Schwinn FitnessElliptical Machine

I chose this machine because I am a gym rat and they have been closed and it seems they will remain so for a while. It's not cheap, but I can't necessarily afford a whole new wardrobe if I gain 10-20 pounds in the next few weeks, either. Heart attacks and diabetes aren't cheap, either. It seems like a lot of these are going out of stock, so I'd suggest ordering one sooner rather than later if you're a real gym nut. Who knows if this pandemic will keep resurfacing in the next few months... The machine I got was assembled in 2017, so I wasn't worried about contagion from the country of manufacture.A while back I checked out a few models in a sporting goods store and noticed the Schwinn ellipticals seemed to have a nice stride and seemed sturdier than the other models within the under 1k price range. No matter what machine you buy, it's going to be bulky and in the way, so it might as well be sturdy. Many "economical" home use ellipticals have a really short stride that make my knees and shins hurt, seem flimsy, and many of them have super low weight limits which make them limiting if you share them with others or ever need to re-sell them due to a move, etc... My gym preferences are the cybex and the elliptical the precor rear drive elliptical. This model seems to resemble those machines to me in terms of how I feel when I work out. I gave this five stars with the knowledge that this is NOT supposed the kind of high-end machine you'd find at the gym that usually cost several thousand dollars. This is a home-use piece of equipment, so it won't have a fancy computerized touch-screen display. I DO notice that you can step off the machine for a few seconds and grab a bottle of water without it "timing out" on you, which I think is great, and I also love the little fan the display comes with. It's very easy to set a phone/ipad/drink /towel on the machine while working out.I'm a short small-statured woman. I was able to assemble this myself within a few hours, although it was a bit difficult at times. I have a big bruise on my big toe to prove it. (You might want to wear heavy boots while putting it together!) It's not super lightweight, so I'd recommend assembling it in the room you plan to keep it in. If you have someone to help you, I'd recommend having a second person on hand to assist sliding the pedals on and to help keep the display in place while you screw it in. When sliding the handle bars onto the machine, I wished I had access to a pair of stronger arms, but I still managed. I think the hardest part was placing the pedals on because you need to have them at the perfect angle to slide them onto the machine. Don't discard any plastic wrap with lubricant, because you might need it when you assemble certain pieces. You don't have to be a part time handyman to put this together-- just keep the nuts and bolts in orderly piles and make sure you use the correct ones. You can still manage to assemble this on your own as long as you can follow instructions to a T, don't mind cursing a bit, have some pillows handy, and don't have to move the largest piece onto a different floor in the house. Having wood floors I was able to push the biggest piece into the room I wanted to assemble it in. Although it was a pain, I'm glad I assembled it on my own, as I imagine if something "goes wrong" I'll be able to pinpoint the issue in the future.The machine is super quiet and it comes with the adapter so you can plug it into the wall. Keeping certain components lubricated and free of dust will probably help avoid any squeaks or weird noises, but that's why cleaning people who work at the gym constantly vacuum and clean off the equipment. I imagine if you don't follow the assembly instructions perfectly, and don't tighten the bolts perfectly, you might have noise problems. The machine rocked and jiggled a little at first, but I realized I had accidentally omitted the washers when I screwed on the display. I popped the top off, unscrewed that part and fixed the problem, and now it doesn't rock or jiggle at all. Follow the instructions to a T. Keep the instructions and tools and leftover nuts and bolts.The only weird issue I've noticed is that the calorie counter seems really off-- it seems to underestimate the amount of calories burned considering how much I'm exerting myself. This sets my OCD off a little, however, I notice that many kinds of extremely expensive cardio equipment in the gym will give me different numbers. The experience I have while I'm exercising leads me to believe that I'm still getting a great workout even without the calorie count being precise-- even with the resistance level and incline fairly low, it doesn't feel "too easy". I also feel no bizarre aches and pains as I would with a badly functioning/designed elliptical.The design of the handlebars is great in that shorter folks can easily grasp them because the center parts of the handles curve inwards toward the user. Ellipticals you find at the gym often have handle bars often seem poorly designed for people with shorter arms. I can easily grab these without leaning forward too much. I'm 5'3", so slightly smaller than the average woman. I can't answer for how well a tall person would like the design, but the weight limit seems higher than many home style ellipticals and the foot pedals seem large enough to handle a person with a large footprint. Like I said before, the stride length seems much better than most home ellipticals. If you're super tall, you might want to get the more expensive models that have longer than a 20" stride. If you're tall, I'd check out the reviews of other tall folks before making a final decision.Edit: It's been a year since I bought this, and haven't had any major issues yet. Biggest gripe is that the calorie counter seems to underestimate the workout I feel I'm doing. I wish the stride were longer, but as it's not one of those industrial grade machines, I wasn't expecting it to be great. I definitely suggest remembering to grease the components periodically, and making sure you vacuum the machine to remove dust.Edit: I really hope they “fix” the low calorie count issue so many people point out. I’m drenched in sweat, on here for almost an hour, and have only burned about 300 calories? Makes me feel like a loser and a failure, because I’ve drank two bottles of water already and I feel like I can’t push any fügtet. On the expensive gym elliptical machines, I would have been past 500 calories burnt by now for the sweat and soreness I feel.

I would deduct 1.2 points for packaging, and some issues with the user manual, and one of the features I miss on the display.The shipment arrived on time but the box was busted up pretty badly. I could not rescue it. The Amazon Driver stayed near by while I inspected the contents to make sure nothing was damaged inside, then he helped me place it in my entryway after I established that nothing was wrong the machine itself or the internal packaging.I am over 70 years old and found no problems assembling the machine by myself, although I did take all afternoon to do so. The user manual was fairly well designed except that some of the detail images were way too small for my old eyes to pick up 'details'. For that reason I deducted .03 points from the overall score, (BIGGER DETAIL IMAGES PLEASE). You don't need any extra tools to assemble this. They are all included with the clearly labeled hardware. With a little planning this can be easily assembled by one person. As I said, I am over 70 years old, I have a bad back, and I had no issues assembling it.The heaviest part to move is the main flywheel assembly, and even with a bad back I was able to pick it up and carry it into the living room for assembly, and in it's permanent location. Another option I considered to move it would be to tilt the assembly onto an old beach towel and pull it across the floor to the location to assemble, but, as I mentioned, it was light enough for me to carry a short distance (about 14 feet).I have been using it for a week now and have only one complaint - it does not have a step counter. The machine is very sturdy and supports the 230 lbs of my body weight without issue or noise. It is smooth and very quiet compared to my cubi I have been using. I also like the customizable display options for each user.Before purchasing the 470 my wife and I read a review online. The reviewer noted that the machine's lowest resistance level was still much higher than other machines. I have no other experience with ellipticals, but my wife does and she confirms that it is harder than those she uses at the gym. That being said, after a week both she and I have improved our endurance and I can now do 30 minutes non stop at the lowest sittings, She was spending 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym and it took her three days to get to 30 minutes. Neither of us has tried any of the default programs yet. We still need to get in better shape.My greatest complaint is the packaging. I think the packaging they use is more suitable for delivery to a department store or fitness store, not to a residence where the deliver van has to be loaded with objects of various sizes and weights. The riggers of transporting a large item like this requires stronger materials. The carboard box was the consistency of dry bread. It practically fell apart in my hands. The Styrofoam survived the shipping, but not the unpacking. Beads of Styrofoam popped out all over the place no matter how carefully I removed parts or tape. It was a total mess to clean up and accounts for most of my assembly time. For that reason I would deduct .17 from the total score.Overall it is a great machine for the price and I'm getting back tone in muscles I rarely use any more, even after only a week. It's a great bargain.