****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
OK, but don't expect the same as used by professional physical therapy clinic.First Impressions is that it will be OK and get the job done. I mostly purchased this for the hand exercise to gently exercise my back. I think it will do fine to work the kinks out. But you can really tell the difference (of course) between this and $5000 therapy bike.PACKAGING:If anything it was overly packaged, but that is OK, nothing was broken or bent as others have expressed. The packing was sloppy but efficient. So it was not pretty to unpack, tape everywhere, but no big deal. Once you open it up, you would have to be a magician to try to repack it to return it, so give up on that idea, of "trying it out" and returning it.ASSEMBLY:Not too hard (with an occasional helper to hold a part) about 45 minutes. I only used the included tools. The instructions are only pictures, but they help to give you a general idea of how to assemble the unit. I would say you should be at least moderately mechanically inclined to figure it all out. For example "R" means put this part on the right side and so on. No clear labeling on the electrical wires, but they are keyed so it is OK, and the left/right cables for the heart rate monitor don't matter which side they are on to work. The cables were plenty long enough.QUALITY:Definately home quality. I would guess that that would fall apart in a few weeks in a gym under constant 24 hour/day use. For the 15 minutes a day I plan to use it, I assume it will be fine.FEATURES:Adjustable tension manually on both the lower and upper units.Chair is adjustable for both height and closenessHand Peddles are adjustableThe HEIGHT of the overall hand crank unit is not adjustable (I find it a little too low to use while standing I am 5'8")The Digital Readout is hard to understand (one button for all features), but since it is not attached to the hand crank I won't use it anyway.USAGE:It is quiet, no squeaks or rattles, just my shoe laces hitting the wheel is pretty much the only sound.The resistance is relatively weak on both the lower and upper units, so don't expect a heavy strength based workout, more for motion than resistance use.I find the "throw" on the hand crank to be too small even fully extended. I would like longer handles and perhaps some handgrips for a wider stance. Again, it will work just to get my back moving. I might see if I can get some bike handlebar extensions to mount somehow. The natural position on this unit is with your hands parallel to the ground, instead of perpendicular to the ground. There are some side plastic "knobs" on the end of each handle that you could probably hold onto but they feel very flimsy, and I would assume they would quickly break off if you used them instead of the metal grip.REVERSE: While you can spin the upper and lower units in reverse, the upper unit "slips" when going in reverse on every rotation, so it is not a smooth workout in reverse.SEAT ADJUSTMENT: One minor note if you have a multi-user household the seat adjustments will probably cause minor arguments. There are 2 knobs that really can't be used while you are sitting down. So you have to adjust it before you get in. I could see my wife and I grumbling that the seat was left in the wrong position by the other person. The height is "pin" system in the back of the unit. While the forward movement is a knob under the seat and it is only tension based (no click). But you really must tighten it down hard if you want to avoid seat movement.That is about it. It is about what I expected. But not as good as I hoped for. But I did not want to spend $5000 on a commercial machine. So it will do until I find the next level up units ($1000) used on craigslist.
