We have 3 basic types of configurations of these trainers. The main contributing factor to this being the location of the machine’s drive system ( also known as the flywheel). This can be on the back, the sides or the front of the elliptical machine. The configurations are:
Front-Drive Elliptical Machine
The flywheel is placed on the front part of the machine, perfect for big housing. Most of the time this design will have its pedals securely supported on its wheels. Characterized by noise and increased vibration.
Center-Drive Elliptical Machine
The flywheel is centrally placed and the pedals have been placed in a way that they can ride on the rollers (that are cylindrical in nature) and a crankshaft. It's a very compact trainer of all the three designs. The center has driven trainer is a new model in the market and has the flywheel located on its side, with similar compatibility as the rear drove trainer with very few models of this kind having the foldable feature.
Rear-Drive Elliptical Machine
This design of the elliptical machine has its flywheel on the sides and might be made with a track & roller setting. Its petals are normally placed on the pedal arms that are long, just between the hand grips that are moving and the drive. The pedals are suspended which means that the ride is smooth and much quieter. They are normally very long in nature.