Horizon Fitness EX-69-2 Elliptical Trainer

About two months ago I ordered this Elliptical and it tool about a week to get here, I was very impressed with how it was delivered. It was delivered the exact day that the confirmation e-mail said it would and at the time they said it would be here. It didn't take long for them to drop it off and for me to sign for it, it came in a full sized tractor trailer truck, the guy that delivered it was very nice and helpful with dropping it off where I wanted it in my garage. He waited until I opened the box to make sure that nothing was damaged, nothing was damaged and the box wasn't at all damaged in any way. It didn't take much time at all to put together (about an hour and a half with two people) and the instructions are really great! it comes with every bolt, nut, washer and screw you need to put the elliptical together, and it came in a very organized way. It went together easily (I recommend putting on extra grease on the four spots that tend to get squeaky after a while so you don't have to for a little while after putting it together) I've now had this elliptical for about two months and love it and use it everyday! I only have had to grease it once since I put it together and I really don't think that it's a bad thing that you have to grease it once and a while. I still haven't used all of the different settings that it has set on it, but the ones I have used I really like, it took me a little bit to figure out what each of them did, but I figured out what they did in the owner's manual. I love having the speakers built in and the cup holder is really nice and helpful. The incline is really nice too and really easy to operate, the resistance levels are a really cool addiction to add to the elliptical and you can definitely tell when you have them on! The heart rate sensor is also really neat, you just put your hands on both of them and in a few seconds it shows you your heart rate on the screen. I have only really used the ellipticals that are in hotels and I think this one works really well and I did research on many different elliptical trainers around this price and I think that this one has the most training options and is built the best. I'm a 5'9" girl and I am very comfortable using this elliptical and it works great for me. Overall the only thing that I really don't like about this product is that when you turn it on the beep that it makes is really loud, but other than that I really love this elliptical and I hope that it will last for a very long time.

Just as I got back into regular exercising my old Proform Elliptical that's been sitting for years broke. I decided to replace it with a budget elliptical. The Horizon is a much better built unit - heavier and very solid construction. I assembled it myself which took about 45 minutes. It's pretty simple actually- if you can assemble IKEA furniture you can assemble this. Packaging was excellent- very heavy. I'm 5' 10" and for me the stride distance is just a tad short. If I were over 6 foot it would be too uncomfortable. For the $$$ I can deal with it. After about 10 hours of use I noticed at low resistance the right side started making a slight clunking noise. It's not something that bothers me much, nothing seems loose or falling apart, so I can live with it. The fan is sufficient for a unit in this price range, but the "electronic smell" it emits is a bit much. It's like the air intake for the fan is running through the circuitry and you get that "just soldiered" smell. Maybe it'll go away in time. The speakers are ok. Nothing more, nothing less. This isn't a high fidelity sound system but it beats the speakers in my iphone and ipad. All-in-all for the price I think it's a good value. I was impressed enough with the brand to buy they're budget level treadmill a month later. That I gave 5 stars so the brand quality seems consistent.

Our family is very active, I've trained as a bodybuilder for 20+ years my wife is into total body fitness and we have a daughter who will qualify for junior nationals in swimming so we know the fitness lifestyle and equipment very well. I purchased this elliptical trainer for our home on reviews and without actually trying it and wish I had. This is our 3rd elliptical machine for the home, we wore the other ones out and opted for this one hoping it was better quality and would last a little longer and provide a more gym quality like workout when we couldn't get to the gym. It is a quality built machine but for the price I expected more and used some at a fitness outlets that were better designed for the same price. Overall I can't say we don't like the machine its sturdy, does provide a smooth ride and will certainly get the heart rate going and small enough to roll out of the way when needed. However these are the Issues we have with this machine. 1. It's not whisper quiet 2. The beeping noise is very annoying, it should default to low sound and allow users to turn it up rather than start loud and turn it down. 3. It developed a slight knocking noise within a week, I'm sure some people would hardly notice it but I do and expected more. 4. This is why I wish I had tried it first. The way the machine is designed it puts a lot of pressure on the front of your feet / toes and knees. I prefer machines that balance the weight evenly over the center of the body. I've tried adjusting the height hoping it would balance the weight more evenly but to no avail. 5. Display shelf to small, It supports our tablets but makes us very nervous while riding the machine. An extra half inch extension on the shelf would have cost pennies in production and provided a much better support for tablets and magazines. 6. The slot for holding the TV remote should have been wider. It would have been nice to put our smart phones in there but they won't fit. I'm guessing it was designed for an iphone. I wish companies would realize designing products that only work for apple products doesn't work for most people. My advice... Try before you buy!

We bought this elliptical for home use. I spent several hours researching a good quality elliptical for home that didn't break the bank. While it's not the cheapest on the market, you would expect to spend at least $2,000 to replicate a gym quality version. I spent $800 on this model. While the EX-69-2 is not necessarily gym quality, it is very durable and high quality and in my opinion well worth that price. In other words, I would not be willing to spend an additional $1,200 for maybe a slightly higher quality gym version. The elliptical was packaged very well so there was no damage to the unit in transit. The instructions and how the components were packaged and labeled were quite honestly the best I've ever experienced when putting something together. Not only were the screws and bolts and other pieces in their own compartment but they were neatly labeled by step. Took 2 of us about 2 hours from start to finish to put this together. Goes much faster if you have 2 people putting it together because some of the early steps involve the larger pieces. I've been using it a couple of weeks now and it's relatively quiet and smooth. I'm a guy that weighs about 230 lbs (hence the reason for me buying it:) and it feels very heavy duty and handles a guy my size quiet nicely. Great places to store a phone, a TV remote, your iPod, etc. Nice programming features and even has a little fan that you can turn on that blows in your face to help keep you cool. Would not hesitate recommending this product especially at that price. If you buy one of those other $200-$300 models, you will get what you pay for. Invest in yourself and in your health and get a good quality elliptical!

So before I bought this elliptical, I did lots of research. This was actually back in September of 2013. I saw lots of great reviews, so I went forward with it. Took about 2 hours to get together with my oldest sons help. Not too difficult but need another persons help. Let me say that while it was working and not making lot's of squeaks, clicks, bangs and noises it was and really is a good workout. If you're good with finding out where these noises come from and are able to fix things this is a great machine! Another thing I would say is that the company was ALWAYS great to work with. Every time I called they sent the parts and then told a technician to come out and fix the problem. They helped out and were pleasant to speak to on the phone. Unfortunately this happened several times in the first year of having it. Starting month 2-3 it started making noises. First a squeak, then a knock, then a click. Just seemed like there was never a time that there wasn't some kind of sound. Now that the one year warranty is out it just keeps on making more and more noise especially a loud knocking sound unless I'm at a higher level. Maybe I just got one of the bad ones I don't know? But when i exercise I should not hear loud sounds coming out of the machine. Especially when I spent $800 on it. Bottom line, GREAT WORKOUT!! WAY TOO MANY SOUNDS!!

An elliptical that has been nothing but trouble. Unfortunately, its such a hassle to put together and box that I'll just hold onto it. Average construction time is about 2 hours, but I spent 3+ hours making sure everything is perfect. Nonetheless, it has developed a knocking/clicking noise that I can feel and hear and I have tried lubing and tightening every screw. This is most likely due to parts being asymmetric and poor design at the pivot point that connects the moving handlebars and horizontal beam. I guess this is one of the drawbacks of buying an elliptical needing to be assembled versus having the elliptical completely shipped assembled and properly tested. Despite the annoying knocking on every revolution, it does give you a workout I suppose. Thanks to Amazon for allowing me to return this. Advice: buy a regular treadmill instead.

I read hundreds of reviews about the various Horizon Fitness products listed on Amazon, and finally decided to purchase the EX-69-2, the successor to the EX-69 elliptical. The EX-69 had a lot of favorable reviews- at the time there were no reviews for the new model so I was hesitant. My initial impression with this model has been excellent. First, take the reviewers seriously when they say this is a large package! The box arrived on a pallet and weighed over 200 pounds, be sure to have some help moving it. I ended up doing what one reviewer suggested in other reviews and moved the parts individually into the room where it would be assembled. The box had some dings on the outside, but upon opening the package, its clear a lot of thought went into packaging it. The top of the box is reinforced with a wooden support, presumably to add structural strength to such a bulky item. There was no damage to any of the components inside. The parts themselves are labeled L and R, easing assembly. The instructions were pretty straightforward, I'd suspect anybody who has ever assembled Ikea furniture will be able to successfully put this together. I took other reviewers advice and applied some white lithium grease to all moving parts. During assembly it will be pretty evident areas that will be moving. So far I haven't experienced any of the dreaded squeaks that other users have complained about. I found the overall quality of the Elliptical to be outstanding for a sophisticated exercise machine priced so reasonably. All parts appear to be strong and well welded. I didn't experience any of the thread issues other reviewers had with some of the older versions, everything went together very smoothly. Perhaps Horizon took a hint from all the Amazon reviews and is more observant to quality control. The interface is basic monochrome green but very functional. There are several programs built in, though I typically just opt for the quick-start and adjust the resistance as desired. The built-in fan is a nice touch, it aims right at my face, though other users might have a different experience based on their height. The heart rate monitor works well and is very responsive. I cannot attest to the accuracy it provides, however. A previous reviewer noted the beeps the console makes. I agree that the elliptical is very loud to start, however there are volume controls built in that turns this down. A tip- if you press and hold the volume button, it will continue to turn the volume down, instead of hitting the button repeatedly and having it beep with each button press. The volume adjustment will not holdover after the machine goes into "energy-save" mode though. Exercising with the elliptical was very similar to my experiences with elliptical machines I have used at the gym. Initially I thought the stride might be 1/2 to 1 inch shorter than commercial machines, but the stride wasn't bothersome after a minute or two. Admittedly, its been a while since I've been to the gym, so my recollection of my experience with those machines might be hazy. The only downside if I were to name one so far is that this elliptical feels slightly less stable than commercial models. I suspect that since this is a more compact machine that it just doesn't have the bulk and width that stabilizes more expensive machines. With that being said, it didn't impede my workout at all. Incline adjustment is simple. I haven't used it too much in my workouts so time will tell how useful the feature is. So far I have been very pleased with this purchase. I hope to have many years of trouble free use out of it. If I experience any issues I will update accordingly.

Very pleased with my Horizon Elliptical!! Slight glitch in delivery mainly due to my location, but only resulted in a 1 day delay. Assembly instructions were easy to understand and I was able to put the machine together by myself in about 2 1/2 hours. If you have a power screwdriver with allen wrench attachments the work will go a bit quicker. I had a manual screwdriver with allen wench attachments that was much easier to use than the provided traditional allen wrenches. Overall, assembly was very easy. I have had the machine for a little over a month. I got it mainly as an alternative to walking outside when the weather is bad so I do not use it daily. That being said, I do find it to have a very smooth motion and it is extremely quiet. I like the programed routines that help vary the workout as well. Very glad I got this machine with a 20" stride length (I'm tall, 5'9") as opposed to cheaper machines with a shorter stride length. The research I did indicated that I would need the longer stride length and that is an important specification when looking for a machine that is right for you. Overall, very, very satisfied with my elliptical!