Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Exercise Bike - cheap, elliptical
I really loved that this item was both a bike and an elliptical machine, at such an awesome price. I wasn't very certain that it would be sturdy, etc because it is so inexpensive. But I am pleasantly surprised. However, the only reason that I am rating this four stars is that it took me three hours to put together. The directions are extremely hard to follow. Confidence Fitness 2-in-1 Elliptical Trainer with Seat
The elliptical is great, and I enjoy using it. It is definitely not as sturdy as more expensive ones, but you get what you pay for. It still works great. The computer stopped working a week and a half after I received it though... it's not the most important part, and I just use another clock in the room to monitor time; however, that was annoying.
Got the Bike and put it together. It was a little hard to do. And as a female, I am very mechanically inclined but I really had to wait until my husband could help me to get the parts lined up and bolts screwed in.
After getting it together, I have used it and was really looking forward to using it as the elliptical cross trainer. I find this very hard to do because the angle of the pedals are very steep compared to other elliptical trainers that I have seen. Works okay as a bike though. Even though I can't ride long. THe seat kills my rear.
The machine is tilted forward at an uncomfortable position. Other reviewers said you could fix this by putting a piece of wood under the front leg, but I did this and the metal under the back leg cracked.
I've had this machine for about a year and I've only used it about 40 times. I ordered the elliptical machine, but instead the company sent me the 2 in 1 elliptical machine and bike. By the time I realized this I'd started putting it together and I decided I liked the 2 in 1 even though it was not what I ordered so it didn't seem worth the hassle of contacting the company.
The biggest problem with this machine is that it tilts forward to an unacceptable level. It's like you are riding a bike standing up and tilted 45 degrees forward rather than the horizontal motion you would expect from a true elliptical machine. But this is because it is essentially pedals attached to a bike, unlike the more complex machinery in a elliptical machine at the gym, but that's why they cost $2,000 and this is $120. The electronic timer is useless and broke in about two weeks.
It tilts because the front is about 4 inches too short. I read another review that suggested putting a piece of wood under the front, and this worked and made it more of a horizontal motion. However, I just realized today that the metal near the back of the center rail has a 6 inch crack in it and is going to snap completely soon. It's because having the rail resting on a piece of wood in the front puts pressure in the wrong place on the bike. So it's my fault that the bike is unusable after about 40 uses, but I just want to warn people who read the same review I did that you can't actually correct the machine's weird position
I'm a college student and I'm pretty weak, but I was able to move the bike easily. It's only 60 lbs and it fit in (my fairly large) car to move home for the summer. It was compact, fit in the corner of my dorm room, and has wheels on the front to help move it. It seemed fairly sturdy (until it cracked of course!) and I'm well under the weight limit, so it didn't crack just because I was putting too much weight on it. If you're looking for a cheap sturdy bike and you don't mind exercising at a weird angle as a trade off, I'd recommend this bike. But overall trying to get more out of a cheap bike just brought a lot of irritation.
After just one use, I loved this bike. Since I'm somewhat out of shape, having the ability to ride the bike allows me to extend my workout and keep my heart rate up for longer than I could with just a straight elliptical. However, after about 2 months of use, the washers between the bars securing the handles to the foot pedals broke off and now the entire machine creaks and wobbles, especially at high speeds. Thinking that I just needed to replace the washers, I've been on a month long search of every hardware store in my city that has been in vain. I've not yet been able to find washers even close to what I need. Even searching online has yet yielded results. I love the machine and think it was somewhat worth the money I spent, but having this little detail go wrong and prove unsolvable is totally disappointing.
Finally, after about a year and a half, I moved this product into a corner of the basement to be thrown out. It started working well, but after a few months a grinding noise started, and the motion was very erratic. I had to take the machine apart and tighten screws. That lasted about a month, then I had to repeat the process. I never received a guarenntee on the product of any kind, and wrote the company about it. They said they had it on file, but I never saw it. Anyway, I kept fiddling with it over and over. For a year and a half the product was the worst investment I ever made. I would NEVER recommend this to any exercise enthusisat. Spend more money on a better product. - Elliptical - Exercise Bike - Cheap - Exercise'
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