Question

My husband and I want to get an elliptical and space is an issue. We are both under 5'10" and under 200lbs. Which of the three ellipticals would you recommend, Nordic Track ACT vs Smooth CE vs Octane 35e.

The Smooth CE Elliptical is the one which you review favorably on your website, but its' main deficit is its 18” stride and its cost. I found the Octane Q35e on Craig’s list locally but the guy is asking $1500.00.

Again space is a real issue so the Smooth CE 3.2 that you also recommend is way too big and won't work in our home gym space.

We also tried some inexpensive machines at Sears and seemed to like the front drive ellipticals best, but that might have been because of their quality. Also, do all these elliptical machines incline?

Thanks for your time and I forgot to mention that you really have a wonderful site, the most helpful of all that I have read.

Answer

All three of the elliptical trainers you're considering are good machines. The Octane Q35e and Smooth CE are proven winners with a long track record of solid performance and reliability and the Nordictrack ACT is a strong newcomer to the market.

I'm with you in the fact that I tend to favor the front drive ellipticals too, but it's mostly a matter of personal preference and won't make much of a performance difference for your workout.

The front drive ellipticals typically have a little smaller live workout area (actual amount of clear floor space needed while the machine is in use) than rear drive machines and the center drive ellipticals like the Nordictrack ACT usually have the smallest footprint and the smallest live workout area.

You asked whether all of the ellipticals you're considering have incline, and the answer is - none of the ellipticals have incline, they all rely on magnetic resistance to change the workout difficulty.

On a related note to your incline question, the stride length of an elliptical machine can have a strong bearing on the perceived exertion of the user like an incline ramp can. The faster you go on an elliptical trainer, the longer the stride length you'll want to have.

The shorter 18" stride length on the Smooth CE and the 20.5" stride length on the Octane Q35e will make it seem like you're working harder than you would on the Nordictrack ACT with an adjustable stride length of 18" to 22".

Now on to which elliptical machine you should get for your gym…

Like I said earlier all three ellipticals are good machines, so in theory it doesn't matter which one you end up getting. The problem is that you have a limited amount of space in your home gym, and with that being the case you should get the Nordictrack ACT Elliptical (see my recommended alernative to the Nordic Track ACT here).

This Center drive machine only requires a small live workout area of 60" long x 40" wide to operate at full stride which is a full 5 inches less than the next smallest elliptical on your list.

Just for the record the live workout areas on the other two machines are; 65" long x 22" wide for the Smooth CE Elliptical and 79" long x 27" wide for the Octane Q35e Elliptical.