Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

9/25/18: When I bought Amazon was offering free assembly, but I didn't want to hassle with the scheduling, so I did it myself. I do not regret the decision as the total time to assemble was only about 1 to 1.5 hours. The directions are relatively clear with each step on a separate page. One interesting thing is some of the fasteners (bolts/screws, etc.) come attached to the unit while others are attached to a piece of cardboard with a layer of plastic. One somewhat annoying thing is the ones attached to the unit tend to be screwed in all the way, which lengthens the assembly time due to more time needed to unscrew, but that's a minor matter. Only two steps were easier with a second person helping: Moving the frame (wheel) assembly onto the rail; and Attaching the console mast. The rest was all an easy one-person job, and the directions were clear. The worst part of assembly was disposing of all the packaging material, particularly styrofoam. I've had other equipment that creaked a bit in use, so for this unit I put lithium grease between any connected parts that are bolted together. I don't know that it helped, but the unit doesn't make any unwanted noises. Also, not obvious in the instructions, the supplied silicone lubricant is for where the wheels of the "legs" roll back and forth across the rail assembly. There are a lot of reports of these units breaking after a period of time. I don't know if they've beefed up the product with the 2017 revision, but if this thing breaks it's likely from bad welds, or maybe someone using it who weighs over 300 pounds. The design seems very sturdy. As to use, I'm early on, but you can adjust both resistance and incline either by pushing an up/down button or by hitting five buttons for each option. So if you want resistance at 5 and incline at 20, you can hit the 5 and 20 button, or two different "up" buttons repeatedly. There are also several pre-programed courses you can set up. The display is relatively clear, but if you put a tablet in place it will block the upper portion of the screen. The console also has a built-in fan (three speeds) and speakers, as well as a USB and audio input connection (with supplied cable). One thing slightly annoying is the first push of the fan button puts in on high. It will also save data for four different users. It will connect to an Android device with the Schwinn Trainer app, which syncs the data from the machine. Not sure how useful that is, but the journal portion of that app does track your use. Finally, the console turns off automatically after five minutes of non-use. As to use, again I'm early on, but I'm surprised how smoothly the unit operates, both at a steady state and with changes to resistance or incline. Those changes also do not result in any extra noises during the change. The one bad thing is the static heart beat sensor system does not work terribly well. I've ordered a chest strap and will report on how that works later. Finally, I'm in fairly good shape but find this thing can provide a rather good workout even at the less than half settings. 9/28/18: A few more comments. I would highly recommend getting a heartbeat sensor because the effort you can expend on this thing is greater than what you'd realize. I bought the Polar T31 non-coded and it works fine, although sometimes intermittently. That may be due to having my tablet on the console. Which leads to the next issue. Electronic devices on the left side of the console block the heartbeat monitor reception. That is in the manual. It means I have to have my tablet in portrait mode--not a huge deal, but a minor annoyance. It also blocks the upper display, but if you use the "edit lower display" function you can have it always display the information you are most interested in. Which leads to the next issue. The mileage readout is apparently affected by the intensity of resistance, which doesn't make much sense. But going 100 strokes at the 1 level have you going less far than 100 strokes at level 5. I don't really care about distance, and go more by time and heartbeat, but for those who do . . .. 10/18/18: Still no issues with unwanted noises. I had planned on re-tightening the bolts at some point, but have had no reason to do so to date. The blockage of the heartbeat monitor is a bit more severe than I first indicated--basically if you want to use a wireless heartbeat monitor don't plan on having anything sitting on the console. But again I would highly recommend getting such a device because it is way too easy to overexert yourself with this device. Finally, it is amazing how with regular use you can see your progress by way of increased resistenace or incline settings. Much better exercise than just walking. Edit 11/29/18. I've been using this about 5 hours a week for over two months and still no issues. Occasionally there will be an unusual noise, but those have always gone away after less than 5 minutes. There have been no creaking noises from the frame, nor have I felt the need to retighten any connections. I've quit using a table in any location on the display because it does affect the wireless heart monitor. Not the biggest problem because I now keep the tablet in a higher location so that my head isn't bent down so much. 5/10/19: Just making a note of when I'm cutting back my usage. I've been using this virtually every day until now, about 5 hours a week. I'm going to cut back to 4 days a week, about 3.5 hours. I'm heading into the summer months and even with AC that might be tough to keep up since the room faces east. Still no issue with excessive noise, but I did discover that if you don't oil the rails enough it will make noise. 3/15/20: The device did start making noise at times so I checked the tightness of the various connections. The four bolts that connect to two of the pipes on the floor had come not loose, but looser than what I had them torqued to originally. Tightening eliminated the noise. I've also switched from the oil provided for the rails to white lithium grease. I switched merely because I ran out of the provided oil, but the WLG seems to work longer between applications. The main negative is the fan has made noise about three times. Turning it off obviously stopped the noise, but when it was turned back on the next day it did not come back. These incidents were about a month apart.