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62 of 63 found the following review helpful:
 Great Elliptical, Even Better Through Amazon Sep 21, 2009
By M. Stephens
Price$$ Five Stars
I've been wanting to buy an elliptical for months now. Did my research on consumer reports, shopped around. I must admit that I was a little nervous about buying such a large purchase through Amazon, but I'm glad I did. I noticed the price dropped to $1699 from $1899 and that was the motivation I needed to pull the trigger.
Shipping Five Stars
I elected to do the free shipping option. My impression was that this unit would not ship for 3-5 days and that it would probably take another 5 days to get to me, so I did not expect this unit to arrive for 1.5 to 2 weeks. In reality, I ordered this product on a Friday night and the product was in my possession on the next Wednesday afternoon. 3 business days is awesome in my book, especially when it's free. I live in the southeast, so not sure if your results would be the same if you live elsewhere. If anything, this was too quick, because the expected time frame was going to be that Friday and it came 2 days earlier. If you are trying to take off work to be available for the shipment, this could be a problem. The elliptical came in a crate and is too much to handle for one person. You need at least 2 strong guys to help you move this unit into your home. I was able to slide it into my garage and uncrate from there. Even disassembled, the base part of this unit is really heavy. I had to get a friend to help me move it up one level of stairs.
Assembly 4 Stars
As hinted above, this unit is not fully assembled. I would like to think I am handy, but this assembly could be a little tricky. Here are the things that tripped me up.
First, there is a rear foor stablizer bar that needs to be installed. The instructions give the wrong screw size, but the screw pack clearly labels the screws to be used for what assembly. For this step, make sure you use the longer screws as labeled in the screw pack, not the size given in the instruction manual.
Next, there is a control mast that slides into the base. One thing the instuctions failed to mention (or I failed to pick up on) is a small grey flexible rubber flush piece designed to cover the circular gap between the base plastic housing and the control mast. DO NOT FORGET to slide this piece on before you secure the control mast to the base.
Lastly, becareful when you install the handle swing poles. It's easy to get these inverted. They are labeled "L" and "R", but this was very hard to find and I ended up putting the wrong one on first. Find the "L" "R" label before you start screwing them down.
Overall Operation 5 stars
This unit runs really smooth and quiet. I was concerned about buying an elliptical before I had the chance to try it out, so I only relied on the write up in consumer reports. I have not had a chance to try the provided heart rate attachment, but the fixed handle grips do have a built in heart rate sensor, and that seems to operate correctly. It has several programs for all levels of elliptical users.
In summary, I am very pleased with this elliptical and glad I bought it from Amazon. Make sure you have help when you move it and becareful when you assemble it. The footprint for this machine was a little larger than I expected, make sure you have enough space for it.
53 of 55 found the following review helpful:
 High Quality but Arm Movement Uncomfortable (I'm 5'6") Dec 06, 2009
By anon
I bought this machine after reading the Consumer Report ratings. I am a regular user of ellipticals at my gym and I really like the Life Fitness machines they have there but they were too big for my space, so I went for the Diamondback.
This is a very well made machine and I love the incline feature ... but at 5'6" and with long arms I find that the arms are uncomfortably far away and if I work out using them my back and neck end up aching. Now, one of the reasons I mix the elliptical into my running routine is to give my arms a bit of a workout, so not being able to use them is a bit sad for me. If you are significantly taller than 5'6" I would highly recommend this machine.
As mentioned in other reviews, assembly isn't that easy - but I was able to do it by myself with a bit of time. Although something in the electrical wires must be a bit loose as sometimes I have to tap (okay hit) the control panel to get it to turn on and I fear that sooner or later I'm going to have to take the whole thing apart to fix this which would be a pain.
My final word of caution is that this is large and heavy which is one of the reasons why it feels so solid when you use it but it is a challenge to move - especially upstairs. Even in it's unassembled state the main part of the unit is HUGE. I had two 200+ guys moving mine for me and they still dropped it and dented my wood floor.
31 of 32 found the following review helpful:
Best Elliptical for home use May 31, 2009
By reviewer
This is a sturdy, stable, well constructed elliptical that should provided years and years of use. There are many cheaper versions by other companies, and even though lighter weight feels like a benefit, in the long run they don't last as long. Elliptical training was recommended to me by a doctor after a foot injury. I would not have thought about it prior to that. It feels like a great workout to me and it is not as boring as my treadmill. Consumer reports recommends this particular elliptical and when it comes to my health, I like to get the best. Fluid motion is essential, especially if you have knee and foot issues. Not all ellipticals provide fluid motion.
I also love this this will read my polar rate heart monitor.
And for those on the heavier side who have difficulty finding equipment, this one goes up to 325 lbs. My friend can't buy many things for home use because of the weight restrictions (some as low as 250) so he was thrilled with this.
Lastly, measure your space. This is not a fold up or tuck away in the corner of the room machine. It will take up a lot of space because of the quality of construction. It also weighs a lot so you won't be lugging it from room to room unless you have to.
Unfortunately for me, I did not think to check to see if amazon sold these and other stores are quite a lot more expensive.
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 No Technical Support!!!! Feb 21, 2010
By Bob Cohen
Hi
I purchased the elliptical machine through Amazon on Nov 6th, 2009. I got it set up a couple of weeks later. Absolutely loved the workouts and smooth, quiet movement of this elliptical machine. In mid January the electronics went haywire the machine lights up but we have no control over program, resistance or incline. I have left 3 phone messages with Diamondback. In addition, I have now sent 5 emails through the website. Each time, I received an auto response that someone will get back to me asap which I am beginning to think is probably never. DO NOT BUY THIS ELLIPTICAL OR ANY OTHER DIAMONDBACK PRODUCTS as they do not stand behind the warranty.
32 of 34 found the following review helpful:
What A Nightmare! Feb 21, 2010
By J. Haas
Our elliptical was delivered two weeks ago and we haven't been able to use it yet. No matter what program is selected, it runs for five seconds and then goes into "pause" mode. I called Diamondback. Though it was during their business hours, no one answered at technical support. I got transferred around several times, finally to a destination that just hung up on me. After about three days of this, I got snippy with the phone operator and finally got a human being on the phone in the technical support department.
After describing the problem, he said it sounded like a problem with a sensor on the wiring. He asked me where I bought it, and I told him Amazon. He asked who assembled it, and I told him I did. He said that I should check the wiring connections before having a service technician come out, because if it turned out to be a problem that occurred in the assembly, I'd have to pay for the service call.
I started taking the elliptical apart to check the wiring connections, but stopped when it became clear that it would be hard to do so without running the risk of damaging something. For instance, to inspect the wiring connections, you have to remove the screws that secure the console mast cover. But the screws are covered by a rubber mat in the console mast cover that is stuck down with adhesive. You have to remove the mats to remove the mast cover to get at the wiring connections. But I can't get the mats off without damaging them or the console mast cover. (At a minimum, the instructions should tell you not to stick the mats down until you know the thing is working correctly.) So now I have to call Diamondback to get a service technician to come out. I wonder how long that will take, and how much it will cost. And, of course, I'll have to take time off work to be here.
I am an experienced DIY-er and have assembled things a lot more complicated than this elliptical. I had no trouble with the wiring connections, double checked them during assembly, and am confident that I did not do anything to cause this problem. What do you bet that the service technician will agree?
If I had it to do over again, i would not buy this product.
Update: After several more calls to Diamondback, I was told that they did not have a service technician in my area (a major metropolitan area) and that they would get back to me when they could find one. They never did. After a week of waiting, I returned the elliptical. I got the distinct impression that Diamondback was stalling until I could no longer return it.
See all 32 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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