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April 24, 2007

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Write up a summary and send it to consumerist.com. Then load up the elliptical, head to Sears, and dump it in their showroom. Then go home and forget about it.

Actually, I can't recall if you ever escalated to Sears corporate, but you should try to get in touch with customer relations at the executive level.

And here's an update on my elliptical. It was a higher-priced model purchased from Sears at about the same time as yours - but I'm maintaining mine myself. It gets fairly constant use by two average adults.

So far, I've replaced three broken bolts. I think one shipped broken, but the other two were from use. There is what appears to me to be a design flaw in the axle where the flywheel can shift to one side. It needs a constant supply of grease to keep it anywhere near quiet. Oh yeah, and I've had a an adjustment bolt freeze up twice. Due to the design flaw, the belt seems to be wearing prematurely and is off-center on one pulley. The pulse monitor no longer is accurate.

The parts cost me about 10 bucks, for blue loc-tite, a few nuts and bolts, and an old tube of front-end lube.

Three good things though: the parts diagram is listed online (that's great for repairs) and the bearings haven't blown yet. I suspect they use maintenance-free sealed bicycle bearings - but just because they're probably cheaper than anything else they could reasonably use. And the electronics still mostly works except for the pulse monitor.

If I weren't doing the repair work myself, I'd have tossed this thing in the trash - or raised a stink with Sears. It's obviously intended to work for only a short amount of time before it becomes a clothes hanger.

Still, if you can repair it yourself, it's not a bad deal when compared with a $5000 model.

I think Consumer Reports liked the Precor model--built like a tank, and about as expensive. My parents bought a Precor treadmill over a decade ago and it's still going strong (with on and off use).

If you have access to a pickup truck, I'd suggest displaying the elliptical prominently in the back, dragging tin cans from the bumper, and displaying signage about your lemon elliptical glider and pathetic customer service, while driving through the parking lot of the Sears store. Might not get anything done to fix it (I'd demand a refund at this point), but it would be a great stress reliever.

I thought it was just me. I didn't buy an elliptical, I bought a stationary bike. To start with I paid for assembly, but when they delivered it the guys just dumped the big box with the dissambled bike on my floor and took off. I tried chasing them down but they rudely informed me they wouldn't be assembling anything.

After several disgruntled calls to Sears, I ended up having to assemble it myself. Now -- I am not mechanically inclined. And I was all alone, trying to lift heavy bike parts. During which I dropped the main chassis and couldn't get certain screws to tighten right.

Now of course I hate the bike. It doesn't even ride like the floor model. And I think I messed something up when I dropped that chassis -- there is a grinding noise sometimes. Plus the thing shakes horribly if I take it up to any amount of speed beyond slow amble.

I don't even want to try Sears again. I just want it GONE -- problem? I live on the third floor of a walk up apartment and I can't even move this thing 6 inches without a lot of trouble. I'm going to have to con some guys into hauling this thing off for me.

DB

Exercise equipment is something I'd never skimp out on. Pay the extra money and get the brands that fitness facilities use, like LifeFitness from a specialty store. Buying used is an option too (preferably from a private seller, since it won't be nearly as used as a club piece), but you must be careful and try it out at least once for a long workout before buying.

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