AFG 4.1 AE Elliptical Trainer
| At a Glance: AFG 4.1AE | |
|---|---|
| Brand | AFG Fitness |
| Capacity | 375 lb. |
| Price Range | Under $1000 |
| Fly Wheel | 30 lbs |
| Stride Lenght | 20″ |
| Dimension | 75.6 x 28.9 x 68.4 inches |
| Programs | 14 |
| Incline | 20 levels (5% increments) |
| HR Monitor | Contact and wireless Strap |
- Easy Assembly
- Very quiet
- Smooth Movement
- Great Workouts
- Fixed Stride
- No Fan
- Nike plus does not work out of the box
While buying an AFG 4.1 AE, most of the customers think: “should I buy this one, or the $300 cheaper AFG 3.1 AE?” To help out with that decision have a look at this comparison chart:
| AFG 4.1 | AFG 3.1 | |
| Stride | 20 inch (Fixed) | 20 inch (Fixed) |
| Programs | 14 | 10 |
| Display | 5 LED Feedback Windows | 2 LED Feedback Windows |
| Handle bar | image | Image |
| Dimension | 76″ x 29″ x 68″ | 76″ x 24″ x 67″ |
| Weight | 215 lbs / 98 kgs | 198 lbs / 90 kg |
| Flywheel | 30-lb | 23-lb |
| Incline | Power Incline 0-100% (increments of 5%) |
Power Incline 20 levels, 5% increments |
| Pedal Cushioning | MAXtone™ footpad | Non-slip, Premium |
| Step-on Height | 13.5” | 13.5” |
| Workout Tracking | proFILE, Nike + iPod | proFILE |
| User Capacity | 350 lbs / 158.8 kg | 325 lbs / 147 kg |
| Warranty | Frame: lifetime Parts & Electronics: 5 year Labor: 2 years |
Frame: lifetime Parts & Electronics: 3 year Labor: 1 years |
With the additiona $300, you will get slightly better upper body workout (because of wide handle), Nike + iPod workout tracking, MAXtone pedal, heavier flywheel, and better warranty. If you think these are the things important for you, go with this trainer. If you are not interested in these additional feature, save that $300 and got for the 3.1AE.
Build Quality
This is a solid and smooth elliptical, exactly what you can expect for the price you paid. We love the wide handles and MAXtone pedal. Operation is very quiet and if you maintain your trainer once a while it will always remain quite. Wire connection from the handle to the main frame via pivot joint (which gets hidden by a plastic cover) may seem poor design, but it works.
If your trainer is making noise or resistance is not working as it should, please call AFG on 1-877-GOAFG-55.
Assembly
Every individual pieces of this elliptical comes well packed, so there is absolutely no chance of being damaged. All the screws, bolts and washers are pre-sorted.
Please use the chart on page 10 of user manual to make sure you have all the required parts. If you can arrange grease or silicon based lubricant, apply them on all moving parts. Follow the 9 steps in the assembly manual, and you should be done within 2 hours.
Heart Rate Monitor
This trainer comes with Contact Grips and Polar wireless receiver (Chest strap included). We would ask you to avoid contact grip HRS as reading are sometime accurate from contact HRS. always use wireless chest strap when you use the heart rate programs.
Display
This trainer comes with 5 LED Feedback Windows, LED Progress Window. These windows shows: time, distance, calories, Heart rate, speed, date/clock, Watt, RPM, resistance, incline and Profile.
The overall console it self is easy to operate and user friendly. Apart from the LED display, it has: Profile button, change display button, Ipod control, incline (increase-decrease), resistance (increase-decrease), quick adjust keypad, set incline key and set level key. At top right, there is a USB port for future software updates. In the middle of this console there are 2 speakers (quality is average).
Programs
This trainer has in total 14 programs, they are:
- Manual: you can change the resistance based on your preference
- Muscle Toner: there are 10 levels to choose, and it basically work toward high resisrance level you help you tone muscles.
- Reverse train: changes between forward and backward pedalling with changing resistance. It helps you build better lower body strength. There are 16 levels to choose.
- Constant Watt: you will select desired watt range that will maintain you exercise intensity.
- Weight Loss: there are 16 levels to choose from, program is designed to burn fat.
- Intervals: there are 16 levels to choose from, program is designed to build endurance
- Oregon Trail: It is a time based goal that changes resistance to make a similar experience of hike through foothills (choose from 10 levels)
- THR Zone: it is target heart rate zone training. Will help you gain better cardio vascular health.
- HR Intervals: automatically adjust resistance levels within your target heart rate.
- Cardio boost: combine resistance and incline to offer higher level cardio exercise in a short period of time (10 levels to choose from)
- Mountain Climb: Gradually increase incline and resistance to simulate climb like experience.
- Custom programs: there are 3 custom programs that you can easily make by varying resistance and incline.
Warranty
It comes with lifetime warranty on frame, 5 years on parts and 2 years on labor. It’s actually industry average for an elliptical with this price tag. Hopefully you will never have to claim any warranty, because their Support stuff can be slow depending upon your region.
Conclusion
If you are new to elliptical trainer, you might find the heavy flywheel a bit too much. Sometime this tier out the user and makes them de motivated. We suggest them to get the lighter 3.1 AE. If you already have good endurance and want to train for better cardio (and also have the budget), this is the trainer for you.
Photos: AFG 4.1 AE Elliptical Trainer
