YOUNGFIT Foldable Elliptical with LCD Monitor

I am extremely displeased with the experience I have had with this product. Upon assembling the machine, we discovered that there is a flaw in the pre-assembled portion which makes it unusable. I contacted Amazon for support. They first advised me to attempt to repair the flaw myself, which I tried with no success. The rep then agreed to issue a refund if I disassemble, repackage, and reship the item. I told him that the original packaging had been discarded; he advised that I could purchase a large enough box and that I would be reimbursed for that cost. Obviously not wanting to go through all that trouble, I contacted the manufacturer and reported the problem to them. That rep attempted to help me solve the problem; however, it became clear in that process that this is in fact a manufacturing flaw and I cannot fix it. I now have no choice but to attempt a return. I disassembled the product and got it into an extremely large box. However, it is so heavy (100 pounds) and irregularly shaped that the box cannot be moved without the machine breaking though. I do not believe it can be shipped like this. I have spent HOURS attempting to resolve this problem, only to find that I may be stuck with a product that arrived broken. This has cost me a great deal of money and time and has caused a lot of stress. I should never have had this experience with a brand new product which arrived flawed.

I was able to assemble this machine in about 90 minutes (the box recommends two people to assemble, and that would have sped it up, but my roommate is out of town, so a single woman can do it in 90 minutes – which is pretty reasonable – the trickiest bit of doing it on your own was getting the front and rear legs attached).

I would recommend having your own tools (especially a set of metric hex keys) on hand – as the ones included are not the best to work with (I switched after I got tired of the included “wrench” for attaching the front and rear legs/bars – “step 1” – I’d also recommend a socket wrench, but I didn’t have one available). The assembly instructions aren’t as clear as they could be, more close ups on the diagrams would have been helpful – the diagrams usually show the entire machine, but I was able to muddle through.

As others have said this machine is very quiet (which is nice) and it fits in a small space (which was a major reason I went with this unit). I also suspect we will be able to move it around easily enough now that it has wheels attached (however, moving the box into the room where it was going to be assembled took me a bit – I did not count that time as part of assembly time).

Once the unit is together it works pretty well. I find the stride length a bit short (I’m about 175 cm – a little under 5’9″, so I am tall, but a lot of guys are taller than me), but that is currently a minor issue for me and I can get used to it (taller individuals might not be as content though). There is also a bit of a wobble, even though it is level when I am not using it, but I suspect that is the machine settling into the thick exercise mat I put down to protect the flooring.

The “22” resistance levels are a bit of marketing (there are actually 8 levels). Each click of the dial moves over a number of levels. However, the highest resistance is pretty high, and the lowest resistance feels almost like nothing. Between these settings are plenty of variety you can use to find a good challenge for your workout (I found that 3 clicks up from the lowest level is pretty good for me). As some others have noted, the resistances are done by manually turning a knob, rather than having the resistance automatically change during a preset workout (this sort of feature was not particularly important to me, because I tend to set a resistance and go, and I felt having a computer do it was just another potential point of failure with the machine).

I wanted an elliptical I could assemble (check), that was affordable (check – I got it on a good sale), and wouldn’t have too large of a footprint (check). This is nowhere near as good as the ellipticals you see at most gyms, but it is also considerably cheaper, and I now have one at home (for when it is either too cold outside or I am not able to get off work until it gets dark – but still want to get some exercise into the day). I figure if this machine holds up for a year (maybe two) with consistent use, I will have made my money back.

I recently purchased this Elliptical and I am so grateful to have it in my home! As someone who likes to run outside, but is paying the price due to joint pain, this Elliptical not only gives me an indoor, joint-friendly exercise option, but it’s also right in my bedroom so I have no excuse not to use it! As much as I love it for exercise, it is probably more valuable as something I can just hop on multiple times throughout the day to stay loose as working from home as decreased all those 100-400 step micro-trips throughout the day that I was used to when working in an office. Perhaps my favorite feature is the ability to go backwards on this (I recently started running backwards outside for multiple reasons) and it is just as easy to backwards on the Elliptical as it is to go forwards for more balanced workouts and muscular flexibility. The resistance knob is super easy to use and great to have to increase intensity, although I must admit, I’m starting slow as I get used to the mechanics. Overall, this Elliptical machine is fantastic.