Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've owned a Maxtrainer for over 4 years. And if I could sum the ownership experience up in a single word it would be "frustrating." And that word can be used for every aspect of ownership from assembly, to use, it's frequent need for service, and particularly the inevitable experience you will have with customer service when it breaks. And it will most definitely break in some, or multiple, ways. Assembly is really dependent on your personal skill level and the tools you own. So I'm not going to bother other than saying you had better own a good ratchet set, otherwise you are in for a world of hurt. Use on the other hand I will elaborate on. When this machine works, it's fine. It gives a very good workout. The key word in this is "when." Because unfortunately it doesn't always work. Sounds such as creaks will develop within the first few uses, and will get louder with each subsequent use. Regardless of how well you assemble it, inconsistency in manufacturing will allow for some of the moving parts to shimmy and click, creating an unstable feel on the foot platforms as you complete your motions. Small and large adjustments will become the norm as you disassemble various parts of the machine in an often fruitless pursuit of either quieting down the sounds, or eliminating the disconcerting and sudden shifts the legs will make. Workouts will be interrupted or abandoned as you stop and wonder, "is this thing even safe?" Eventually, as I did in year two, you may experience a catastrophic failure, which will render the machine useless. Mine was with the drive pully. If you are still in warranty, as I was, when this failure happened, they will send you the part/s you require and you can either pay $150. plus for a tech to fix, or they will email you instructions for free. I choose the email option as I have tools and am proficient with them. The issue here is the instructions themselves. While in English, they are clearly written by non native English speakers, and therefore are confusing to an extent. Beyond that, they may not 100% match the configuration of your machine as changes both minor and major, happen over the course of the machines manufacturing life cycle. So you may be left with instructions with pictures telling you to remove a part that is no longer designed to be removed. Or plastic faring that is glued on rather than only screwed on, etc. Bottom line, if you can't improvise, you're sunk. Also please remember if you are no longer in warranty, you will pay for the parts, and service if you require it, out of pocket. In the end even after fixing, you are left with a persnickety device that requires constant maintenance, from small things such as chasing down sounds, loosening, tightening, and lubrication, to big things like disassembly, reassembly, and full tear downs... All things that interrupt your ability to have a consistent workout schedule. Do not be fooled by the claim that this is a gym quality device. It can not handle the rigor of one person using it 5 days per week for long. Actual gym quality would mean hundreds of workouts per week, something this machine can not do. Also importantly, please do not be fooled by 5 star reviews from people that have owned the machine for a few weeks. Their lack of real world long term experience with the Maxtrainer means you should take their reviews with a massive grain of salt. As a final aside, this review is happening as I track down yet another replacement part. This time one of the rollers, where the delrin insert has seperated from the rubber body. Unfortunately this will be an out of pocket expense. You have been warned!