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I saw a lady on an Eliptigo today. Do you guys dance that?

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I saw a lady on an Eliptigo today. Do you guys dance that?

Old 10-03-20, 05:17 PM
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DreamRider85
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I saw a lady on an Eliptigo today. Do you guys fancy that?

I was at the trail and saw this lady on a really upright bike. I looked into it and it's an Eliptigo she was on. It's like an Elliptical machine, except you're peddling like a bike. Really interesting. I was wondering.. Do you think it's better than a standard bike because you're standing up instead of sitting down? Would that make it better for the core? And is it pretty much the same thing as riding a bike, except that you're upright?

It was really interesting to see her on that thing. It was like a scooter, but with big pedals.
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Old 10-03-20, 05:31 PM
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I think i have seen sometign like this, really big pedals/platforms. i don't think i could "ride" for more than a few miles on it. i could only wonder what it is like climbing on it.
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Old 10-03-20, 05:40 PM
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Many months ago while on a ride, I came across a man and woman on some machines that looked like an Elliptigo. The way they were using the things, it seemed like they were doing it for fitness and not for speed or distance.
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Old 10-03-20, 05:48 PM
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There is a club that rides in Central Park dozens of them. It is quite a scene. Generally older folks.
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Old 10-03-20, 05:55 PM
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I call them terminators.
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Old 10-03-20, 05:59 PM
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the drag those have, you're not going far in any sort of head winds.
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Old 10-03-20, 06:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Troul
the drag those have, you're not going far in any sort of head winds.
They move like snails you wonder how they even stay up, and they must weigh a ton.
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Old 10-03-20, 06:11 PM
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I see them from time to time. I’ve also seen one that has a full cross trainer set up, but I can’t remember the name of it. i’m just happy that people are outside getting some exercise
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Old 10-03-20, 06:30 PM
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Just looked them up. Reminded me of the saying.... Too weird to live and too strange to die.

There is something even more strange where there is no chain, just a couple of boards to stand on and an upright handlebar. The person rocks from side to side to make it move. Prolly a good core and leg workout but not meant for distance or hill climbing.
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Old 10-03-20, 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
I see them from time to time. I’ve also seen one that has a full cross trainer set up, but I can’t remember the name of it. i’m just happy that people are outside getting some exercise
Seniors especially.
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Old 10-03-20, 07:45 PM
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Looks like it might be fun just to tool around the neighborhood when I don't feel like "dressing up" beyond a helmet. It'd probably draw some friendly attention. But I don't think I'd do anything more challenging that the few blocks to the corner store and back. And yes, Mulberry, I'm a senior. One who has a well developed sense of fun that's stayed with me to this very day.
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Old 10-03-20, 07:49 PM
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I think a kid in my hometown pioneered that 40 years ago when he rode his bike around town without a seat on it.
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Old 10-03-20, 07:51 PM
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would require a richard simmons kit in order to use such "equipment"
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Old 10-03-20, 08:33 PM
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I have never heard of an Eliptigo. Any pictures ?
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Old 10-03-20, 08:48 PM
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I used to see a lot of these around near Santa Monica beach about 10 years ago (maybe more). I hardly ever see them anymore, although I did see one person riding one earlier this year. That suggests to me that it was just a fad. If they were really great, you'd still a lot of them around.
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Old 10-03-20, 08:52 PM
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Originally Posted by frogman
I have never heard of an Eliptigo. Any pictures ?
If only there were some way to search the interwebs.

https://www.elliptigo.com/
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Old 10-03-20, 08:59 PM
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Originally Posted by MattTheHat
If only there were some way to search the interwebs.

https://www.elliptigo.com/

Thanks ! I guess I could have done a Google search
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Old 10-03-20, 09:03 PM
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I remembered, the one that works the arms is called a Street Strider.

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Old 10-03-20, 09:13 PM
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
I was at the trail and saw this lady on a really upright bike. I looked into it and it's an Eliptigo she was on. It's like an Elliptical machine, except you're peddling like a bike. Really interesting. I was wondering.. Do you think it's better than a standard bike because you're standing up instead of sitting down? Would that make it better for the core? And is it pretty much the same thing as riding a bike, except that you're upright?

It was really interesting to see her on that thing. It was like a scooter, but with big pedals.
Pales in comparison to the Treadmill Bike.
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Old 10-03-20, 09:29 PM
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Originally Posted by frogman
I have never heard of an Eliptigo. Any pictures ?
https://www.elliptigo.com/

You could have done that for yourself. Oh, I think they also have a FB page, too.

I've test-ridden Elliptigos, both the long-stride and short-stride models. Surprisingly easy to ride, surprisingly smooth and stable for something on 20" wheels. The long-stride models are noisy and wear out track rollers in a hurry (I've read). Short-stride is quiet and doesn't need as much maintenance.

Build quality is very impressive.

The experience is quite different because of the gearing; your cadence is much lower.

Long-stride Elliptigos are regularly ridden in serious endurance races like P-B-P, but I don't know how. Aside from the aerodynamics, these machines are far less efficient than DF bikes or recumbents.

They're also selling a lot of SUBs--Stand-Up-Bikes. I just have to laugh at that. For a lot less money you could get an ordinary DF bike, remove the seat and post, put on a set of big platform pedals, and have the same thing.

@Darth Lefty may have seen one of these:

https://www.streetstrider.com/

I have one myself, and it's so much fun you can hardly stand it. Much more fun than the Elliptigo. If you get in a big empty parking lot (plenty of those lately) you can get this side-to-side motion going; they call it 'carving'. Puts a big silly grin on your face and you don't want to quit. Even better than that, though, I find that at the proper cadence and load, my breathing falls into sync with my arm and leg motions, and I get into a sort of flow state that I've never experienced with any other form of exercise. It's a freaking rush. I guess it must be like 'runner's high', though I used to run and never did experience that. Remarkable feeling, and I can reliably get it in seconds, but it requires having a good range of gears. I bought the 3-speed and only rarely and fleetingly achieved this, then I converted it to an 8-speed and can have it all the time.

Trouble is, I get doing this and completely exhaust myself in no time, but I think that's the point. And, it's no speed demon; doing rides in a park, I've noticed I can't reliably keep up with joggers, but that's my poor engine, too.

BIG advantage of the Elliptigos over the Street-Striders is the footplates. The ones on the SS have no raised edges on much of them and my feet tend to shift off to the sides, which is something I plan to do something about.
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Old 10-03-20, 09:32 PM
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I’ve been pondering this, wondering if there was a reasonably straightforward way to modify one of my bikes so that it could still be ridden somewhat normally while seated but also be workable for extended pedaling while standing.

At this point I’ve parked that experiment and with keep things as they are. The bike with the taller frame which is more adapted to higher bars and more standing is currently a single speed and I just don’t want to change that.

So, I can just pick a hilly route if I want to do a whole lot of standing. 😊

With the higher bars, I can also interrupt long periods of riding in the saddle with periods of standing and pedaling up to speed and then coasting, just for a bit of variety of motion. High swept back bars work well for this because I can stand straight up when I coast, which is also a lot of fun.

At a minimum, bigger gears would be needed to keep reasonable resistance on flat terrain. If I try to ride standing on level terrain, the SS gearing of 71 gear inches is simply way too low and I quickly reach a cadence that is fine for seated riding but uncomfortable while standing. Also, if I stand up on regular pedals for long enough my feet will get tired. Thirdly, I’d probably need shorter cranks to reduce knee strain.

There are stand up bikes that use circular pedaling but typically cut the crank length to about 150mm for a total range or step of about 300mm or 12”. That helps reduce stress on the knees.

There are also stand up bikes with elliptical (ElliptiGO for example) and teardrop (Cyclete) motions. There is also at least one that tries to incorporate the arm motions of an elliptical trainer but I suspect would be a very cumbersome machine on my trail rides.

It is an interesting type of machine and might give a really useful variation of weight bearing exercise in cycling form, so it’s something I’m going to keep looking into.

Otto

Last edited by ofajen; 10-03-20 at 09:35 PM.
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Old 10-03-20, 09:44 PM
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When I read the OP's reference to the Elliptigo the first thought that came to mind was Tony Little in that National Car commercial.

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Old 10-03-20, 10:00 PM
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I saw a few people do the Marin Century 100k ride on Eliptigos. They seem ok, if a bit slow.

The trikes that are really annoying are the ones that have to be rocked back and forth to move. They cannot move in a straight line so it is very difficult to pass.
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Old 10-03-20, 10:42 PM
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Wanna see some, head down to the San Diego area-- Elliptigo is located in Solana Beach. Any year me and the wife have done Bike the Coast, there's always a bunch of people on those things doing the shorter routes.

They're obviously not about going fast, but honestly probably 75% of the bikes out there today aren't purely about speed. Kid's bikes and all the hybrids make up about half of all bikes sold, as from the look of the trails lately, the rest are electric.

At least those Elliptigo people are working for it.
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Old 10-03-20, 10:43 PM
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Originally Posted by jsdavis
snip

The trikes that are really annoying are the ones that have to be rocked back and forth to move. They cannot move in a straight line so it is very difficult to pass.
Not true with the StreetStrider; you can carry a straight line perfectly well on it. I think you mean those things with roller-skate wheels, though. Like this?

https://www.amazon.com/AODI-Wheeled-...YYMHR32PWMN971
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