I wanted the "gliding" shelf in my oven and was going to go with the Monogram, DCS, or I think it's the Electrolux that offers that. BUT... now that Kenmore(Electrolux) has come out with an affordable induction range I'm
"de-prioritizing" that requirement. I'm hoping that by the time I purchase more manufacturers come out with an induction range and that the gliding racks will be an option available. If not, the fact that an induction range is now available and within reach supercedes the other options. I've lived this long with standard pull out racks and can continue to do so if I must.

Those types of racks were very tempting, but I went with a Fisher and Paykel oven, which doesn't have them. I don't feel deprived. I think they'd be nice IF the oven meets your needs otherwise.

I've got Electrolux Icon double ovens with racks that pull out all the way. While the racks are certainly not a necessity, and I cooked a couple of decades without them, I really enjoy having them. They were definitely a selling point for me. I'm short, and they make it much easier for me to get things in and out of the ovens. I recently spent a day cooking in someone else's kitchen, and I missed my oven racks.

A friend has a DCS oven that has these if I remember correctly. I did not think they were anything special. I have a different perspective though, I have a Gaggenau which opens from the side. This actual prevents me from pulling out the oven racks most of the time. I put the item in without pulling out the racks because I have full access to the oven cavity.

Good luck!

I wasn't impressed with the glider-style racks, because I'm constantly moving my racks--up for broiling, down for roasting, back to the center for baking. I opted for ovens with simple racks so that they would be easy to move. I have found that sometimes I'm even trying to rearrange the racks when they're hot. For my kitchen, it is all about how it functions. Incidentally, the oven I chose came with extra racks, which I thought would be useful--especially for holiday cooking and baking.

The easy glides sure are nice if you have anything heavy in the oven, or you want to baste.

I have an easy glide rack in my oven and I'm very happy with it. Makes life a little easier. However, if I was looking at a new oven that I loved and it didn't have the easy glide rack, I would still buy it. I don't think it's a deal breaker.
Barb

Barb could have written my opinion. My oven has this ball bearing roller rack on the bottom-most shelf and I find it most useful when I've something heavy OR delicate in there such as cooking something in a water bath (e.g. cheesecake or a caramel custard) as the rack pulls out gently without any jerk whatsoever. Nonetheless, I wouldn't base my choice of oven on it - it is a very nice plus but the oven core functionality modes etc. are a bigger imperative, I think.

I have an easy glide rack in my Dacor oven and I really like it. I did move it up one level, so it's not sitting right on the heating element. It's the one I use all the time now, make is much easier to put thing into and take things out of the oven.

The first time I used it for a turkey, I nearly launched it across the kitchen, they are not kidding about "easy glide".

It's certainly a convenience, but not a necessity.

david, for me the easy glide shelf was a deal breaker. After I saw the first oven that offered it, I was unwilling to consider any oven (except the side-opening Gagg)that did not have it. I am short and when I have something heavy and especially heavy and juicy in the oven roasting, I am stretched out across the door and often feeling very tenuous in my control of the shelf as without the easy glides, they can be rather sticky particularly with heavy items on them. I am always anxious about spilling the hot liquid or tipping the pan with the stickiness while I'm pulling it out to baste it or test it. I was tickled pink when I saw those new easy glide shelves and thought "now why didn't someone think of this before?" I thought it so brilliant that I decided I would only buy an oven that has at least the bottom one on glides. I did foresee that moving shelves around might not be as simple and so decided that just having it on the bottom would be enough, rather than all of them like the GE Monogram. I ended up deciding to go with a Thermador. As I said above, though, my strong feeling about it might have to do with my size and short arms. Or, alternatively, maybe I'm just an easy mark for new ideas because I also fell in love with full-extension fridge drawers and had the same reaction--BRILLIANT! :-) I think ultimately it probably depends on whether your shelves without the glides have ever bothered you...if not, then you'll probably not notice not having the glides. But if they have bothered you in the past, now that you know they're available, there might be days you'll be kicking yourself wondering why you didn't jump on the idea when you could. (I think some manufacturers also let you buy the shelf separately to install later so that might be an option as well.)

I have a Bosch oven with one of those shelves as an accessory. No kidding about the turkey almost being "launched" into the kitchen. The oven is level, but that sucker begins sliding out by itself whenever the door is opened. No way will it be used with this years 22 lb. turkey. In fact I don't want to ever use it.

-Babka

I have GE Monogram double-ovens. ALL the shelves in both ovens (6 total) have ball-bearing glides. They're wonderful. I gave up wider oven interiors to get those shelves (the GE Monogram ovens are the narrowest of their class). My shelves don't roll out by themselves; in fact, they tend to roll BACK in to the oven by themselves, but it hasn't been a problem.