Smooth Fitness CE 2.1 Elliptical
Written: Mar 06 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Affordable, solid, great engineering, smooth, quiet, attractive.
Cons: Stride could be short for taller people. Some screws for the cosmetic parts didn't fit.
The Bottom Line: I'm not a professional gym rat, but I have always worked out consistently, and this machine does a quality job for a quite a nice price!
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| enginerd_gal's Full Review: Smooth Ce Elliptical Trainer |
I wanted to write this review because all the drastically varying ones on this site are from years ago (though I see there's a new 2007 one now!), and it confused me in my decision to buy one.
Well, I did buy one, and I have owned the CE 2.1 for 3 weeks now, and I am very happy with it! Being a female engineer, I did a lot of research before deciding on Smooth, reading ratings and reviews from all the websites I could find on elliptical trainers. I then read some very good and very bad ones here on this site. I found this strange and have to agree with a previous review, that some of them must be plants by either Smooth (the over-the-top outstanding reviews) or a competing manufacturer (completely dismal reviews).
My brother has owned the Smooth treadmill for 3 years and loves it - never had a problem with it. So I decided to take the plunge and buy the CE 2.1, after admitting to myself that I'm hardly getting my money's worth from my gym membership by never going (the location became inconvenient after I switched jobs). The machine arrived in town only 4 days after I ordered it, and the carrier delivered it at my convenience - even wheeled it inside my condo to exactly where I wanted it. The fly-wheel was heavy to unpack, but rolling the box on it's side and sliding it out worked fine. Putting it together was easy - it took longer than the hour some people have told of, but again, it was just me working on it. The tools they sent worked fine, which was good - being a single gal, I don't have much more than a hammer and a standard screwdriver. Some parts were heavy (a good sign), so having someone else there to hold parts while you're screwing things together would help, but it's not mandatory. As an engineer, I think the design is fantastic for the price.
When I started using it, there was a brushing noise in the fly-wheel that only happened when my right leg was back, so I didn't think it was natural. I contacted customer service and they got back to me right away and set up a technician to come out. I requested a Saturday, and it was no problem and no extra charge. In fact, the entire visit was no charge because of the warranty and only took about 20 minutes. Turns out a flange was pressing down against the flywheel. I was afraid it was the way I put it together, but it wasn't, since the flywheel and pedal apparatus comes already assembled. Now it works beautifully and I use it 5-6 days a week for at least 45 minutes a day. I wanted to include this part, because some reviews slam the customer service. Perhaps years ago it was bad, but whatever was wrong, they've corrected.
I bought the lower-end CE 2.1 for $1299 (another good thing - no tax and no shipping/handling charge) to save money, because the only difference was the chest-strap monitor, which isn't worth the extra $200, since the handles have pulse sensors on them. I also didn't care about the look of the computer. The CE comes with 9 different routine programs, but I just use one - as long I know my heart rate, calories burned, and time spent, I'm happy. The resistance goes from 1-12 and I'm usually at about 5, so there's plenty still left in there for when I become an Olympic-level elliptical-er (ha ha).
Like I said, I've only had it for 3 weeks, but I don't hear any squeaks or creaks, it's very solid, and very smooth. Yes, the stride is a bit shorter than the professional ones at the gym, but I wouldn't put it in the class of a stepper. I'm 5'6" and it's great for me!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
enginerd_gal
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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