ElliptiGO, Inc. is a

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

of stand-up and elliptical

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

s headquartered in

Solana Beach Solana Beach (''Solana'', Spanish for "sunny side") is a beach city in San Diego County, California, on the South Coast. Its population was at 12,940 at the 2020 U.S. census, up from 12,867 at the 2010 census. History The area was first set ...

, California. Elliptical bikes combine the motion of an indoor

elliptical trainer An elliptical trainer or cross-trainer is a stationary exercise machine used to stair climb, walk, or run without causing excessive pressure to the joints, hence decreasing the risk of impact injuries. For this reason, people with some injuri ...

with the outdoor mobility of a traditional bicycle. They are a type of

treadle bicycle A treadle bicycle is a bicycle powered by a treadle instead of the more common crank. Treadles were one of the mechanisms inventors tried in order to position the pedals away from the drive wheel hub before the development of the bicycle chain ...

, powered by treadles (which are attached to the crank via a linkage rod), rather than pedals mounted directly on the crank arms. Treadle drive trains were historically intermediate between highwheeled

penny-farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to it travelling a large distance for every ro ...

s (which were powered by pedals mounted directly on a crank through the wheel hub, like a modern child's tricycle) and the

bicycle chain A bicycle chain is a roller chain that transfers power (physics), power from the Bicycle pedal, pedals to the Drive wheel, drive-Bicycle wheel, wheel of a bicycle, thus propelling it. Most bicycle chains are made from carbon steel, plain carbo ...

; Elliptigos, like some other later treadle bicycles, use both treadles and a chain.

History

Co-founders Bryan Pate and Brent Teal began working on the idea for ElliptiGO out of their garage in Solana Beach in 2005. A patent for an elliptical bicycle was first registered in 2008. In 2010, ElliptiGO subsequently secured the exclusive rights to the patents. An elliptical bicycle is a device that uses a running-like elliptical motion to propel a bicycle. The first elliptical bike prototype, codenamed "Alfa", was completed by mid-2006. In 2010, the ElliptiGO 8S, the company's first commercially available elliptical bike, was brought to the market. Initially, the company raised nearly $800,000 from investors, family, and friends, followed by another $500,000 raised for production.

Health benefits

In 2015, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) commissioned an independent study to determine the effectiveness of a workout on the ElliptiGO bike and how it measures up to accepted fitness industry guidelines for improving cardio respiratory fitness and body composition. For the study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, had 16 healthy female and male volunteers between the ages of 18 and 45 participate in three 15- to 20-minute practice sessions on the ElliptiGO bike before completing a graded maximal exercise test on a treadmill and a 30-minute exercise session on the ElliptiGO bike. During the graded exercise test, expired air and metabolic responses were measured, in addition to recording each participant's ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) at the end of each stage of the test. During the 30-minute exercise session, which was only conducted after the researchers deemed the participant proficient on the ElliptiGO bike, heart rate and oxygen consumption were recorded each minute as the subjects exercised at a self-selected pace; session RPE was also recorded. The study subjects exercised at an average of 84 percent of HRmax and 75 percent of VO2max during the 30-minute exercise session. ACE's study findings concluded that exercising at a self-selected intensity on the ElliptiGO bike met the guidelines on both accounts.

ElliptiGO athletes

ElliptiGO stand up bikes are used by some professional runners who use the bike to cross train, or add non-impact cardio hours to their training routine, including 2012 US Olympians Meb Keflezighi, and Julie Culley, UK 5000 m specialist Andy Vernon, Dutch elite-marathoner Miranda Boonstra, and 2000 French Olympian Marc Raquil. In addition, some collegiate and professional running teams are using ElliptiGO elliptical bicycles with their athletes, including Stanford University, the University of Guelph in Canada, and The Oregon Track Club Elite.

Models

ElliptiGO sells seven different product models in three product lines. The first model to be available to customers was EliptiGo's model8s. The long-stride line includes the 3C, 8C and 11R, with 3, 8 and 11 gears, respectively. The compact-stride line includes the Arc 3, Arc 8 and Arc 24, with 3, 8 and 24 gears, respectively. The SUB (Stand Up Bike) is ElliptiGO's newest bike. In October 2021, the company recalled its Arc 3, Arc 8 and Arc 24 models in the United States and Canada. Riders on EliptiGos can reach 25 miles per hour. They are designed to be used outdoors. File:Eliptigo McGowans Pass jeh.JPG, ElliptiGO in use File:ElliptiGO locked to fence jeh.jpg, ElliptiGO parked File:ElliptiGO.jpg, Drivetrain File:ElliptiGO detail.jpg, Drivetrain detail

References

{{Reflist Exercise equipment American companies established in 2008 Companies based in San Diego County, California Cycle manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2008