Fuel Elliptical Trainer Review

I made a trip to Dick's Sporting to check out the Fuel elliptical trainer. They are a relatively new brand, currently offering two ellipticals and two treadmills, all for under $1,000. However, they've been advertising aggressively on the Internet.

It appears the Fuel brand is an attempt to compete in the budget fitness equipment market. Currently that market is dominated by Icon Fitness (NordicTrack, ProForm, Image, Epic, Weslo) and Horizon Fitness.

It will be interesting to see how successful Fuel ellipticals are competing against the leaders of budget ellipticals. Although there is always room for a company that can build a better elliptical at a value price.

On the floor was a Fuel FE44. Unfortunately this machine was rather beat up, which is not unusual at Dick's. I've been on ProForm and Horizon machines that were literally falling apart. Discounting the abuse, here is my impression.

The Fuel FE44 Elliptical Features...

The FE44 has an 18" stride, which most people will find comfortable. If you are over 5'11" you may want to consider The FE66 with a 20" stride. The FE44 is equipped with articulating foot pedals, which angles with the elliptical motion and reduces stress.

Speaking of the elliptical motion, you get a 19 lbs. flywheel, which contribute to a smooth motion.

Being a front drive machine, the pedals run on single rails. This is not the most stable design, but is typical at this price range.

The console and display are very basic, with a single LCD window readout. You get built-in speakers in the console, however, don't expect Blaupunkt quality.

You get 15 workout programs, that gives you a nice variety of exercise challenges.

The warranty is lifetime on the brake system and 1-year parts and labor. You'll find some models at this price offering only a 90-day parts and labor coverage.

Our Review - Fuel Ellipticals

The Fuel FE44 sells for $699, with shipping — as mentioned this puts it in the budget elliptical range. You always have to be careful buying an elliptical at this price range. At $700 with shipping, you don't have a whole lot of money to build a quality machine that is durable.

I would recommend the FE44 for moderate usuage, at about 3-5 hours a week. If you are a serious athlete, you will want to upgrade to at least the $1,500 price range.

Overall, the jury is out on Fuel ellipticals. It would be premature for me to make any conclusive judgements until this brand has a reasonable track-record. I also, need to find a Fuel elliptical that hasn't been used as a jungle gym by hoards of children.

Here are a couple of customer reviews on the FE44.

"I did a lot of research before choosing this one and I am very pleased with the machine thus far; I've had this elliptical for one week now. I love it. I was slightly intimidated about putting it together myself, but is was not hard at all... it just took a few hours. The machine is sturdy and rides very smooth."

" I do have a squeak and also I hear a loud knock once in a while. I may have to call for service. I do like that it is compact and fits well in a small space. I have used it every day for 2 weeks now since I made the purchase. Took me 3 hours to put together, but the directions were good and all parts were with the product." (Note: There were several customer reviews on Dick's web site that complained about noise problems.)

A couple of other elliptical trainers to consider are the Schwinn 430 ($599) and the NordicTrack 990 ($999)- both ranked highly by Consumer Reports.

Also see the Fuel FE46 review