Cheap Elliptical Trainers From An Industry Giant -

Home
>
Fitness Equipment
>
Cheap Elliptical Trainers From An Industry Giant

Cheap Elliptical Trainers From An Industry Giant

From its humble beginnings as a part time business for two college students in Utah, ICON Health and Fitness has grown into one of the world's largest manufacturers of fitness equipment. The company's credentials are impressive: 4000 employees in 11 locations around the world, nearly 200 patents, ISO 9001 certified and a portfolio of some of the best known brands in the fitness industry. Among this stable of brands are some of the best-selling elliptical trainers in the world ?- Weslo, ProForm, NordicTrack, and Reebok.

It's no wonder these ellipticals sell so well. They retail from $200 - $900 with an average purchase price of around $400. They boast features usually found on higher-end elliptical trainers such as heart rate monitors, several built-in exercise programs, built-in cooling fans, motorized resistance settings, and iFit.com technology.

The vast majority of consumers in the market for a home elliptical trainer balk at spending more than $500 for a machine. An elliptical trainer from ICON Health and Fitness for $400 seems like a no-brainer, but before you whip out your credit card, you may want to take a peek under the covers.

*The Sears Alliance -- I believe that the biggest factor that makes elliptical trainers from ICON Health and Fitness such big sellers is that Sears carries them. Sears is very well associated with affordable products such as tools, entertainment equipment, and appliances. They also have a good reputation for service. Just don't expect the sales person in the sporting goods department to give you the facts about product returns with ICON ellipticals. I've tried, but who can blame them. It's their job to sell product.

If you do decide to purchase an ICON elliptical trainer then you're probably better off purchasing it from Sears. Sears seems to be pretty good about making exchanges if you have problems during the 90-day warranty period. In some cases, they may just refund your money, but your mileage may vary here so don't count on it. After the 90-day warranty expires then you'll have to deal directly with ICON. Based on reviewers at Epinions.com this tends to be a frustrating and unsatisfying process.

*The 90-Day Warranty Says It All -- If a fitness equipment manufacturer isn't willing to stand behind their product for more than 90-days, then that should be a big honking red flag! Again, take a look at some of the reviews at Epinions.com and see when these ellipticals start breaking down. In many cases, it's before the end of the 90-day warranty period!

*Consumers Speak Out at Epinions.com -- If you haven't checked out product reviews at Epinions.com, you really owe it to yourself to have a look. Just about all of the elliptical trainers from ICON are reviewed here. Real consumers write the reviews and some go into great detail about every aspect of their experience.

In some cases the reviewers describe their on-going experiences with product returns and the customer service department. Do yourself a huge favor and read every one of these reviews if you're considering one of these ellipticals.

*Elliptical Trainer Reviews That Don't Review Anything -- Unfortunately many of the elliptical trainer reviews sites on the Internet give glowing reviews to every elliptical trainer they advertise. When I see rave reviews of any ICON elliptical trainer on these sites I know to not trust any of their elliptical trainer reviews.

My hope is that ICON will eventually begin listening to customer feedback and redesign their elliptical trainers to correct the most glaring weaknesses. Extending the parts and labor warranty from 90-days to a full year would go a long way towards demonstrating their commitment to both their products as well as to their customers.

In the mean time you can protect yourself when shopping for an elliptical trainer by doing your homework -- both on-line and off. It all really comes down to putting the odds in your favor. My suggestion is to narrow down your search to several higher quality residential trainers that you've tested off-line, MSRP $1000 - $3000, and then shop on-line for the best possible price.

Rich Rojas writes elliptical trainer reviews and articles on health and fitness. Check out recommended elliptical trainers at EllipticalHome.com

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Precor-Names-New-England-New/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B723F37F4-B6E5-4328-9CCE-C2EFE8CF92DD%257Dcid=1272603906ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNGu42hRwZ5KABpu8iyfGIpNO5iqUgPrecor Names New England, New York Metro Home bFitness/b Dealer/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrNov 20, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1HEST currently operates a successful chain of 14 bfitness equipment/b stores throughout Texas. quot;We#39;re looking forward to collaborating closely with this new b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.pr-inside.com/precor-selects-sport-chalet-for-california-r929224.htmcid=1272603906ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNGDQa54d50y_TyslrmV4y2thYyLrAPrecor Selects Sport Chalet for California, Arizona and Nevada/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrPR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Precor-Selects-Sport-Chalet-California/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B59C0A8BB-FBEB-4C58-BF22-60068ABA3FD9%257Dcid=1272603906ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNH7LxRVZUpA1Dvy0ScI1pbYXxw_HQPrecor Selects Sport Chalet for California, Arizona and Nevada/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMarketWatch/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Sport-Chalet-Teams-With-TM/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B030B97D4-59D7-44BB-9E16-9A278BD172E1%257Dcid=1272603906ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNFFD6K9eYCQWeLFAEAUch1h3F8R3ASport Chalet Teams With TM Advertising/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMarketWatch/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272603906hl=ennobrall 28 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/ifitnessgear/massagers/prweb1639364.htmcid=1272490568ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNE8ixtl75-E0e17BQspMj1xZwENvgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=TfHr3QEyKc0Jimgurl=www.prweb.com/prfiles/2008/11/18/518624/gI_reboundinggirl04.png.jpg width=40 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2PR Web (press release)/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/ifitnessgear/massagers/prweb1639364.htmcid=1272490568ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNE8ixtl75-E0e17BQspMj1xZwENvgWith the Opening of iFitnessGear.com Finding Quality bFitness/b b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR Web (press release),nbsp;WAnbsp;-/font nobrNov 20, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1iFitnessGear.com dedicated to carrying only the highest quality exercise, health and bfitness equipment/b has officially opened for business. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.thedowneypatriot.net/view_full.php%3Farticle%3D0000048944cid=0ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNGejFgUnlL_R0htiGj8-NKGoK_nxQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=M5kS4c5hR9wJimgurl=www.thedowneypatriot.net/articleimages/2008-11-21/112108-08-01.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Downey Patriot/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.thedowneypatriot.net/view_full.php%3Farticle%3D0000048944cid=0ei=OGEpSejOCZf-6gPJ2fVGusg=AFQjCNGejFgUnlL_R0htiGj8-NKGoK_nxQAnonymous donor helps create new bfitness/b center for students/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDowney Patriot,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobrNov 20, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“We needed to purchase bfitness equipment/b that was proper for young women. The old bequipment/b was too heavy and not appropriate for the needs of girls. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

fitness equipment - Google News

Cheap Elliptical Trainers From An Industry Giant

Fitness Equipment