Dreamslide vs Elliptigo whats the difference

The Elliptigo is quite different because the major axis of the ellipse makes an angle of 20° with the horizontal movement . Thus, pedaling on the Elliptigo is like walking on a steep uphill road and one can produce a mechanical power close to regular pedaling power. However, the height extension of the movement is not as large on the Elliptigo as on the Dreamslide (24 cm versus 34 cm).

Other elliptical bikes, like the StreetStrider for example, have a kinematic which is very "horizontal" and therefore which is not very efficient to propel a vehicle (but however is interesting for exercising).

The Dreamslide is not at all an elliptical machine because the movement is circular like on a regular bike, but the pedal is much faster in the upper part of the circle than on the lower part. So the motion is close to running with small steps but raising high the knees.

The first advantage of the circle upon the ellipse is that the pedaling movement takes far less space (34 cm for the Dreamslide versus 60 cm for the Elliptigo). It is the reason why the Dreamslide can be much shorter than the Elliptigo (total length of 120 cm versus 190 cm) and much lighter (11 kg versus 18 kg).

The second advantage is that, the perimeter of a circle is smaller than those of an ellipse of the same height (the pedaling perimeter is of 107 cm for the Dreamslide versus 136 cm for the Elliptigo). Therefore, the pedaling pace can be faster with a circular trajectory than with an elliptical one for the same average speed of the feet. And a high pace of pedaling is necessary to maintain a large mechanical power (beyond 200 Watt). So, there are good reasons to think than the horizontal ellipse (or even an ellipse with some incline) is not very efficient for high power output (but it lacks some experiments to prove this reasonable hypothesis).

The third advantage of the Dreamslide's kinematic is that there is no upper dead spot because the perceived leverage is very long in the upper part of the circle. With a Dreamslide, one can be very strong on the complete trajectory of the pedals. Thus, the gears are less essential than with a regular bike.

But the Dreamslide is better for people who prefer a very handy (because of the 82 cm wheelbase), light and responsive  machine. Because of the APS, the Dreamslide gives great accelerations and allows a very high power output with sufficient training.

Aps Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEzcvA7vHg8&feature=player_detailpage&list=UU1-lgWB2gJ9gvh_IAAUEBJA#t=1s

Kinematics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU1-lgWB2gJ9gvh_IAAUEBJA&v=dhaHzPcCdRI&feature=player_detailpage#t=0s

Dreamslide riding video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIpSvuW54jo&feature=player_detailpage#t=3s

Our Website: www.dreamslideamerica.com