I don’t think I’m alone in questioning the quality of the elliptical machines at Sears. It would be really nice if they also retailed higher end machines. Read this post about a guy’s experience with his broken Sears elliptical machine. If you read back through several different posts of the last 2 years, you will learn he’s been through a cheap machine from WalMart that broke after 10 uses or so, a $400 Sears model that didn’t work right after assembly or a service visit, and a Sears upgrade replacement that didn’t work either! They did seem to offer to make it right over an over–wonder how much this costs the company on a regular basis though.

From my personal experience with the Sears elliptical machines, I made up my mind that I was going to be looking in the $2,000 range. I wanted something that would last and feel as good as the Precor machines I was used to at the gym I was giving up.

I have to admit I kept going back to  Sears and Dick’s Sporting goods on a regular basis. I wanted so badly to find a good machine for less than $1,000. I kept trying to rationalize that maybe people or kids in the store had not treated the ellipticals kind. Or maybe they weren’t set up right from the beginning. These stores really should take care to keep the machines on the floor in tip top shape. I was looking at a Horizon from Dick’s and the track wheel was completely broken and the elliptical hardly worked.

In the end, my doubts were enough to steer me towards higher end machines.

I would love to hear about good experiences though.