From its humble beginnings as a component time business for two college students in Utah, ICON Health and Fitness has grown into 1 of the world’s biggest producers of fitness gear. The company’s credentials are impressive: 4000 workers in 11 locations around the globe, nearly 200 patents, ISO 9001 licensed and a portfolio of some of the best recognized manufacturers in the fitness industry. Amongst this steady of manufacturers are some of the best-promoting elliptical trainers in the globe ?- Weslo, ProForm, NordicTrack, and Reebok.

It’s no wonder these ellipticals sell so nicely. They retail from $200 – $900 with an average buy price of around $400. They boast functions generally found on higher-finish elliptical trainers such as heart rate monitors, several constructed-in physical exercise programs, constructed-in cooling fans, motorized resistance settings, and iFit.com technology.

The vast majority of customers in the marketplace for a house elliptical trainer balk at spending more than $500 for a machine. An elliptical trainer from ICON Health and Fitness for $400 seems like a no-brainer, but prior to you whip out your credit score card, you may want to take a peek under the addresses.

*The Sears Alliance — I believe that the biggest aspect that tends to make elliptical trainers from ICON Health and Fitness such large sellers is that Sears carries them. Sears is very nicely associated with affordable products such as tools, entertainment gear, and appliances. They also have a great reputation for service. Just don’t expect the product sales individual in the sporting items division to give you the facts about product returns with ICON ellipticals. I’ve attempted, but who can blame them. It’s their job to sell product.

If you do determine to buy an ICON elliptical trainer then you are probably much better off purchasing it from Sears. Sears seems to be pretty great about making exchanges if you have issues throughout the 90-day guarantee period. In some cases, they may just refund your money, but your mileage may vary right here so don’t count on it. After the 90-day guarantee expires then you will have to offer directly with ICON. Primarily based on reviewers at Epinions.com this tends to be a frustrating and unsatisfying process.

*The 90-Day Guarantee Says It All — If a fitness gear producer isn’t prepared to stand behind their product for more than 90-days, then that ought to be a large honking red flag! Again, take a look at some of the reviews at Epinions.com and see when these ellipticals begin breaking down. In numerous cases, it is prior to the finish of the 90-day guarantee period!

*Customers Communicate Out at Epinions.com — If you haven’t checked out product reviews at Epinions.com, you truly owe it to yourself to have a look. Just about all of the elliptical trainers from ICON are reviewed right here. Real customers write the reviews and some go into fantastic detail about every aspect of their expertise.

In some cases the reviewers explain their on-heading experiences with product returns and the consumer service division. Do yourself a massive favor and study every 1 of these reviews if you are thinking about 1 of these ellipticals.

*Elliptical Trainer Reviews That Do not Review Something — Sadly numerous of the elliptical trainer reviews sites on the Internet give glowing reviews to every elliptical trainer they promote. When I see rave reviews of any ICON elliptical trainer on these sites I know to not trust any of their elliptical trainer reviews.

My hope is that ICON will ultimately begin listening to consumer feedback and redesign their elliptical trainers to correct the most glaring weaknesses. Extending the parts and labor guarantee from 90-days to a complete year would go a lengthy way in the direction of demonstrating their dedication to each their products as nicely as to their customers.

In the imply time you can protect yourself when shopping for an elliptical trainer by doing your homework — each on-line and off. It all truly comes down to putting the odds in your favor. My suggestion is to narrow down your search to several higher quality residential trainers that you’ve examined off-line, MSRP $1000 – $3000, and then shop on-line for the best feasible price.

Rich Rojas writes elliptical trainer reviews and articles on health and fitness. Examine out recommended elliptical trainers at EllipticalHome.com