ProForm Carbon E10 Elliptical: get it for FREE with iFIT subscription

Every once in a while Icon Fitness the guys who own iFIT, ProForm, and NordicTrack, love to throw a deal out there to get people interested in their gear. And the ProForm Carbon E10 is one of the best deals they have offered in the past few years.

When you subscribe to 3 years of iFIT, they give you the impressive E10 mid-level elliptical, and what’s best is that you still get to keep the elliptical after three years even if you dont want to subscribe to iFIT anymore. A combined price of $2800, but you get it for $1400

Bang for your buck, it’s worth the money even without the three years of iFIT. That just sweetens the deal. There are a few drawbacks; nothing is perfect in this price range, but the pros far outweigh the cons with this one, which is why I want to take a close look at everything it offers.

First, let’s check out the ProForm Carbon E10 Elliptical product specs!

Why Do We Like The ProForm Carbon E10?

iFIT is cool, the 10″ touchscreen is better than anything you’ll find on a similar-priced ellipticals, and the deal is a winner if you love subscription apps, but these aren’t the main reasons you should buy an elliptical. First, you need to know if all the essentials are there.

It’s the essentials that really matter, and the first has to be the build quality, and this is one of the reasons I like this elliptical because, despite all that tech, it’s still a heavy machine for the price point.

I know I mentioned the weight in the intro, but it’s important because it gives you a good clue to the overall quality of materials used in the build. Okay, this machine isn’t commercial heavy, none are in this price bracket, but it’s not a mile off. 200 lb is around the weight I like to see when spending just under $1500.

It’s heavy enough to feel study, and it won’t feel like a cheaply made unstable machine.

Smooth Elliptical Motion

The smoothness of the elliptical motion is almost as important as the build quality. The last thing you want is a jerky, stuttering elliptical. I’ve reviewed many cheap ellipticals with a jerky motion, and it’s a nightmare.

To achieve a smooth elliptical motion, the main feature you need to consider is the flywheel weight. The heavier, the better, and at 25lb, the ProForm E10 has one of the heaviest I’ve come across at this price point.

Strong Resistance

The weight of the flywheel will also determine the strength of resistance in the upper levels, you need strong resistance in the upper five levels or so, or you’ll outgrow the machine too quickly.

25lb is excellent for a mid-level elliptical and will ensure those upper levels are strong enough to challenge most fitness levels, except for seasoned athletes in training; you guys will need a commercial elliptical.

Incline – Essential Feature For Front Drive Ellipticals

If you buy a front-drive elliptical, always make sure it has an incline feature. Why? Because with a front-drive elliptical, you tend to lean forward on the front of your feet as you have to push the flywheel to get it spinning, and because you’re standing on the front of your feet and pushing, you’re only working the anterior muscles of your legs like your quads.

You Need To Work The Glutes and Hamstrings To Get The Most Out of Your Workouts

Giving the quads a good workout is great; nothing wrong with that, but the quads are three times smaller than the hamstrings, and if you want to burn more calories, you need to contract the much larger posterior muscles like your glutes and hamstrings. To work these muscles on a front-drive elliptical, you must have a decent incline feature.

Pedaling on an incline will switch the focus of your workout front muscles to the posterior, which means you’ll burn twice as many calories because those larger muscles have a much higher caloric output requirement, and best of all, you’ll get to build and strengthen these otherwise hard to train muscles.

Impressive 0-20 degree Power Incline

And you’ll be happy to hear the ProForm Carbon E10 has an excellent 0-20º power adjustable incline, more than enough to work those posterior muscles.

To adjust the incline, you can use the one-touch buttons of the monitor or allow the iFIT trainers to adjust it for you, a cool feature called automatic trainer control.

Stream 1000’s of Trainer-Led Classes

The best feature of the Carbon E10 monitor has to be that crisp 10″ smart touchscreen. ProForm and NordicTrack are known for their excellent tilt touchscreens. You won’t find better than this on an elliptical under $1500.

And, of course, you’ll have your three years of iFIT. I think there are over seventeen thousand workouts on iFIT, and they add to it daily. It’s an excellent app. You’ll love the Global routes where you can run across deserts or through cities like New York, and you can have an iFIT trainer run alongside you, encouraging you.

There’s also Google maps, where you can choose anywhere in the world to run, even your own street if you wish. And 1000s of studio classes.

My favorite feature is the Automatic controls; this is where you can allow the iFIT trainers to adjust the resistance and incline depending on the studio class or route you have chosen, it saves you from having to reach the monitor in the middle of a workout to adjust resistance or incline.

The monitor also includes a cooling fan and built-in speakers, plus it tracks all your usual workout stats like distance, time, calories, etc.

The only drawback with this monitor is the lack of wireless heart rate monitoring which is a bit disappointing, especially for those who love to train in their chosen heart rate zone; it’s a feature I expected to see. And should be included at this price point.

Adjust The Stride Length To Fit Your Size

Always good to find an adjustable stride length on any elliptical. Its a feature usually reserved for high-end ellipticals, but I’m starting to see it featured on a few mid-level ellipticals lately, and the E10 is one of them, which is great news as its a handy feature, especially if there’s more than one person in the household using the elliptical.

The max stride length of the ProForm E10 is 19″, which is okay. I would have liked to of seen 20″, but 19″ will still allow users up to 6’2″ to pedal on this elliptical at full stride without feeling restricted.

Magnetic Resistance and Blet Drive Systems Keep Noise Levels to a Minimum

If you buy an elliptical, you’ll always want to choose one with a magnetic resistance system. A magnetic resistance system is so well suited to elliptical because it’s frictionless, which means it’s whisper quiet in operation.

Another reason you want a frictionless resistance system is that there is very little wear and tear, so an elliptical that uses magnetic resistance is almost maintenance-free. All you need to do is keep things lubricated to avoid any squeaks, and that’s about it.

Lastly, to keep noise levels to an absolute minimum, a belt drive is the best choice, as it is much quieter than the noisy chain drives featured on some exercise bikes and rowing machines.

A belt drive and magnetic resistance system is the quietest combination you’ll find for an elliptical, so quiet you’ll be able to watch tv and listen to music without being disturbed by the sound of the machine.

The ProForm Carbon E10 includes 24 levels of magnetic resistance and the desirable belt drive system.

Moving and Static Handlebars

The ProForm E10 elliptical comes with moving and static handlebars. The static handlebars can be very useful for beginners as you can hold on to these and get used to the elliptical motion, and once you’ve built your confidence, you can move on to the moving pair of handlebars for a full-body workout.

Still, even seasoned elliptical users love the static handlebars because they allow you to focus fully on your lower body. What many people like to do is set the resistance strength to a high level, grab the static handlebars, and give the legs a really hard workout.

Allow at Least 2 Hours For Assembly

Ellipticals are more challenging to assemble than exercise bikes or treadmills; that’s what I’ve always found. And assembling them correctly is important. Most problems arise with ellipticals because they haven’t been assembled correctly. So I recommend you take your time when assembling this machine.

It’s a fairly heavy elliptical, so it’s a good idea to have someone help you unbox and get everything in place. ProForm provides all the tools for the job and an illustrated manual.

Alternative

Nautilus E618 Elliptical

The E618 is Nautilus’s top of the line elliptical. It costs just under $1200, and it packs a pretty good punch for the price tag, it’s been a favorite of mine in this price bracket for a few years now.

I like this elliptical so much because it delivers on all the essentials, the build is nice and heavy at 210lb, so it feels sturdy and well-made. Also, it boasts the largest stride length in this price bracket with a 22″ stride, so it’s a great choice for taller users.

Just like the ProForm E10, the Nautilus E618 includes a magnetic resistance system and a belt drive, so it’s very quiet when in motion.

You also have a power adjustable incline that can be adjusted from the quick touch buttons of the monitor or the handlebars buttons.

And Im impressed with the monitor, okay you dont get the HD touchscreen, but you do get the quick touch buttons so you can access everything with a single touch of a button, and you have 29 built-in workout programs, so if you dont want to subscribe to any fitness apps, at least you have a large number of workout programs to challenge you and help you set new goals.

Plus, you get wireless heart rate monitoring with this elliptical, and they throw in the HR chest strap, which saves you a few bucks.

Overall, its another well-made elliptical from the guys at Nautilus; if you’re someone whos not that interested in fitness apps and wants a machine with more built-in workout programs and similar build quality and features as the Carbon E10, the Nautilus E618 is one of the best alternatives out there.

To Sum Up

NordicTrack and ProForm design all their fitness equipment around their iFit app; you can’t use their impressive HD touchscreens with anything other than iFIT, which means to get the most out of their equipment, including things like Google Maps, the auto trainer control you need to be subscribed to their app.

So to me, it seems a no-brainer to take ProForm up on their deal here as you get three years of iFIT and an elliptical, all for $1400, which is half the usual price.

And the elliptical is a good one, just as good as anything else, with a $1400 price tag. It has a solid build, a nice heavy flywheel, an adjustable 19″ stride, tons of resistance levels, is whisper quiet, and includes a 10″ HD touchscreen. It has it all. If you love fitness apps, this is the best deal going.