JFIT

I've had this for a couple of months now and love it! I have mobility problems with a hurting foot, a tricky knee, and CFS, and haven't been able to do my daily walking. I've gained weight because of it and not having any exercise is compounding existing problems. I have a glider but after 10-15 minutes my foot begins to hurt and I have to stop. I have pedaled upwards of 2 hours (light resistance) on it with hardly any discomfort in my foot.There is some assembly but it was no problem and I had together and was pedaling in 15 minutes. It is heavy, but that's no problem for moving it under the desk from where it sits nearby.It's been used at a slow 'cruiser' pace while I read, watch an episode of a show or movie, or search the web, and at a pace with resistance to bring out a sweat and leave me feeling like I've biked 15 miles up and down hills with wobbly legs afterwards (I love that feeling and miss it from my cycling days!). I get a really good workout with this little machine. I was taking a break every other day to avoid fatigue, but my legs are noticeably stronger even with the irregular use, something I notice most going up and down stairs. This, of course, is helping reduce knee twinges. My energy levels are slowly increasing as well. I am noticing that I don't have to take a break every other day as my body recovers. I am now able to do a little bit every day with no break days. 30 minutes - 1 hour building up to a mid resistance and then tapering back down, or 1-2 hours of cruiser pedaling, then 10 minutes on the glider to help give range of motion stretching for the hips. I have been feeling better, sleeping better, and though I have no scales to measure weight, I can feel that a little is gone.It does get squeaky on occasion, but a drip of the oil provided and it's back to a very low thrumming sound. The resistance dial has worked with no problems so far.I will update as needed for any issues or problems, and will report on how it holds up after more time has passed.

I have had this about a week.Due to it's design, you don't really think about it at all. You sit down at your desk, and the width of the pedals are the perfect width apart for you to unconsciously set your feet on it. Once you have feet on it, you just move it naturally. Next thing you know, you look down and it reports you have burned a couple hundred calories while you were working.Setup was easy (clear instructions and all needed tools provided). Once setup, it moves smoothly, but with good tension (based on your setting). It is quiet. Well, I have headphones on most of the day, so it might not be as quiet as I perceive it to be, but I am on the phone or in web meetings a lot and no one has noticed it. I even mentioned it today to one of the people I am on meetings with all the time, they had no idea.As someone who spends HOURS every day at their desk, this is a welcome addition to my office.Not sure if you will use it? Here is who I am:From a fitness standpoint, I would be the extremely bad example of what happens when you work at a desk all day long. If there is an excuse not to do this, I have come up with it and connived myself that I am right. I am too tired to go to the gym at the end of the day (even though it is on my way home), and my knee always hurts, I have other "more important" things to do, I want to maximize my free time for the stuff I want to do. These are all real thoughts I have when it comes to working out.If I am doing this, you can and probably will too. It is too early to tell if it will help me lose weight, but it certainly isn't going to make things worse.

I'm going to try to organize this review so I don't ramble. Apologize in advance if I fail.First: I received my elliptical quickly, exactly as stated. I wasn't feeling great the day it arrived, so I asked hubby to put it together while I read the instructions. It was very easy/straightforward. You might initially think you're missing hardware, but this is because the nuts, bolts and washers are mostly in the holes of the base where they will end up later anyway (you remove them and put them back on with the component you install there). This is a very good thing because you don't have to distinguish between the several similar looking bolts, nuts, and washers. I'm going to guess assembly took no more than 30 minutes, but I didn't time it. While I'm on assembly, I'll say that the next day I disassembled it with similar ease. Putting it back in the box properly was a challenge (though we were told for returns that we could just put it in any box that fit it, we decided to disassemble and return in the original). The next day I assembled the new one and the second time was even easier.Now you're probably wondering why I returned the first one. Actually you probably read the title of my review and know. The internal mechanism of the elliptical machine made a notable grating noise. Loud enough that it *clearly* would not work for my "TV room" purposes. It was not the wheels, as they first suggest you check. In fact, it had zero to do with the assembly. (Advice, try to turn the pedals at modest speed pre-assembly. It might save you some trouble.) I contacted Amazon, they worked with me for a reasonable amount of time to try to find a solution, and when there was none, they immediately processed the return, asking if I wanted a replacement. The replacement was on the way immediately, even before I disassembled this one.The device: I bought this one for my rec room. My teens spend a fair bit of time in there, and one of them values movement stimulus. I bought this particular device because I thought the kids might like the option to stand up sometimes, rather than just a sitting one. No one in my house is doing hard core exercise on this, so if that's the feedback you need... It's not here. But for a "get a little movement in while watching TV or playing Animal Crossing is up your alley, this review works.This elliptical works great in the sit-down position and is easily quiet enough for using while watching TV. The whole family can be in the room watching, and no one is bothered by me or my kiddo using it (and honestly, my husband can be a bit of a curmudgeon about these things). The tension goes from mild+ to moderate. It's not a big range. But when we're using it sitting, it's really not meant for muscle or aerobic exercise (both of which feel moderate at most), it's meant more for general movement and avoiding stiffness. It helps keep my teen focused and me out of pain (which too much stillness can cause in my poor joints and stiff muscles). Also, it's easy to reposition in the room for uses in different locations because if the repositioning wheels. It's a but bulky for some locations I'd like to use it though.The one teen has only used it standing once or twice. I tried it for about 30 seconds, but I never intended to use it that way. Here's my not super informed feedback. Once you get your rhythm and balance, this would be an excellent workout. The tension seems higher, I suppose because your body weight is on there. It felt like it would be comfortable for a moderately fit person to use. If you have knee or back issues, maybe not.HOWEVER, one thing they don't show you in the video or specify in the description is that it's actually non-trivial to switch modes. They make it look like you just turn it around and use it the other direction. Nope. You have to unscrew the "pin" that holds each step in place and put it into a new position. This is not super hard, but it's not a spring-loaded pull out pin or something. You actually have to unscrew the pin a centimeter or two, adjust the step, then screw it back in at the new position. Repeat for other step. Also understanding the positions is for some reason not intuitive, and there are 3 positions total, one standing and two sitting. Given that we're getting our main need met in the sitting position, we just haven't switched it back since we first had it there for a day it two. Ymmv, but I'd say if you think you want to use both functions on a regular basis, you might see if another device has an easier transition.Bulk: I have a very hard time seeing using this under a desk while sitting and working. It's big (front to back), you have to have it pretty far in front of you to keep your knees low. You'd need a lot of clearance either in height or to the back of your desk. But if it fits for you, it'd be great.I want to mention here that if you're looking for an under-desk only option, I also got a cubii for that purpose, and I love it. It's got a smoother turn, it's almost completely silent (I haven't done a side by side noise comparison, but I think the cubii has to be quieter. I did have my husband zoom call me to test. He couldn't hear it all, though he could see the slight movement in my shoulders, so it's not completely stealthy.) It's got a smaller profile, so it fits under the desk easier. It's somewhat lighter so you can move it easily even between rooms.As for general elliptical use under the desk... I've been loving having some movement during long zoom days, reading on the computer, and casual keyboard use. When I have to type a lot, I'm unable to sit back the way I need to for the elliptical. This may be setup dependent. I'll admit, I didn't buy an under-desk elliptical for the purpose of "getting fit" or "losing weight". For me, it's about stiffness and joint pain and just generally getting the blood flowing. It's been great for that. I've kept the tension low so far. My understanding is that in the cubii the tension doesn't go super high. I haven't experimented much. The max tension on this one is probably higher than my cubii. But I'm not sure how easy it is to get work done while doing this at a higher tension. In otherwords, I don't think an under-desk option is going to get anyone a bunch of muscles built or heart condition improved, but the consistent movement could add to your general feeling of health and well being.Update: I changed my review to 4 stars because the bulk and difficulty adjusting the stand/sit option has just made continued use of this hard. It's mostly just sitting there now.

Great machine