Yowza Fitness Jupiter Pilot Elliptical Review

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The Yowza Fitness Jupiter Pilot elliptical is their most economical design, where workout quality has been favored over entertainment options to develop one of the most versatile entry level ellipticals available.

But how does this compare to the later Jupiter or Jupiter Plus models of the same collection, or even the top-of-the-line Navarre ellipticals that feature a similar CardioSure™ design?

That’s one of the questions we’ll be answering in this elliptical review by taking an in-depth look at the workout programs, console functions, warranty coverage, design features, and much more, to help you decide if this is the best elliptical for your own home gym.

Design features

One of the features that really stands out on Yowza Fitness ellipticals is their incline system, which offers some of the steepest gradients in the industry.

Despite being their entry level model, this is also true of the Jupiter Pilot, which is designed with a 0-25% grade power incline.

For ellipticals priced under $1000 we’re used to seeing a limited range of incline settings, but these will almost always require manual adjustment, such as with the Nautilus E614 or Schwinn 470.

Not only does the Yowza elliptical have a wider incline range and choice of 12 motion levels (only 6 available on the Schwinn model), the fact that it can be adjusted from the console means there’s no interuption to your workout.

In addition to the 25% power incline you also have 16 resistance levels to choose from and a 16″-20″ variable stride length.

This is another of the features that you won’t often see at this price point, with most ellipticals being fitted with a fixed length stride of 20″ (including the Nautilus E616, E614, and 18″ stride for the E514c).

But it’s important to point out one of the fundamental differences between the ellipticals mentioned above, which is that they are all front drive designs. In contrast, the Jupiter Pilot is rear drive, which creates a flatter stride path that will always be approximately 2-inches shorter than the equivelant front drive designs.

Because the Pilot is on of Yowza’s Swing Up Reactive Ellipticals (SURE), this also means that the stride is directly influenced by the incline setting. A flatter incline means a shorter stride, while the full 25% gradient will result in the full 20″ stride length.

An added benefit of this technology is that it results in aless maintenance, with a roller-less reversible stride motion that doesn’t rely on any glide rails to control the path of the pedals (a common feature on Sole Fitness ellipticals).

Moving down to the pedals, and Yowza have combined their SureFit™ pivoting design with the gel inserts of Ergofit™ to produce a platform that pivots to match the natural ankle flexion, while at the same time optimizing comfort.

The back and forth pivot motion reduces the stress placed on joints and tendons in your knees and calves while you workout, with cushioned buffers under the pedals used to reduce the impact at steeper inclines.

You do of course have a number of smaller, yet equally useful features, such as the water bottle holder and powder coating applied to the steel frame for aesthetics and durability.

But something we wanted to mention before taking a closer look at the console is the CardioSure™ handlebar motion, which works a different set of upper body muscle groups to their CardioCore design.

The traditional back and forth motion of the moveable handles encourages you to engage more of your biceps, shoulders, and back muscles, which helps increase the rate of calorie burn throughout all 16 resistance levels.

Console and entertainment features

As you might expect, there’s a considerable difference between the console on the Jupiter Pilot elliptical and that of the Jupiter Plus.

As the entry level model, the Pilot doesn’t have the same range of entertainment features, such as a smartphone docking station or speakers for listening to your favorite workout music.

However, you do have a display shelf that can be used to support your tablet. The only downside is that by using it you’re going to obscure all of the workout feedback displayed on the LCD screen.

Workout stats include:

Unfortunately this is a similar situation on their top-of-the-line Jupiter Plus model, but changes by the time we reach the higher priced Navarre collection. With these ellipticals your tablet would obscure the console screen, by the myLiveLight compatibility means you can see all your workout stats on the tablet screen instead.

Back to the Jupiter Pilot, and the compact console design offers just six button options: two for incline control, two for resistance control, and the start/stop options.

Although this creates a more intuitive user interface, you do end up relying on multiple button presses to setup user profiles and select a workout program. This is more time intensive than the quick select icons on their top-of-the-line Miami elliptical in Yowza’s CardioCore collection.

Despite its entry level price tag, the Jupiter Pilot offers nine different user profiles. You’ll need to set aside some time to enter some basic information, such as weight, gender, and age, but this does mean more accurate feedback of your heart rate and number of calories burned.

Entering this information for a user ID is something you’ll only need to do once, but you will need to select a user ID before starting any of the preset workout programs (holding down the START button for 5 seconds skips the user setup).

You can then use the upand down buttons to scroll through the 9 preset and 5 custom programs.

Preset and custom workout programs

It’s no secret that creating a varied workout routine can lead to you achieving your health and fitness goals more quickly. That’s why the Yowza Jupiter Pilot elliptical includes 9 preset and 5 custom workout programs.

Despite being one of their most affordably priced machines, many of these programs are the same ones you can experience on the upgraded Jupiter Plus. You’re also getting 2 more custom programs than you do on their Folding-Transformer treadmills.

But how do you know if these workouts will help you to achieve your own personal fitness goals, and do they cater for different user fitness levels?

Quick reference guide to Jupiter Pilot workout programs:

Ease of assembly / maintenance required

Nobody likes assembling new fitness equipment, but it can be useful to know what to expect ahead of time so there are no surprisies when you open the box.

Unlike NordicTrack, who use the SNAP assembly system on many of their ellipticals and treadmills to get setup in minutes, Yowza are yet to develop a way of quickly assembling their equipment.

The SNAP assembly means the console upright folds down on top of the base frame, so that all you need to do is lift the upright to its vertical position and secure it in place. This is something we would definitely like to see from Yowza Fitness.

Although much of the base frame and rear drive system arrives pre-assembled, you’ll still need to attach the front incline system, build the console upright, and attach the console before it’s ready to go.

Surprisingly there’s no written instructions at all in the user manual, where Yowza instead use a series of exploded drawings and parts references to explain how the pieces fit together.

Most of the time all that’s needed is to screw in a couple of bolts and attach some side covers, so we didn’t really find this an issue, and knowing which cable matches which socket on the console is straightforward enough.

However, due to the size and weight of the machine we would still recommend setting aside at least 60-75 minutes to be sure of getting everything setup in a single session. Having someone to help with the first couple of steps where you attach the front incline system would also be useful.

Transport options
All of Yowza’s ellipticals include some form of carry handle attached to the back of the drive system, and the Jupiter Pilot is no exception.

You can use this handle to tilt the machine up onto its large transport wheels at the front and pull the elliptical to its new location.

What’s covered by the warranty?