ProForm Carbon EL Review: The Stride Fixes the Sport's Biggest Flaw

The ProForm Carbon EL is the cross trainer ProForm should have led with in the UK. It costs £699 on Amazon at the time of writing, £200 more than the ProForm Sport Elliptical, and nearly all of that extra money goes into the one spec that matters most on an elliptical: a 48.2cm (19in) stride instead of the Sport's cramped 41cm. Add 18 levels of magnetic resistance, a 125kg user limit and a year of iFIT Train in the box, and it's a sensible buy for anyone who wants guided classes on a machine that fits a normal adult.

It isn't flawless. ProForm doesn't publish a flywheel weight we could confirm, the "free" iFIT year turns into a recurring bill afterwards, and if you don't care about classes you can get a similar stride for less money. Those trade-offs decide whether it's right for you, so they get proper space below.

Carbon EL vs ProForm Sport: what the extra £200 buys

We've already reviewed the ProForm Sport Elliptical, and its problem was clear: a 16in stride that leaves anyone around 6ft feeling like they're stepping rather than striding. The Carbon EL is effectively the answer to that review. Here's how the two compare on paper.

	ProForm Sport Elliptical	ProForm Carbon EL
Price (Amazon UK, at time of writing)	£499	£699
Stride length	41cm (16in)	48.2cm (19in)
Resistance	20 digital magnetic levels	18 magnetic levels
Max user weight	113kg	125kg
iFIT Train included	1 year	1 year

The Sport actually has two more resistance levels, which tells you resistance count is a marketing number more than a performance one. What changes the feel of a cross trainer is how far your feet travel and how stable the frame is under you, and the Carbon EL is better on both counts: a longer arc and a heavier machine (around 80kg per the Amazon listing, against roughly 53kg for the Sport).

Who it's for

The Carbon EL suits someone who wants low-impact cardio at home and likes being told what to do by a coach on a screen. With iFIT running on your own phone or tablet on the device shelf, you get trainer-led sessions and automatic resistance changes, which takes the planning out of a week of workouts.

Height is the other filter. A 48cm stride works for most adults from about 5ft 6in up to around 6ft 1in. If you're 6ft 3in or taller, it'll be better than any budget elliptical but you may still find the arc a little short at a fast cadence. Heavier users should note the 125kg ceiling: fine for most people, but it's not a machine to buy if you're near that number and hoping it copes.

Check the ProForm Carbon EL price on Amazon

Stride length and the tall-user question

Stride is the number to check first on any cross trainer, because it sets how natural the motion feels. A 2007 biomechanics study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise matched elliptical step length to each participant's walking step, which averaged about 50.6cm in the group of adult men tested. The Carbon EL's 48.2cm sits close to that, while the 33cm to 41cm strides common on budget machines fall well short. That gap is why cheap ellipticals feel choppy and why the Carbon EL should feel closer to brisk walking or easy running.

The same study is worth reading for a second reason. It found elliptical exercise produced lower loading rates at the foot than walking, but greater knee extensor and hip flexor moments, so the "zero impact" reputation needs a footnote: it's gentle on the joints from an impact point of view, while still asking a fair amount of the quads and hips. If you have a knee issue, ease in with lower resistance. Our guide to the muscles a cross trainer works covers what's doing the work.

For tall riders, 48cm is a compromise rather than a perfect fit. Above roughly 6ft 3in you'll get more from a machine with a 50cm-plus stride, and our best cross trainer UK guide lists longer options.

Resistance, pedals and the flywheel gap

The 18 magnetic resistance levels cover a wide range, from an easy warm-up to proper interval effort, and magnetic systems are quiet because nothing rubs against the flywheel. The Amazon listing calls it silent; expect quiet enough to watch television over, which is what owners of magnetic ellipticals generally report, rather than literally silent.

The oversized cushioned pedals are a small detail that matters on longer sessions. Narrow plastic pedals cause numb toes on a lot of budget machines, and roomy, padded ones let you shift your foot position slightly over 45 minutes.

The flywheel is where we can't give you a clean answer. ProForm's own data sheet for this model doesn't list a flywheel weight, and retailers in different countries quote anything from 7kg to 9kg. Either end of that range is moderate for a 48cm stride. Heavier flywheels carry you through the top and bottom of each stroke more smoothly, so we'd expect the Carbon EL to feel smooth at steady effort and slightly less fluid during hard sprints. That's an inference, not a measurement, and it's the reason the rating isn't higher.

iFIT: what happens after year one

The included year of iFIT Train is a big part of the value here, and the small print matters. As with the Sport, the code isn't in the box: the Amazon listing tells you to request it from amazon@nordictrack.co.uk. Once you're set up you get trainer-led classes filmed in real locations, with SmartAdjust changing resistance automatically.

After twelve months you pay or go manual. In the UK, John Lewis listed a 12-month iFIT Train membership at £134 at the time of writing, and iFIT's own site prices Train at $15 a month in the US. Over three years of ownership, that turns a £699 machine into something nearer £970 if you keep subscribing. The machine works without it, with 18 levels and a basic display, but the main thing setting the Carbon EL apart from cheaper rivals is the app. If you already know you'll never pay for a subscription, that's a strong argument for buying something else.

Value against rivals on the site

The obvious comparison is the MERACH Long Stride Cross Trainer at around £520 when we reviewed it. It has a slightly shorter 47cm stride, a much higher 180kg user limit and self-generating power, so it doesn't need a socket, but no app connectivity at all. If classes don't interest you, the MERACH is better value. If they do, the Carbon EL's included iFIT year closes most of the price gap.

Further down, the Viavito Sina and the Reebok GX50 are cheaper but give up stride length, and the ProForm Sport Elliptical only makes sense over the Carbon EL if you're under about 5ft 9in and want to save £200.

Whichever you buy, the bigger win is using it. A 2024 study comparing seven indoor cardio machines found the elliptical produced the third-highest energy expenditure, behind only the treadmill and stair climber, among recreationally active middle-aged men. The authors also make the point that enjoyment drives adherence, which is the case for iFIT in a sentence. If weight loss is your goal, our explainer on whether a cross trainer is good for weight loss puts those numbers in context.

See the ProForm Carbon EL on Amazon UK

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