't make sense to pay less money and get a machine you'll be uncomfortable with.

well I went and tried the life fitness models today- I really liked the stride much more than the precor. Even at the shorter 18" setting, it felt much more natural- like I was really running in place. The guy at the store agreed that he didn't like the precor either, saying that he didn't think they fit as well with tall people. I tried the x5 and the x7 (both with adjustable strides-a 24" stride is just incredible- nice long strides for me) and loved them- the x7 is very very slick. The x5 is more in my price range though..

watch out with that adjustable stride. The machanism can be proven to be a design flaw (with all brands that offer the feature). I'm talking in terms of service, and maintenence. They can wear down awefully fast and the machines typically don't have good enough warranties that cover those parts that are going to be breaking down.

If you're looking at the adjustable strides on some models, why aren't you looking at Precor models that offer the adjustable ramps?? That's been shown to hold up better in homes and they have the best warranty (10 years parts, all wear items).

Thank you for your feedback!

I haven't tried the precors with the adjustable ramps. Maybe I will give those a try now. I guess my expereince with the commercial non-adjustable precor (efx 556) was that the stride felt unnatural and 'short' for me so I didn't really see how raising or lowering ramp would help improve the stride motion.

That being said, I certainly don't want to get an unreliable machine! I am strongly considering the x5, which has manually adjustable strides, and I would really hope/assume that life fitness would have made a reliable model...

I did try their x9i (like the club model) and this stride felt more natural than the precor, but the x9i has only an 18" stride.

My wife is around 5'5" or so and I am 6'1". Am I being unreasonable in thinking that we need different stride settings? or should I just learn to get used to a smaller stride. Would I learn to like the precor stride?