Triumph 8.3 Elliptical Trainer

I feel like I took a big chance in buying this elliptical trainer at Academy. I could not find one review on-line. I couldn't even find this brand name for any exercise machine. I called Academy and they stated the vendor is Keys Fitness (www.keysfitness.com). I contacted them and they sent me to the maker of the machines, which is Ironman in Garland, TX.

So, of course, I give them a ring and start to ask some questions and apparently they weren't able to help me too much either. They were able to tell me about the warranty on the frame and parts but weren't able to give me a review on the machine. I don't know if I would have taken it into consideration any ways because of course they would only tell me positive things instead of negative...but they didn't tell me crap.

I'm putting my review up about the machine and hope that maybe I can help anyone out there "googling" for information about this product.

Feel of the Machine: I had played on the Triumph 8.3 at Academy and to be honest it felt nice and smooth. It didn't creak and groan and the stride length was nice and long. I believe the specs will say it has a 16-inch stride length. You'll get on some elliptical trainers and feel as if the stride is too short and the movement is stunted somehow...but this machine has a good stride length even for my husband who is 6 feet tall.

Feel of the newly purchased machine at home:It still remains to feel smooth. The movement/motion is nice and does not have your feet at an elevated slant (some machines tend to do this) which puts pressure on your knees. Everything feels even. My machine tends to start making noise when I start to get heavy into my workout. It will start to squeak a bit, but I don't think it's anything that annoys me too much. I'm able to ignore it. If you live upstairs above someone else I really don't think your downstair neighbor would be able to hear the machine.

Assembly: The hubby and I were able to put the machine together in about 45 minutes I believe. It was not difficult at all. The most difficult thing was getting the box out of the car and into the house and getting the machine and parts out of the cardboard box. The box contains even the tools that you'll need to put the machine together.

Display: The display will show you: calories burned, distance covered in miles, rpm, ekg pulse grip readout, and time you have spent on the machine. There are no programs with this machine. No batteries required, but an electrical outlet needs to be available so that you can plug the elliptical trainer into it...this is the power for LCD display. Motion turns the display on and the display turns off in four minutes when there is no activity.

Construction: It's made from with a "heavy duty" frame that has a lifetime warranty; is meant for people up to 275 pounds.

Cost: I paid $557.00

Recommendation: Well, I've only had this machine for four days with three days of workout time on it. So far I would recommend this machine. It is hard to find good elliptical trainers under the price of $1000. If I had the funds I would immediately buy a Precor machine because I think they are the best on the market, but you won't find one for under $2000. I will have to do an update regarding the Triumph 8.3 in a couple of months.