In any industry, you will see manufacturers selling antiquated designs while trying to make it appear that there is some advantage of a larger specification for some key component. Car companies still make 5.0 liter V-8′s when turbochargers or gas/electric hybrids can create more torque while using less fuel. Computer manufactures brag about their Intel processor speed, but Apple is able to blow them all away by using better software.
For the first 8 years that we manufactured ellipticals we used a single-stage drive system, which required a very heavy flywheel (between 45 and 62 lbs. depending on the model). With that design, you would have felt a little lag or hesitation in the motion if the flywheel was not heavy enough. Most manufacturers on the low end of the market had that problem but with our heavy flywheel design, ours were nice and smooth.
But like any other industry where new technological advances tend to obsolete the established norm, there is a better way to go. High end, rear drive units like those made by Yowza, Precor and Life Fitness have multi-staged electro-magnetic drive systems which can create an even smoother feel than the old weighted fixed-magnet designs. The reason for this is because with the newer rear-drive ellipticals it is possible to create a massive amount of inertia by making the aluminum disc that runs through the braking system spin faster. Additionally, these new drive systems will allow for more levels of resistance and therefore you can fine tune your workout even better.
Front drive ellipticals, by their nature have less inertia and therefore have to require a weighted flywheel in order to work well. But beware that there are still a couple of manufacturers who are still selling the old weighted flywheel designs simply because they are concerned about infringing on the various design patents that are out there.
