ElliptiGO 8S - Page 80

Owner’s Manual
attention to the bike and its components, keep them clean
and in good working condition, inspect them before and
after each ride, and have your bike inspected frequently
by a professional, you should be able to derive the full
value from the machine. If you neglect to maintain the bike,
rarely inspect the components, fail to keep the bike clean
and the drive train lubricated, or pay no attention to signs
of damage or excessive wear, you will likely experience
problems with your elliptical bike and could experience a
catastrophic failure of a component while riding.
ElliptiGO® Bikes with Composite Drive Arms
As discussed above, we have designed your elliptical
cycle to provide a high-performance exercise experience.
There are many considerations that went into creating
your bike, including safety, weight, stiness, ride comfort,
and aesthetics. We chose to construct the drive arms on
some of our models from a composite material called
“carbon fiber” because of the superior stiness to weight
ratio this material delivers as compared to metals such as
steel, aluminum, and titanium. However, there are some
significant dierences you should be aware of regarding
how composites like carbon fiber behave as compared to
metals.
The biggest dierence between the behavior of carbon
fiber and common metals during periods of extreme
stress is that metals tend to bend or deform before they
break, often providing a warning sign that a metal part
has been overly fatigued. Carbon fiber parts, on the other
hand, neither bend nor deform prior to breaking. When
overloaded beyond their capacity, they will often just snap
in a single catastrophic failure. This is important for you to
understand because the drive arms are the things you are
standing on when you ride your elliptical bike and if one of
them breaks, you will almost certainly suer a fall and be
seriously injured or killed.
The drive arms have been designed to withstand the
fatigue associated with their intended use by a rider who
weighs less than 250 pounds fully-laden. If you misuse the
bike, collide with another object, or are involved in a crash,
you can damage the drive arms to the point of breaking
them. Although breaking your drive arms is bad, damaging
them without breaking them could be even worse because
a damaged drive arm can catastrophically fail during
regular use without warning. Consequently, you must be
on the lookout for signs that your drive arms are damaged
so you can replace them and avoid serious injury or death
from a drive arm failure during normal use.
Damaged carbon fiber can be identified by observing
visual signs of cracking or delamination, hearing creaking
or other noises when the carbon fiber flexes, or feeling a
lack of stiness in the part.
Cracks
Cracks can come in any size, but regardless of how
small a crack is, you should not ride an elliptical bike
with a crack in the drive arm. Once a crack has formed
it will continue to grow and splinter over time and
use, eventually resulting in a catastrophic failure of
the part. Cracks can be found during a thorough visual
inspection of the drive arms. Pay particular attention