I just put my Schwinn 431 together and have used it for a few days now. So far, no major complaints. When I first put it together, the fan blade on the mini-fan was hitting the wall of the housing or something, and making a lot of noise. I called Schwinn and spoke with a customer service representative who was very friendly and helpful. After taking it apart and checking it out, I found that moving the housing a little to the left or right took care of it. Speaking of the fan, the first time I used it, I thought it was pretty useless, especially since I had another, larger fan running. Today I forgot to turn the larger room fan on and was halfway through my workout. As I didn't want to stop, I turned the unit fan on just to get some circulation. While it's small, it actually did help a little bit. It's not going to blow you over by any means, but it's adequate in a pinch. Another issue I had with the unit is the heart rate monitor. When I initially put my hands on the grips to get a reading, it displayed a beginning heart rate. It then climbs incrementally to the current heart rate while you continue to hold on to the grips, which takes FOREVER. It would be much better if it momentarily showed the initial heart rate, then switched immediately to the current heart rate. It takes WAY too long. It IS mostly accurate though. Another issue I had was the location of the water bottle holder. It's not the easiest to get to when while working out. The size of the towel holder, which is basically a short clip, is suspect as well. If you drop your towel, there's no getting it until after you are done. They could've made a larger clip or something to hold the towel in place better. The last complaint I have is there is a minor squeak I get when I start and it lasts for probably 2-3 minutes. Not a big deal. I probably have something tightened too much or not greased enough. On the positive side, the operation is VERY smooth. The unit feels very solid and even during rigorous workouts, doesn't wobble significantly. It's also very easy to maneuver the unit around the room with the wheels that are attached to the front of the unit. There are plenty of settings on the blue, backlit screen. A "recovery" setting shows your workout in detail (calories burned, heart rate, distance, time, etc). There is also a place for your iPod, which is a nice touch. The unit itself is pretty compact so it doesn't take up a lot of room in a bedroom or office at home. It took me about 4-5 hours to assemble and the instructions were very well laid out and detailed enough to understand. Overall, I'm very pleased with the unit so far, even though I've only used it for a few days. I would definitely recommend this unit to anyone looking for a relatively compact elliptical, especially with the 25lb flywheel it has that you dont normally see in the more compact units."..." Read more
- Streetglidin09 in Jefferson, MD