New Balance elliptical trainers have been a favorite of home exercise enthusiasts for the past several years. Of course, New Balance shoes have been a favorite with runners and elliptical trainers for many years. The company’s fitness equipment is manufactured in China and Taiwan and is marketed through Fitness Quest of Canton Ohio. Fitness Quest also markets several other fitness equipment brands, including Ab Lounge, Edge, and Total Gym.
Recently, the company has started marketing the New Balance 8000 elliptical trainer. Luckily, an acquaintance of ours recently bought an 8000 and was breaking it. She is a fitness fanatic like many of us and she had already ridden the machine for 50 hours. We asked her if we could try the elliptical and do a review and she gladly agreed.
We used 5 test subjects to evaluate the New Balance 800. They had between 6 months and 4 years of experience using elliptical trainers. Testers’ weights ranged from 109 pounds to our linebacker’s 265 pounds. We asked each of them to perform 3 normal workouts over a period of one week. They had to take into account ease of use, smoothness, fitness programs, stride length and comfort, sound levels, stability, total body comfort, perceived training level, electronics and , in general, the fit.
According to the brochures, the 8000 model weighs about 180 pounds and has a 40-by-30-inch footprint, which should give it relatively good stability. He is also rated at 300 pounds. Our testers initially really liked the pedals because of their size. The ability to change stride length from 18 to 20 inches is a nice feature, but a better one would be a fully adjustable stride length. Two of the testers wanted a little more than an 18-inch stride, but not the full 20. Stride length wasn’t an issue when working at normal speeds, but when doing intense training, these testers ended up having to use the shorter stride.
Stability wasn’t too bad even for our soccer player who really made the machine rock on the pad. A more durable or harder pad could have added stability. Sound levels were comparable to all but the loudest ellipticals, making it possible to watch TV without headphones at moderate training levels. The testers felt that the training programs would likely satisfy all but a few home exercise enthusiasts. The screen was easy to read, but it went dark in one of the fitting rooms during his training. We couldn’t get the console to repeat its crash, so we’re not sure what caused the crash.
All testers gave the 8000 a 3 out of 5 rating in terms of smoothness of operation compared to more expensive commercial elliptical trainers. Plus, everyone found it easy to use the upper body handles to enhance their workout.
We were unable to determine the durability of this unit based on the short amount of time it was in use. To date, there are few New Balance 8000 reviews that give a real clue as to any issues with this model. It should be noted that Fitness Quest does not have the best track record when it comes to customer service. As a result, we recommend an extended warranty to cover electronic components and parts. New Balance or Fitness Quest offers a standard 10-year frame, 2-year electronics, and 1-year parts warranty, but labor and shipping costs are not included.
With an overall score of 3.75 out of 5, our testers felt that the New Balance 8000 would likely be a good buy for the average home exercise enthusiast. The biggest concern that was raised was the fact that this elliptical trainer was marketed and serviced by Fitness Quest, which does not have a good reputation among fitness folks.
