Xterra Elliptical Trainers – Quality Frames & Components

Launched in the fall of 2009, Xterra elliptical trainers are a relatively new premier brand manufactured and licensed by Spirit Fitness.

The Xterra Fitness line features treadmills, stationary bikes and a rower in addition to ellipticals. The company’s demographic focus is on the unique market of young, aggressive, and athletic minded consumers. The brand is sold through internet retailer sites as well as their own recently introduced company site.

Why a New Brand?

Dyaco International of Taiwan, which makes Sole, Spirit, and Esprit products, launched the Xterra brand to claim more of a share of the North American market.

They are very successful with the Sole Fitness elliptical trainers but while they are the manufacturer and distributor, they do not own Sole. Spirit owns the exclusive licensing agreement to manufacture and distribute the Xterra brand.

Dyaco won’t be reinventing anything new with Xterra as you will discover they use the same quality frames and components on the new machines that are already used in the best-selling Sole and Spirit elliptical trainers.

They will offer consumers biomechanically correct and comfortable features, plus a little something different; superior warranties and a unique backlit LCD console display.

A Look at the Current Xterra Elliptical Lineup

The Xterra elliptical trainers use premium components including heavy-duty steel flywheels, sealed commercial bearings, premium bushings, and concave wheels.

Other features include self-leveling pedals, user friendly and brightly lit LCD consoles, cooling fans, MP3 jack and speakers, and water bottle holders.

The latest Xterra elliptical lineup consists of a number of different models falling under two banners: FS (FreeStyle), which are the traditional ellipticals, and EU (Elliptical Upright), which are hybrid machines that combine an elliptical with a bike.

Let's take a closer look at the newest trainers...

FS Series (Traditional Ellipticals)

FS1.5

The FS1.5 is an entry level model, featuring a fixed 14" stride, 6 built in workout programs, 16 resistance levels, a 5" x 2.5" backlit LCD display and grip/wireless heart rate monitoring. It has a 250 lb. maximum user weight capacity.

FS150

The FS1.5 is another entry level model, featuring a fixed 13" stride, 12 built in workout programs, 24 resistance levels, a 3.7" backlit LCD display and grip heart rate monitoring. It has a 265 lb. maximum user weight capacity.

FS2.5

The FS2.5 is a step up from the base FS1.5, featuring the same 14" stride, 12 built in workout programs, 24 resistance levels, grip/wireless heart rate monitoring and a 300 lb. maximum user weight capacity.

FS3.0

The FS3.0 is a step up from the FS2.5, with a 16" stride, 12 built in workout programs, 20 resistance levels and a slightly larger LCD display.

FS3.5

The FS3.5 has all of the features of the FS3.5, but with a longer 17" fixed stride giving you more freedom of movement.

FS380

The FS380 is the current top of the line model, with a fixed 18" stride, 12 built in workout programs, 24 resistance levels, 5.5" display, grip/wireless heart rate monitoring and a 300 lb. maximum user weight capacity.

You may also find these older models still available for sale...

The FS5.6 has a 20" stride, 21 lb. flywheel, 7 workout programs, 20 resistance levels, 20 power incline levels, oversized tilted pedals, grip and wireless heart rate monitoring, 6.5" blue backlit display and a 375 lb. max weight limit.

The FS5.8 has a heavier 25 lb. flywheel, 8 workout programs, cushioned pedals, larger 7.5" blue backlit display and a 400 lb. max weight limit, in addition to all of the other features and capabilities of the base FS5.6.

EU Series (Hybrid Ellipticals)

The hybrid ellipticals are ellipticals and bikes in one machine, so you can do two different workouts without having two different cardio machines. They are also very compact, which is ideal for smaller spaces.

EU100

The entry level EU100 has a 13" stride, 8 manual resistance levels and a 3.7" blue backlit LCD display.

EU150

The step up E150 also has a 13" stride, but you get 12 built in workout programs and 24 resistance levels. It's very similar specs wise to the FS150, which is why they share a name.

Xterra Elliptical reviews are generally positive – and it seems they made a conscious decision not to compete head-to-head with counterparts like the NordicTrack, Horizon and Sole line-ups.

Most of their ellipticals are under $500, and there really isn't much competition in that category. Plus you get built in workouts, lots of resistance levels and grip as well as wireless heart rate monitoring. That's a lot of capability for a relatively inexpensive elliptical trainer.

NordicTrack, ProForm, Horizon and Sole do give you a way to keep tabs on your workouts and sync your daily results with the fitness apps that you like to use. Currently the Xterra ellipticals do not for some reason.

Still, you do get a lot for your money.

Will The Brand Succeed?

While the Xterra elliptical trainers are good, but not great, you can look for this line to improve in the coming years. They rank well in adjustability, warranty, quality, and ergonomics, and about average in noise and console features.

Once Spirit launched the Esprit brand comprised of the best-selling Sole ellipticals at a discount, the line took off and gained respectability. Expect the same type of marketing to be done for the Xtrra Fitness brand.

We believe that Dyaco will put everything they can into making Xterra a success, but only time will tell. These two new models are better than anything we've seen before from the company, but without workout tracking they might have a hard time competing.

You can read the latest Xterra elliptical reviews below for a more in-depth look at specs, news, buying tips and other important info on the trainers.

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