Precor EFX 5.25 Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer (Latest Generation)

I chose a Precor because of the quality and reputation of the company, and I bought it from Amazon for the same reason. After you read the below you might come to the conclusion I have: Amazon might not be the place to buy this and/or that Precor is not a 5 star operation. While delivery was fine and it has only been 1 week, I'm writing this out of a bit of frustration with not being able to use my product yet and fear for when I do. When it arrived there were two things wrong the machine:1) The wheels on the foot pedals had popped out of their tracks.I was able to pop them back in with some force and this might not seem like a big deal, but frankly this is supposed to be a precision machine built to conform to your stride and movements. The instructions had nothing on that and its supposed to ship with them in the glide tracks and the pin locking them (my pin was out?). It probably has not impacted the machine, but who knows? With the amount of strides and stress that will be put on this that might affect the way it stands up over time. And if the metal or alignment changed just a little bit then even if I don't visually notice a difference over a year or two of use who knows what impact that will have on my legs/body. When I spoke to customer support I had one person say they had never heard of that and another say they have seen it. Disconcerting either way.2) There was a piece missing and the assembly guide was wrong/old - the Ferrite was not in the packet.My unit came with instructions that did not match what Precor usually sends out. It had different pieces and steps then what customer support eventually sent me. My unit was missing a ferrite box used to shield electromagnetic radiation that interferes with other devices. The guide I had said to use it, but it didn't come in the box with the other pieces. The different guide version didn't list the part, but indicated it was on the wires already. My unit has neither the part separately or on the wire. So I had to call customer service - the first person had never heard of the part, the second realized we had different versions. I then had to call a service company to set up a time next week to come by, and then after assessing the problem they need to come by again just to fix this. Its covered by warrenty but what a pain. And I could probably fix it myself going to an electronics store...but that would void the warrenty.So...I'm stuck here not using my elliptical and pretty frustrated. I think Amazon might have mixed and matched the units with different part kits ... or maybe my unit was a return at some point? No way to tell but in any case I expected a pristine working complete unit when I paid this kind of money, and whether it was Amzaon or Precor that's responsible for the mix up/delay I'm frustrated. I would either buy from a local servicer or look for a different companies elliptical that ships complete matching kits.

Went to test one of these new "generation" Precors with the steel crossramp. Did not like it at all! The smoothness and fluid motion of the extruded aluminum was not there. This model was also not long enough stride for me even though I am 5'3". Buyer beware and try before you buy. Rated 2star because Precors crossramp is the best elliptical design, but the "new" metal ruins the experiance.

Love the elliptical but the Heart Rate feature does not work with the Precore recommended Polar chest strap. I have a Polar FT60 heart rate monitor. Precore says its compatible with the heart rate readout of the elliptical display but I say it's not. The readout is 40 bpm higher than what my watch says. My wife also uses a Polar chest strap (different than mine) - and has the same issue. But when we use the stationary hand-grip Heart Rate feature, the readout aligns with the watch. But as soon as we let go of the stationary grips - the HR display jumps up again.So if you are targeting 160bpm, the readout "zeros out" because the machine doesn't read higher than 200bpm. Its annoying. I don't want to look at my watch - I want to look at the display. I want to get what I paid for. I called Precore Technical service and was told that the HR feature was not a medical device. Really - thats shocking - I thought I was working out in a hospital - thanks for the info tech services. Its not like its a little off - I'm not compliaing about 1 or 2 beats per minute - the difference is too significant to be part of a normal +/- tolerance.And even though my unit was only installed 2 days prior to my call, they told me to call in a technicioan from a company (in a different area code) to come take a look at "a squeaky noise" rather than send out a replacement display console. I asked why I should tell the technician there is a squeaky noise - and was told that while the technician is there, ask them check out the HR function. So I take it that a technician won't come out for anything heart rate related???What planet is Precore from?? I'm not calling in a technician, lying to trick them into servicing my elliptical, taking a day off from work to wait for them to show up - only to have them waste their time looking for a "squeak" and not coming prepared to fix a radio wave frequency issue. Lets be honest - there is probably no fix and Precore was just blowing me off. I asked if there was a possibility that my console was defective and was told no because it had the latest programming installed. Again - wtf Precore?! So you've never had a defected unit huh? Good for you.So in short - if you're into keeping track of your heart during your workout and you buy the recommended chest strap, and you don't want to wear a watch, and you don't want to hold the stationary hand-grip HR feature, you will be disappointed. Not just with the machine, but with tech services if you call as well. Oh wait - I should mention that I've used other Precore elliptical models with my same chest strap while traveling at different hotels and the readouts align perfectly. Not sure why the EFX 5.25 has an issue. Or why Precore won't acknowledge it.

Accepted delivery of Elliptical just over a week ago. Assembly was straightforward (thanks to 9 yr old son who corrected my mistakes!), and it really is quite simple to use. So far it has been it hit with all members of our family. My husband and I use it when weather outside was not conducive to running, and the kids (7&9) use it on almost a daily basis with supervision.Would I recommend it......Yes, provided that the purchaser has the dedication to use gym equipment on a regular basis. If starting out on one of these, then absolutely not. It is not cheap, be sure to try out in gym before buying or I suspect that you might be disappointed.No complaints so far!

I've had to have the service technician to my house 3 times in 2 years, twice b/c the console wasn't working and once because the wheels were squeaking and needed to be replaced. We enjoy using the elliptical, however for the $$ it should be built better and more reliable. It's painful to pay $125 per service call and now the parts are out of warrant, which is ridiculous since they were replaced less than a year ago.