Gazelle Supra Review
I know the hype and such can sometimes get to you on those TV infomercials. I had seen the one for I don’t remember how long and thought it couldn’t match some of those workout machines at the gym. For the price of the Gazelle Supra, you get a very good machine for a reasonable price.
I was looking for something I could get an aerobic workout on that could be used during the winter. I walk and bike outdoors during the summer but I had been getting lazy in the off season and it is getting harder and harder to get back into the swing of exercise after not doing any for a few months.
So I went strolling through the cyber world looking for an affordable yet decent machine. I was in the military and had access to all kinds of equipment at the gym. I used exercise bikes and ellipticals and rowing machines and knew how to use all the basic kinds of exercise equipment.
I wanted something I could do a little stretching out before and then jump on and get a decent workout for a half hour or so a day. I spent a few days searching and could not find much of anything for less than five hundred dollars that looked like it would stand up to a routine exercise program and last more than a year.
I wanted to buy a bike or something for indoors that would be nice to use but last for more than one winter. I had seen the ads and thought I would look into it. Fitness quest sells a few different models of the Gazelle. They have some cheaper models around a hundred and the Supra Pro for $250 at Sears.
I went to my local sears and they had a Gazelle Supra model for $199. I tried out the floor model they had and liked it. The two frame pieces are made of 2 and a quarter inch diameter steel tubing, which seemed sturdy. There is two pistons near the top that connect for added resistance and two handles to hold on to and use for an upper body workout. The feet platforms swing up and the whole thing folds for storage.
It weighs 59 pounds. A little heavy to be lugging around all the time but it does sit pretty well without wobbling or shifting while using. The whole concept is that you stand on the foot platforms and move your feet back and forth in a natural gliding motion. You don’t lift your feet though. You can use the handlebars to steady yourself and for an added workout.
I tried it at the store and it was easy enough to use. I looked at things that would break. I have a keen buyers eye, if I buy it, what will break when I use it? I saw that it had some pretty decent looking bolts that hold it together and the bar that the two swing arms you stand on was the same size as the frame. This impressed me.
If I, a two hundred pound guy, could stand on it and not have it groan, it would be pretty good. I saw the monitor thingy and didn’t much care about it. If I wanted a workout and felt I needed more, a little clock thing was not going to tell me to work more, I just would.
I looked at the epinions and a couple of other sites, not the Gazelle site, for opinions. I found some people that had bought the cheaper brand that had one and a half inch tubing for the frame and no pistons for added resistance. They said it was okay but nothing great about it.
I could not find a review or opinion for the Gazelle Supra, just the Gazelle Supra Pro. The Pro model was highly recommended, it was sturdier and the added resistance worked out for a better machine. I decided to try it.
I ordered it from Sears and it came a week or so later. I paid a total of $212 for it. It came in and I went to the store and picked it up.
Assembly took about an hour, the hardest part is just figuring out which piece is which. When you get it from the box, there’s all these tubes and a couple of cables and you have to take it out of the box in order to not get a little confused.
When you lay out the parts it only takes a minute to figure out what is what. I had it together and it went according to the directions. No lost parts or tough time figuring out what goes where. All the nuts and bolts are shrink wrapped to a piece of card board and you take each one out in turn as you put it together. It even comes with the tools to assemble.
I placed it in my workroom first. Later on it went into the basement where there is more room for it and its out of the way. I tried it out and of course the rest of the family had to. It really is as easy as getting on and moving your legs back and forth.
I do a regular workout in the winter on it. It has a video but I haven’t even watched it yet. I just do a few stretching exercises and then get on. I start slow and do the lean forward and back stuff you see on the ad on TV.
When I feel I am warmed up I speed up and work out for a while. I do use the monitor, it has time, heart rate when you put a finger on the sensor and a few other features but I just use the timer. I work out for what I want and do get a good work out.
You can lean forward as you hold onto the handles and feel your chest getting some extra workout. Then you lean back some and feel it in the backs of your calf’s. I don’t use the thing where you stand on it facing the side and stretch the calf’s and legs. I just do it for the aerobic workout, which I get plenty of.
And you do get a good aerobic workout on it. It is better than jogging, when I jog my ankles and sometimes my knees get sore. Not so with the Gazelle, there’s no jarring like when you jog or run. It is easily comparable to riding a bike, only you get more workout with the arms and chest with the Gazelle. You use the handle bars and get your arms going more with it.
I really got a good deal with the Gazelle Supra. I can get a quick work out of fifteen minutes or do an hour long one with no problem. Which I have done easily with no undo wear and tear on the machine, but plenty on me. You can build up a sweat on it after twenty minutes or so.
I had not mentioned the power pistons for added resistance till now. I don’t use them, I don’t need to. It just adds too much for me, I know I’m a wimp. I get enough of a work out with out adding more to it. And if you don’t want to, you just don’t have to use them.
They hook from the frame to the arms with a pull pin and it only takes a second to hook them up. But I don’t need the added resistance when I workout so, I don’t use them. They would be an added bonus for someone who wants to have the extra workout for strength training.
Since I bought it I have taken the arms off and greased it. Every so often it will start to squeak and you have to add some grease or lubricant to stop it. There are two cables that run from the foot platforms and the frame that squeak a little after a few months workout. I just sprayed them with WD-40.
It is pretty quite, you can watch TV and not have to turn the volume up. Radio or your favorite CD is no problem either. The battery on the monitor you change out by taking the monitor assembly half apart and putting a new one in. It takes a minute and is easy. Other than occasional greasing and the battery there is no maintenance for it.
I have had mine for a year and have been very pleased with it’s performance. In the past I had bought a cheap exercise bike, not so cheap actually at around a hundred and fifty. The Gazelle Supra far out surpasses the bike. It is sturdy, easy to use and can give you a good workout easily.
I have found out that the Supra model is a little harder to get, I’m not sure if they are making it any more or what. The less expensive model is not made from the two and a quarter inch diameter tubing and is not as sturdy from the opinions I have seen on the internet.
There is a version called the Gazelle Freestyle that is basically the same as the model I have. The power pistons are not on the Freestyle but other than that it looks the same.
At Sears they have a model called the Gazelle Supra Pro that has the pistons at a different place on the arms. If you don’t want to go through the Freestyle company and shop at your local Sears that is what I would do. You can pick up the thing at Sears and save on the shipping. The Supra Pro sells for $250 right now.
Overall I think the two hundred dollars I spent on the Gazelle Supra is well worth it. The machine is easy to use and quiet. I can workout and listen to my favorite music. I use mine often in the winter and on bad weather days and am very happy with my purchase.
