The 7 Best Outdoor Ellipticals
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Our top outdoor elliptical is the ElliptiGO 8C. Seven stand-up ellipticals compared by stride, gears, rider limit, two or three wheels and warranty. When users buy our independently chosen editorial selections, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
An outdoor elliptical is a bike you ride standing up, pushing foot platforms through a running-like stride instead of turning pedals from a seat. Runners use them to train with less impact, and others ride them for fitness or short trips. Models differ in two or three wheels, stride length, gearing for hills, rider weight limits and folded size.
Editor's Notes
October 16, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Admin:
Outdoor ellipticals are still mostly a two-company field, and prices have climbed since this list was last ranked in 2021. The ElliptiGO 8C stays on top. It has the long, running-style stride the category is known for and enough gears for real hills. Riders who would rather not balance should look at the StreetStrider 7i, and the StreetStrider 3i is the cheapest way in.
We dropped the Stamina Fitness Strider, because it stays in one place and belongs on an indoor list. The Zike Wingflyer Z600 is gone too: we couldn't find a working maker site or confirm it's still sold, and its 180-pound rider limit was low. ElliptiGO replaced the Sub with two stand-up bikes, the RSUB and MSUB. We couldn't confirm they're sold where we link, so they moved to the special honors. The one new pick is the Me-Mover Speed Ultra, a Danish three-wheel stepper.
Nobody has published a lab test of these machines. We worked from the makers' spec sheets and warranty terms, a few long-term reviews and recall records. At these prices, a test ride is worth the trip.
April 17, 2020:
The outdoor elliptical market is interesting in that two big brands, namely StreetStrider and ElliptiGo, dominate the market with high-quality, well-made models, while virtually no other brands even enter, let alone flood the market with cheaper alternatives. This could be because of the higher entry barrier created by manufacturing sophisticated parts like the elliptical drivetrain, but it might also be because, in 2010, ElliptiGo secured the exclusive rights to the patent for an elliptical bicycle, which I believe they still control and which would naturally limit the design features that other companies can copy. I know that the company’s cofounders strongly believe in patents as a means to drive innovation, and if you look at StreetStrider, you can see that their design is completely different in terms of its frame and number of wheels. I do slightly prefer StreetStrider’s design because it’s a little quirkier and affords better stability at the kind of high speeds that you can reach on these machines at up to 20mph, but it might take more getting used to.
All of the models from these two companies are recommendation-worthy in their own right – especially when compared to any of the half-a-handful of other options on the market, which are cheap and poor-quality and many of them like the WingFlyer are made for kids. The brand Zike has – or at least used to have- a reputation as a cheaper alternative to the two main brands, and for good measure, I’ve included the Zike Wingflyer Z600 as a replacement for the previously-listed Z150, at least so you have some brand and price variety, but I don’t see any models beyond that as even worth a mention.
ElliptiGo makes only a few models that fall into 1 of 3 categories – SUBs or Stand-Up Bikes, as well as compact-stride and long-stride models. SUBs are technically not ellipticals, but they’re relatively similar and tend to get bundled into the same narrow market. I’ve therefore decided to leave in the ElliptiGo Sub from the previous update, which is ElliptiGo’s entry-level SUB. I was tempted to add the MSUB - the company's high-end half-bike- but I decided to leave it out. I’ve also added a special honor for the compact-stride model, the ElliptiGo Arc 8. The compact-stride model is sort of a hybrid between SUBs and traditional long-stride ellipticals.
StreetStrider has four models - three of which I’ve added to the list - the StreetStrider 3i, StreetStrider 7i, StreetStrider 8s and StreetStrider 11s, with the latter two having some advanced features like an aluminum alloy frame, an adjustable front-wheel caster angle, and obviously more gears – the number of gears is denoted by the number in the model name. The 11s actually uses a more sophisticated transmission than the other models, with electronic shifting components.
Special Honors
ElliptiGO RSUB and MSUB ElliptiGO's stand-up bikes drop the long stride for a round crank, so they ride more like a bicycle you never sit on. The RSUB road model weighs 31.4 pounds and uses 700c wheels and disc brakes, and the MSUB adds 27.5-inch tubeless-ready tires and a 100-millimeter air fork for dirt. Both carry riders up to 300 pounds, the highest limit in ElliptiGO's range, and both cost less than its long-stride models. elliptigo.com
StreetStrider 11s and e-Strider StreetStrider's top models build on the alloy 8s. The 11s adds an 11-speed hub with electronic shifting, and the e-Strider adds an electric motor that StreetStrider rates at 500 watts. Check your state's e-bike rules before buying a motorized model. Both are sold through StreetStrider and its dealers. streetstrider.com
Two Wheels Or Three
StreetStrider builds three-wheelers with two wheels in front and one behind.
The first choice is balance. ElliptiGO's machines have two wheels, so you balance and steer them like a bicycle, which takes a few rides to get used to while standing (ElliptiGO). StreetStrider builds three-wheelers with two wheels in front and one behind. They stand on their own at a stop, and you steer by leaning (StreetStrider). That stability adds weight: StreetStrider's steel models weigh 53 to 54 pounds and its alloy 8s weighs 44, while ElliptiGO's long-stride models weigh 39.4 to 44 pounds.
Rider weight comes next. ElliptiGO's long-stride models carry up to 250 pounds, and only its stand-up RSUB and MSUB reach 300 (ElliptiGO FAQ). Every StreetStrider is rated for 300 pounds, and the Me-Mover Speed Ultra for 220 (Me-Mover). ElliptiGO gives a rider height range of 4 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 8 inches for all its models.
Then think about storage. An ElliptiGO long-stride model is 75 inches long. A StreetStrider folds to 24 inches tall but stays 68.5 inches long, and the Me-Mover folds too. Measure your car's cargo space and your storage spot before you buy.
Stride, Gears And Hills
These machines move your feet in different ways. ElliptiGO's long-stride models (3C, 8C and 11R) send the feet around a long oval, with a stride you can set from 16 to 25 inches, so the motion is close to running. StreetStriders use a 13.8-inch stride with handlebars that swing, so the arms work too. ElliptiGO's RSUB and MSUB use a round, cycling-style crank, and the Me-Mover uses separate up-and-down steps, so neither is a true elliptical.
Gears decide which hills you can climb. ElliptiGO rates the three-speed 3C for flat roads and grades up to about 5%, while its eight- and 11-speed models handle hilly routes (ElliptiGO 3C). Gear range, given as a percentage, compares the easiest gear with the hardest: 177% on the 3C, 306% on the 8C and the StreetStrider 8s, and 409% on the 11R. A wider range means easier climbing and a higher top speed. StreetStrider says its seven-speed 7i can climb steep hills in its two lowest gears (StreetStrider 7i).
For runners, a physical therapist who rode an 8C for five months wrote for Doctors of Running that it asks for less hip flexion than cycling and let him keep training through a foot injury (Doctors of Running). ElliptiGO claims riders burn 33% more calories than on a regular bike. Treat that as the maker's figure, since we found no independent lab test of current models.
Safety, Warranties And Where To Ride
Treat an outdoor elliptical like a bicycle: wear a helmet, add lights for dawn and dusk, and check local rules for bike lanes and paths. StreetStrider says its machines are street legal and fit a standard bike lane, but rules vary by city (StreetStrider FAQ). ElliptiGO says its bikes are meant for paved surfaces, with only the MSUB built for dirt, and it warns against standing on a bike while the kickstand is down, which can damage the frame (ElliptiGO FAQ).
Warranties differ. ElliptiGO covers the frame for five years; the fork, drive arms, cranks and steering column for two; and other parts for one. StreetStrider covers the frame for three years and its Shimano hubs for two, but only for the original owner, and only when the machine came from an authorized dealer (StreetStrider warranty). Both makers sell stands that turn their machines into indoor trainers.
We checked each brand in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's database. ElliptiGO recalled early 11R drive arms in 2012, a fork and axle part on older models in 2013, and its Arc compact-stride line in 2021 for frames that could break; ElliptiGO says the models on this list aren't part of the Arc recall (CPSC). We found no recalls for StreetStrider or Me-Mover. With prices this high, try one before you buy: ElliptiGO lists dealers that offer test rides (ElliptiGO test rides).
