I saw this guy riding his ElliptiGO in the Minneapolis Bike Tour last weekend. I went to their website and immediately signed up for a test ride, arranged, oddly enough, with this guy right here for the next weekend.
Physical Stuff
The ElliptiGO weighs 40 lbs and is predominantly aluminum, but the elliptical arms are carbon fiber. The handlebar post folds down so that the ElliptiGO can be transported more readily. There are a few bike racks , that can hold an ElliptiGO, but most will not because it lacks a cross bar and is pretty wide. The tires are 80-100 psi and look pretty sturdy-- probably a relatively low likelihood of flats. Because all of the components on the ElliptiGO, most bike shops will be able to do minor repairs relating to the drive train, shifters, etc. The ElliptiGO has eight gears and the stride length can be modified.
How it rode
It took a bit of getting used to. The ElliptiGO requires more active balancing than a bicycle, due to the upright position in which you ride. I found the shifting to be really smooth and had no problems ascending hills. My pedaling movements didn't feel as smooth as I would have liked, which may have been due to the stride length being set too long. It felt a little wobbly, but I think that is the nature of it. The ElliptiGO may always feel a little less steady than a bicycle. I never mustered up the courage to pass a slower cyclist because I didn't feel that I had that fine of control over the ElliptiGO. That may be something that comes in time. I was impressed at the speed that I could achieve, especially considering the upright position.
As an extra bonus, I rode in my Vibram Five Fingers, and they definitely work for shorter rides on the ElliptiGO.
The day after
The ElliptiGO is definitely a better full-body workout than a bike. All that balancing really works your core. I noticed soreness in my abs and lower back (the muscle kind of soreness, not the hunched over on a bike kind of soreness). I also felt it in my arms, again probably as a result of steadying myself. It also really works your legs, which should go without saying. Notably absent were butt pain and elbow pain, two of the most common in my repertoire.
But wait...there's more
There is now at least one stationary trainer that will hold an ElliptiGO, making the price easier to swallow if you were thinking about getting an indoor elliptical. This is the idea that intrigues me the most.
Yowch!
It costs $2200. So there's that.
Verdict?
3.5 out of 5 stars. It's definitely on my list of desired toys. Contributing factors in the non-perfect rating were: the price, the unsteadiness (which, again, may be more me than the ElliptiGO), and the lack of cargo space. It will definitely not be replacing my bicycle, but I am intrigued.
The perfect apple has already been made, and yet apple-breeding programs persist in trying to perfect perfection. It can't be done. Honeycrisp apples are a crispy combination of sweet and tart. They're juicy. They're good keepers (I've had them last up to 6 months in the refrigerator). They're not mushy or grainy. They don't brown too terribly quickly. They are everything an apple should be.
Most recently, Honeycrisp was bred with Zestar to make SweeTango, an apple that is actually less mushy than the name would imply. It has a decent crunch to it, but is still a touch on the grainy side. The mouthfeel isn't as crisp as Honeycrisp, and the flavor is a bit off. It's tart, but not quite as tart as Honeycrisp, the gold standard for tart/sweet balance.
Fun apple fact: Red Delicious apples were first cultivated in Iowa. *chastises IA severely*
I recently decided that I require more storage on my bike, so I invested in the Topeak Explorer bike rack and MTX Trunk Bag DXP, which is Topeak's largest bag of this variety. Installation-- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
The internet reviewers of the Topeak Explorer rear rack made installation sound tantamount to slaying a dragon with a rubber spork. People on the internet are such exaggerators. It can't possibly be that hard. 30 minutes, tops, I think.
Well.It turns out that installing the rack was more like slaying a herd of angry dragons with a rubber spork. The hardware that came with the rack didn't seem to make a lot of sense. I admit that I am not a hardware connoisseur, so it may very well be superbly elegant hardware far too sophisticated for my feeble mind to grasp. Whatever is was, those nuts were not fitting on those bolts. I did manage to make the bolts work with the holes in my chain stay (is that what it's called? Bikes are full of stays, so I will assume yes). And it only took me an hour!I went to bed, leaving a pile of nuts, bolts, allen wrenches, and tattered dreams scattered about the living room floor.
The next day, I went to the hardware store to buy different nuts. This is where I learned that I am completely inept with regard to hardware. It was a humbling moment when the hardware expert showed me how to use the nuts that I already had. It turns out that they're locking nuts that are just really hard to screw on. It really does make sense-- with a bike being subject to so many vibrations, you don't want the fasteners on your rack to shake loose. He sold me a better wrench.Armed with proper tools, I was able to install the rack in about 20 minutes. The adjustable arms that screw into the seat stay are to be bent slightly to fit your particular bike (mine is a Jamis Satellite Sport), and I was able to do that without a problem. The rack clears everything it should and appears stable.
The Trunk Bag of Holding-- more than meets the eye
The bag slides very nicely into the rack and can be removed in less than a second. I don't like that the top handle forces the zipper to bear the forces, so I use the shoulder strap when I need to carry it. The bag itself is very sturdy-seeming. The inside has a divider, so it's easy to keep my tools and spare tube in a separate area, leaving most of the compartment for whatever else I need to carry at any given point in time. The panniers are very simple to fold in and out, and they attach to the sides of the rack with a little elastic cord.
I took my first trip to Target with the bag, and I was impressed both with how the bag/rack rode and how much the bag carried when fully expanded. Here's a shot of the bag with the expandable top and panniers out.
And more awesomely, here's what I fit inside, with room to spare:
