Wednesday 11 May 2011

Elliptical Crosstrainer Replacement AGAIN



Reebok is going to replace my broken elliptical finally. (This one only lasted about two months.) Robert and I worked out that this one was our 7th one that broke. I'm wondering how long the 8th one will last! Reebok would have saved money if they'd given us a gym-strength one from the beginning as, although we spent a lot of money on the machine, none of them seem to be made to last for people who actually use them.

The video above is what we had to show them in order to get a replacement. Robert had to take the side off in order to be able to show the damaged part. It is broken in the same place that the last one broke. I am worried that, if they replace it with the same model again, it will just break again in the same place. This is only the second time we have had this model as they stopped doing the previous model we used. I liked our previous one better, even though it too did not survive the test of daily use.

If this one breaks after a short while too, I will announce the make and model so you can all avoid buying one. If I ever get a quality machine that is built to last, I will happily write reviews about it every six months for the first two years just to show everyone that it is still going strong! But so far, after having seven machines fail on me and, of those seven machines, three different models that have failed, I am skeptical that any company bothers any more to make quality equipment.

I know that people tend to buy these things and after a few short workouts on them, they have a tendency to only use them as coat racks for the rest of the machine's time in their house. However that is no excuse for companies to allow them to be made so poorly and to let the quality to slip so far down in standards.

I am not overly rough on my elliptical crosstrainers. I spend an hour to an hour and a half a day on the machine, every day. Robert used to use it occasionally too, but he hasn't used either of the last two machines at all. I just run on them. I adjust the resistance as I run. But I don't do anything that should cause damage to the machine.

I am not a heavy person. I am well below the maximum weight allowed on these machines. And yet they keep breaking.

It is such a hassle to have to assemble the machines when they arrive, get to use them for a little while, then wait on delivery of the replacment machine (which has taken several weeks this time) and do without my usual exercise during that time. And then, of course, Robert or I will have to assemble the new one, again.

It is so much hassle that I am getting really, really annoyed with the whole process, but I keep hoping that the next one will last me for a decent amount of time.

Regardeless of my fears for how long this 8th elliptical crosstrainer will last, I am hopeful, and I am relieved that I will once again be able to work out on a crosstrainer again. It always helps me to maintain my weight, and since I have had a small gain during the weeks we were moving and the weeks I have been without my elliptical crosstrainer, I need to get back into my workouts.

4 comments:

  1. i, too, am looking for a good elliptical machine. i thank you for you blogpost. When i was in America visiting my dad, he had a very expensive looking nordic track elliptical trainer that could do all sorts of fancy things and it was just awesome... but they don't seem to have those in the netherlands... so i'm not sure what to get?!

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  2. Sole E95. I don't know if they sell these near you but if they do it's the best money spent on an elliptical. We replaced three Wal-Mart types before we wised up and bought a Sole. These are built to last. Two years later and over 800 hours of actual use we've had zero problems. Good Luck

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  3. Sorry I went the anonymous route with that last post but my google account won't let me in. Anyway I'm Tom and keep up the blog and the exercise. I read but rarely ever comment or interact.

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  4. Thanks for the tip, Tom!

    And cutekittypunk - when I get one that lasts, I will definitely write about it in the blog!

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