There’s a Horizon E500 Elliptical in My Living Room

The purchase of my new elliptical was the inspiration for this blog. I figured the only way to really review something is once you’ve lived with it, used it and evaluated its worth (not just cost).

A week ago I bought the Horizon E500 elliptical for $499.99 from Dick’s Sporting Goods in Raleigh, NC. This price was $100 less than the normal $599 and the store advertises an MSRP of something like $1100 or $1200. I asked an associate at the store about that. His response: forget about the MSRP, not really a meaningful figure. Sounds like a car lot.

Delivery and assembly fee is $100.  Because the service is outsourced to a local business he couldn’t promise I’d have the machine even within a week. I asked him if he thought I could assemble it myself. Yes, absolutely; he thought maybe an hour.

Let me backtrack for a minute: how I settled on this particular model: there was a less expensive elliptical, plus a half-dozen more expensive. I told him I was not a weekend warrior, but a 5 or 6 day a weeker in the exercise department. He recommended the E500–sturdier, bigger foot pedals and a longer stride, also a magnetic "brake" system, a much more durable choice for my purposes. Of course there are "gym quality" machines, but you’ll spend upwards of $2,000 or $3,000 for one of those babies.

Okay, the purchase:

• the E500 box is big, weighs 165 lbs. With 2 people the weight is not so much the issue as the awkwardness of the box itself. My advice: have a hand dolly ready and another person. Once you get it into your house or apartment you’re set.

I have only worked out on mine twice since setup, but here’s my initial review of the E500:

• Out of the box I’m impressed. Every component is carefully wrapped in plastic or bubble wrap and the box is really packed well with styro.
• Open all parts and lay out on the floor. Where you may have a left and right piece each is marked appropriately.
• All the hardware and tools you need to assemble the machine come in the box: you get a sturdy little Phillips screwdriver and an Allen wrench, plus little ziploc bags of nuts, bots and washers labeled according to the instruction step.
• Once you unpack everything and have a work space you can have the elliptical assembled in 45 mins to an hour, easily. The instructions are laid out step by step, surprisingly simple, and obviously written by someone who’s first language is English. (If I had actually paid someone to come do this I’d be pissed off).

My first two workouts:

The Horizon E500 is sturdy, but if you’re expecting the heft of one of those machines you’ve used at the gym forget it. This is an elliptical trainer designed for home use. And I can see that if someone too much bigger than I used it with the same abandon that he or she would get a bit of side to side rocking going on, but I really do demand quite a bit of a workout, so I’m satisfied.

You have 10 levels of resistance and four types of workouts you can choose. I found out that I had to set my resistance pretty low–a 3 really worked me out, which surprised me.

The machine keeps time, tracks your calories and measures your heartrate if you grip the handles. You can also change directions on the fly and the machine will not miss a beat.  Oh and the machine is quiet. There’s a brief motor noise when you first set your workout, but it’s just the machine adjusting its settings. I am living in an apartment right now, so noise is always a concern.

The warranty is pretty good in comparison to similar machines: a year for parts and labor, 25 years for the brake system and lifetime on the frame. After assembling the machine I feel that should a part break or need replacement I’d be qualified to do it.

You’ll want to keep the instruction book, screwdriver, allen wrench, long twist tie you use to fish the electronics cord through the masthead, plus the receipt for your purchase. I’ll post updates on the elliptical as time goes on and I use it more. Actually, two of us will be using it, so it will be required to perform…

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