Treadmill Reviews, Elliptical Trainer Reviews, Home Gym Reviews, and other fitness equipment reviews from an industry insider.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Horizon Fitness E54HR Elliptical Trainer Review

Horizon Fitness E54HR Ellipitical TrainerHorizon Fitness E54HR Elliptical Review
Horizon Fitness E54HR Elliptical Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 for being cheap, but lacking a couple extras
Buy The Horizon Fitness E54HR Elliptical
Price: $1098

Hello Readers,

Ahh, today is finally chiropractor day. I look forward to it because my cardio workouts will be totally pain free and I’ll be able to twist my head to check out that girl at the track. (Just don’t tell my girlfriend.) Anyway, I thought today I could review something from Horizon Fitness’ discontinued fitness equipment line. My sore neck is making me feel like I’m getting old and that I’ll be discontinued soon. It’s my own flavor of life affirming therapy. On to the Review!

The Horizon E54HR was once the flagship of the Horizon Fitness Armada. The Horizon E54 had heart rate control, a very bright blue backlit display screen, adjustable resistance, and an ergonomic design that made working out a pleasure. Sadly, the E54HR has been discontinued and is nearly extinct. Fortunately, for the bargain hunting predator, the Horizon Fitness E54HR Elliptical Trainer is still available from online retailers who failed to sell their excess inventory.

I like a lot of things about the Horizon Fitness E54HR. First, there are 20 adjustable resistance levels; most elliptical trainers in the thousand dollar price range tend to stop at 15. The more resistance levels there are, the easier it is to fine tune a workout. I like knowing I can set the resistance just a hair higher to get the perfect amount of resistance for my workout. One of the things I’m going to miss about these units is the large foot pad; they're comfortable and provide larger people like myself enough room to shuffle my feet a bit. This was also one of the first Horizon Fitness Ellipticals to include a pivoting footpad design that reduces stress on joints, a very helpful and comfortable feature.

There are a couple things I don’t like. First, the program threshold for elliptical trainers in the $1000 price range is 12. The Horizon Fitness E54HR comes with 10. I would really like to see 15. Fitness programs make it significantly easier for the novice to buy an elliptical and start an effective training program and a mid-range elliptical trainer should include plenty of programs.

The Horizon E54 HR Elliptical is about a couple years old now. They’re still being sold new from an unopened box, but they have probably been sitting in the storage department for a couple years now. I wouldn’t worry about the age at all. Just be sure to inspect the shipment when it comes in and check for damage to the box. If there's no damage, you should be fine and you'll still be covered by an excellent warranty.

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