FreeMotion USA 5.1 Elliptical Review

Brief Overview

The Freemotion version of Nordictrack's Audiostrider 990.

Overall Quality

They've reduced the features but still charge you the same money. The biggest problem that you get with this unit is not the machine. You get to buy it from the proverbial "snake oil" salesman of the fitness industry ... Jim "super gym" rosen.

The FreeMotion USA 5.1 is a decent elliptical that sells for $999. If you like this model, you should buy the NordicTrack Audiostrider 990, instead. It's essentially the same machine with a greater list of features. It also sells for the same price. Unfortunately, it's common for FreeMotion models to be NordicTrack copies that are worse values.

Ergonomically speaking, this model is pretty good. Only a select few ellipticals at this price point can offer a more natural range of motion. At this low of a cost, you're much more likely to find a machine that is significantly worse in this area. The adjustability isn't bad, either. The stride length can be set between 18"-20". The oversized foot pedals can also be adjusted. These help to fit the machine to your personal body type. To find the settings that work best with your fitness levels, you can alter the digital resistance between 20 levels, and you have 30 degrees of incline.

As far as projected reliability is concerned, this machine is decent. You can find a few models that sell for a couple of hundred dollars less that have a longer life expectancy if you know where to look. The quality of parts used is better than many at this price point, but you can find affordable ellipticals that use higher quality parts.

The noise levels of this model is average. This is common of most ellipticals regardless of price. If quiet operation is a major concern for you, you can find some quieter machines at this price. Still, we don't believe the average user will be bothered by the amount of noise this elliptical makes.

The warranty on the FreeMotion USA 5.1 isn't something we find comforting. Fitness Blowout claims to offer a lifetime warranty, but we've heard that from them before.