This is totally worth buying! The quality is very good and it's easy to put together. I put it together mostly by myself and I'm a 21yr old female with average strength and it wasn't too hard. I did have trouble tightening a couple of bolts, but that was the hardest part, and mostly just because of the position of the bolt. Most of the pieces are together already, the pieces that need greasing were already greased. It comes with the tools you need to put it together, and the hardware is separated into what you need for each step, so there's no digging around looking for the right part.
As far as the elliptical itself, it's awesome.
*It has an audio input jack and comes with a cord for it, and you can either listen to music on its speakers or plug your headphones into the elliptical itself.
*There's a spot were you can set your ipod or mp3 player and it also has a little book stand at the bottom of the console display.
*There's a water bottle holder and it has two smaller side holders where you can set other things like a cell phone or something, which is nice.
*It has a power cord, it doesn't take batteries like some do.
*It has a fan that has 3 different settings and an option for changing what you're looking at on the screen, calories burned or distance and time or heart rate. It has a spot that tells you your rate in MPH and also your resistance setting.
*It measures the distance in miles and starts at 0.00 goes up by .01 miles at a time.
*It has some preset programs, but I haven't used them, I've just done it as manual.
*It has 2 options for changing the resistance level: it has + and - buttons, but it also has numbers 1-10 on the sides so you can change resistance quickly.
*It has a really smooth motion, you don't feel like you're bouncing that much when you run on it and it's super quiet! It's not wobbly and feels really stable and sturdy. The foot pad is pretty big too, which is nice because you have room to find which spot is most comfortable.
The only thing I don't love about it is that when you start using it, it beeps pretty loudly. It also beeps when it's shutting off, and I think when you press the buttons. It's not a big problem, but it can get annoying when you're trying to be quiet.
I think that about sums it up, and if I come across any problems, I'll update this later. Horizon Fitness EX-59 Elliptical Trainer
Tried this machine along with a similarly priced Proform and a used LifeStride. This model definitely offered smoother motion, more realistic action; on the Proform it felt like I was constantly bouncing. Has the right amount of bells/whistles for a model this price. Compared to the next Horizon model up, this one has a shorter stride at 18"; but if you are average height/stride this wont be a problem. It is large, does not fold, but it is super quiet so I can even read while I exercise.
UPDATE! Months later I still love this machine. I am 100% pleased with my purchase. :-)
I have only had this a few days, but I wanted to write a quick review. This is an upgrade of the EX-57 and so far I love it. It was very easy to put together (1.5 hours) and it is very quiet. I am an active exerciser (walking/exercise DVD's), but I wanted something I could put in front of my television and this fits the bill. And after 30 minutes I am exhausted and feel great, so this is doing the job (cardio).
There are also speakers for your music and a fan which works great!
I am so glad I decided on this rather than the treadmill. :-)
After shopping around for entry level ellipticals, the decision came down to either the Horizon Fitness EX-59 or the Schwinn 420 Elliptical Trainer, the successor to the popular Schwinn 430 Elliptical Trainer. At the time of writing, both the EX-59 and 420 are approximately the same price. What tipped the scale in favor of the EX-59 was its much longer warranty and reports of how Horizon has improved its products in recent years (according to the reviewer at fitness-equipment-source.com).
Assembly of the EX-59 will take about 1.5 to 2 hours. If you can put together Ikea furniture, you can put together this elliptical. However, the assembly manual is pretty bad. In addition to some typos, the parts diagrams are small so it takes time to discern exactly what washer type goes where. It is a nice touch however that the hardware for each step of the process is separately bagged. Two things to keep in mind when assembling: (1) during each step, refrain from torquing down the fasteners tightly until they are all threaded in. You may need to adjust the position of a part slightly before all the holes line up. Fastening one side will prevent you from doing that. (2) Use some grease on the threads of the Phillips head screws that fasten the water bottle holder to the frame. It seems easy to strip them when driving them into the frame.
After assembly, the EX-59 worked fine without any issues. The motion of its driveline isn't like that of a Precor, but I am satisfied with its performance at this price level. No aberrant noises and the stability of the unit was good. I am however a bit underwhelmed by the strength of the fan in the console. It seems to be barely one step up from a common computer case fan. The pulse rate monitor also doesn't seem to be very accurate. Other than that, the console display is pretty nice. It is simple to use and easy to read.
I will update this review if there are any problems with the unit down the line. - Quiet - Great Value - Affordable - Elliptical'
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