American Home Fitness has moved across town. “We love the mix. We’re next to REI, Whole Foods, Ethan Allen. Everything is full, there are no vacancies, plenty of parking,” says manager Adam Burns of his new home at Cranbrook Center. (He’s much closer to Ethan Allen than to REI or Whole Foods, if you want to know which end of the parking lot to head for.)
Burns is particularly happy that the timing of the move has snagged him some free publicity, because–he points to the window display with a flourish–he has a big, new product to push, and big, new exercise equipment doesn’t come out all that often. It’s called the ElliptiGO, “a cross between an elliptical trainer and a bike”–best described as a bike you can’t sit down on. “It’s for people who want to get a great outside cardiovascular workout but who don’t want to ride a basic bike. It’s an exciting summer product. We’ve sold a couple of them to physicians, and they love them. Because you’re standing up, you get more muscles involved, and it’s low impact.”
You operate the ElliptiGO standing up, and just to be clear, it’s not a stationary product–it covers ground. The wheels are small, keeping the rider closer to the ground, but the ElliptiGO brakes and steers like a regular bike. “It doesn’t take a lot to get used to,” says Burns, demonstrating as he speaks. “You start it off like a scooter, push forward, get your balance, then”–and he’s off. “It can go up to twenty-six miles an hour, and you can change strides.” It’s manufactured and marketed by a California company, but the inventor and patent-holder, Larry Miller, is from Michigan. ElliptiGOs cost $1,700 to $2,300.
American Home Fitness, 850 W. Eisenhower, 389-2550. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. www.americanhomefitness.com
