KETTLERElliptical

I selected the Kettler after researching a number of other machines in the same general price range. The Kettle is the only machine rated excellent for quality of construction in Consumer Reports. Reviews of many other machines complained of parts breaking, making noises and being loose, etc after a few weeks. The Kettler's frame is made of powder coated steel (The machine is made in Germany). Its simple with no adjustment for stride but that was not problem. The flywheel is one of the heaviest at 45 lbs. The machine is super quiet and smooth. The computer easy to operate. The pre-set workouts are very good , and its easy to change intensity, etc...Heart monitoring is excellent (which helps you stay at the proper level of intensity) Not a lot of bells and whistles like fans, IPad holders or bottle holders, but I chose qualiy over those other features. The assembly is easy. And the length is only 54" - which is a lot smaller than many of the comparble machines. There is a heart monitor as well and an optional Polar chest strap that plugs into the machine. I think this machine is highly underrated.

I had a Kettler elliptical before which worked quite well for 15 years and when I needed it to be repaired I got the parts and service. This one is really bad. The bar handles slipp on the horizontal axis and it is more than a royal pain to to tahe the plistac covers aside and access the ends of the horizontal axis and then you need special tools to do anything. There is no help either. Really bad design!!

First thing, this is really 4.5 stars.This is a very well made machine, very quiet in operation, aesthetically pleasing and very compact.Delivered freight to my front door. I did have to remove package from palette and took a bit of effort to get main body through to the theater room using a dolly. It is shipped with the tread arms "floating" so they need to be tied down before tilting the rest of the machine up. Not a big deal if you have straps and a dolly or sack truck at hand.I went to the local sporting shop and compared a few similarly priced units.. what a horror show. The 1300$ machines were as creaky and plastic laden as my 380$ Exerputic. So after some research I took the plunge and ordered the Kettler.Also, I had a Kettler go kart as a child and it was bullet proof, sent to mye from my Granny in Germany.And.. Germans demand a better build quality.. no Walmart in Germany... so it seemed like a good bet.It replaces an Exerputic that lasted 10 months and proved difficult and/or unable to repair :http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EKCCOJ4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Pros:Quiet, both in terms of mechanical squeaks and creaks or the magnetic brake.Quite nice to look at. Sits in my home theater room and is not as big and badly built/ugly as the previous machine.Nice clear tilt-able LCD screen and efficient heart rate monitor.Quick assembly. Only took 20 minutes.Easily adjustable foot plates for different strides.Here is why it lost a half star... cons :I'm 5' 8" and the arms are right at the height/length limit, if I were taller I'd be leaning forward and getting a back ache.Tall people do not buy this.The top of the arms is an odd 2 piece snap together design, which is scalloped rather than spherical.The 2 parts constantly came apart. I ended up using electrical tape to keep the two parts together until an order of super glue arrived tonight.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LGPD64/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1At rates of more then 55% duty cycle you can get the machine bouncing, it really needs a wider base for serious work outs.The program modes are a bit limited, as far as I can tell, and there is no pause button.The heart rate function seems to go off on a tangent every now and then and over calculate.. I've been off the machine at times and the dangerous level will sound.

I bought this machine 4 years ago and used it regularly several times a week. The quality is outstanding and it does not require any maintenance whatsoever.