After less than 5 months in service, our ProForm elliptical trainer died. The crank was clearly flawed, and it broke while my wife was exercising. The 90-day warranty was two months out of date. ProForm wants over $110 for a replacement crank (probably costs them about $2). Not that I can get the crank off the crank arm to replace it, since the screw heads are stripped. So even if I wanted to throw good money after bad, it would be a challenge.

Amazon clearly have this unit pegged as a consumable, since shortly after I bought it they asked whether I needed to buy another one. But no: fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, shame on you.

Their website conveniently lists all their associated brands to avoid: “HealthRider, Image, NordicTrack, ProForm, Reebok, Weider, Weslo, iFIT, ICON, ICON Canada.”

Any thoughts on rear-wheel elliptical trainers (of other brands) to consider?

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