Ironman Fitness Elliptical

Which elliptical trainer on sale at Costco would you recommend?

Costco in California has 2 elliptical trainers on sale starting Jan 8. One is the Ironman Fitness Aeros for $999. The other is a Nordictrack model ($200 off, but I don’t have the actual price). Any info on:
- Overall quality of each manufacturer
- Sturdiness / quality of construction
- Noise – I’ve heard magnetic resistance, which both have is quieter
- Useful programs / other features?

I’ve used the Precor trainers at the gym, so wondering how these compare.

Thanks!

I have been wondering the same thing. I need to visit Costco this week to confirm the correct model number, but I believe it is the Nordic Track Elite 1300.

Treadmilldoctor.com is the only place that really seems to have legitimate, knowledgeable, and comprehensive reviews of treadmills and, more recently, ellipticals.

They have reviewed the NordicTrack 1300 (made by parent company Icon Health & Fitness) and consider it the best buy available in the $500-1,000 price range. My Costco has this unit regular-priced at $900, or $1,000 – can’t recall for sure. It sounds like you can’t go wrong with this one for $700 or $800, using the $200 off.

http://www.treadmilldoctorstore.com/Product-Reviews/Elliptical-Reviews/Nordictrack-Elite-1300

Unfortunately, TM Doc has not reviewed any Ironman ellipticals so I know nothing about their quality. The Ironman brand is made by Keys Fitness, who seems to have a pretty decent reputation in the treadmill industry. Here is a link with TM Doc’s opinion about Ironman as a brand/company.

http://www.treadmilldoctorstore.com/Product-Reviews/Treadmill-Reviews/Ironman-Treadmill-Review-Index

Here is TM Doc’s feeling about Icon Health & Fitness, who make the NordicTrack brand stuff:

http://www.treadmilldoctorstore.com/Product-Reviews/Elliptical-Reviews/Nordictrack-Elliptical-Review-Index

My guess is that neither of these will feel quite as sturdy or quality as a commercial Precor unit, but they also don’t seem like bottom-of-the-barrel home ellipticals, either.

Return policy at Costco is great, but neither unit can be test-driven unless you find the same unit at a different retail store or fitness store.

Warranty on the Aeros according to Costco.com is Lifetime frame, 2 year parts, 1 year labor. The NordicTrack 1300 is worse at 1 year frame, motor, parts and all labor charges . Icon Fitness offers reasonably priced extended warranties thru ITS (not sure if this is a division of Icon or a 3rd party company), who are supposedly a legit and stable outfit. The Epic 1000 is a sister model to the NordicTrack 1300 and the Epic offers lifetime warranty on the frame. This seems odd.

The Aeros elliptical is not even listed on www.ironmanfitness.com! Sure makes it hard to find information about a product when the manufacturer doesn’t even acknowledge its existence!

If I end up buying one of these, I will probably buy the NordicTrack since it seems to be $100-200 cheaper and has received a ‘best buy’ tag from TM Doc. The Ironman Aeros is an unknown quantity to me at this point.

I hope this helped – at least a little!

UPDATE:
Regarding the answer below, ProForm models also are made by Icon Health & Fitness, so this is not a reason to prefer them over the NordicTrack models.

The price of the NordicTrack elliptical (model number 1300) at Costco is normally $900, which makes it $700 after the $200 coupon. The Ironman is $300 more and at this point I have seen nothing on the internet to convince me it is worth the extra money.

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