Horizon Fitness EX-59-2 Elliptical Trainer
| At a Glance: Horizon Fitness EX-59-2 | |
|---|---|
| Brand | Horizon Fitness |
| Price Group | Under $800 |
| Capacity | 275 lbs |
| Fly Wheel Weight: | 14.3 lb |
| Display | 3 orange LED windows |
| Stride length | 18-inch |
| Programs | 10 |
| Resistance | 10 |
| Dimension | 73″ x 22″ x 65″ |
| Incline | N/A |
| HR Monitor | Contact |
- Feels like Premium Machines
- Best in the class warranty
- Strong built
- Very quite
- Easy to assemble
- Can pedal both forward and backward
- No wireless HRM
- No incline
- No fan
- Water bottle is difficult to reach
- No on/off switch
Horizon EX 59-2 (2013 version), is the entry level elliptical in Horizon EX-X9 series (other model are: EX-69 and EX-79).
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Comparison of top 5 Elliptical Under $700
| Horizon EX 59-2 |
Nautilus E514c | Schwinn 430 | ProForm Smart Strider | Exerpeutic Heavy Duty Magnetic |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest Price | $629 | $680 | $640 | $680 | $640 |
| Stride length | 18 inch | 18 inch | 20 inch | – | 21 inch |
| Capacity | 275 lbs | 300 lbs | 300 lbs | 275 lbs | 350 lbs |
| HRM | Contact grip | Contact grip + wireless (strap not included) |
Contact grip | Contact grip | Contact grip |
| Resistance | 10 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 15 |
| Programs | 10 | 20 | 22 | 18 | Not Programmable |
| Flywheel | 14.3 lbs | 17.6 lbs | high inertia perimeter weightedÿ | 13 lbs | 20 lbs |
| Warranty | Frame: lifetimeÿ Mechanical: 1 years Electrical: 1 year Labor: 1 year |
Frame: 10 years Parts: 2 year Mechanical and Electrical: 1 year Wear Parts: 6 months Labor: 90 days |
Frame: 10 yearsÿ Mechanical: 2 years Electrical: 1 year Labor: 90 days |
Frame: lifetimeÿ Mechanical: 1 years Electrical: 1 year Labor: 1 year |
3 years limited warranty |
| Verdict | 5 star | 5 star | 4 star | 3 star | 1 star |
Build Quality
For entry level elliptical, it feels very premium. We have tested this trainer in a gym for 7 days with intensive usage. The EX 59 took the beating and still working perfectly. This frame is six star certified, and comes with life time warranty (Horizon fitness is very confident about this frame, that’s why they are backing this with life time). The 18 inch stride has very comfortable over size footpedal. Step on height is only 10”. Assembled dimension is (L x W x H) 173 x 56 x 162 cm / 68 x 25 x 64″.
Heart Rate Monitor
This trainer has contact sensor heart rate monitor; but it doesn’t has any wireless monitoring feature. As any other contact HRM, this sensor is not perfect; but it does its job quite well. This trainer do not come with any Heart rate programs, as a result you are not dependent on the HRM features.
Working out in Heart Rate Zone
If you want to workout in your heart rate zone with this EX-59; we recommend you buy a wireless Heart rate watch. You can buy a Polar wireless Heart Rate watch for under $50 from amazon or ebay. Configure that watch with your detail (weight, age, resting HR). Put that watch inside the slot of the Console. By doing this you can be 100% sure of your heart rate, plus you will get superior heart rate training that are available on $1000 elliptical.
Display & console
Ex-59 comes with a non back lit, 5” LCD display. It shows: speed, time, RPM, distance, watts, calories, heart rate and current program. Everything is self explanatory and you will understand every feature as soon as you get on it.
Console is large and easy to operate. It has 10 buttons for resistance, 3 navigation buttons, strat and stop button. There is a medium quality speaker in the middle of this console.
In the middle of this console there is a slot for holding your mobile/ tablet. We have tried with iPad and kindle; both seem very secure in that slot. There are 2 audio jacks; left one is for audio input, right one is for headphone output.
Programs
This trainer has 10 programs (9 predefined + 1 manual). These programs are
Weight Loss: This is a time based program, where you can choose from 10 levels. It will make you workout in your fat burning zone while increasing and decreasing resistance.
Weight loss plus: this is an advance level of the previous weight loss programs. It has 5 levels to choose from with greater intensity.
Intervals: Time based program with 10 levels. It provides both endurance and strength training; by changing resistance.
Intervals Plus: its an advance level of previous interval program. It has 5 greater intensive programs.
Constant Watts: It is a time based program, where you set a Watt level and try to maintain that.
Rolling: it gradually increase and decrease resistance to provide a feeling of moving up and down.
Reverse Train: program will let you know when to pedal forward (F) or reverse (R).
Random: there are 7 levels to choose from; workout with random resistance level.
Calorie Goal: set a calorie goal (from 100-990); and start working out toward that goal.
Assembly
Some users had issues with previous assembly manual. For the ex-59-2, horizon has updated that manual. Now everything is explained with image. There are easy to follow 8 steps to assemble this machine. If you are organized and follow each step properly, you can assemble it within an hour.
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- Screw driver is not included in the package and you will need one.
- Some parts are pre lubricated, so be careful.
- light application of lithium bike grease is recommended.
Warranty
- Frame – life time
- Brake – 1 year
- Electronics and parts – 1 year
- Labor – 1 year
We are really impressed with this warranty coverage, because it was 1st among its price range to offer lifetime warranty on frame. Close competitor Schwinn 430 only offer 2 years and Natilus e514c offers 10 years warranty on frame. Support team of Horizon fitness is simply awesome! They are very responsive and solve your problem in minutes (if possible over phone).
Where to Buy?
There are 3 main buying options for EX-59.
- Buy Directly from Horizon Fitness: they offer 18 months zero interest payment. Plus every thing will be handled by horizon directly. From my personal experience, I find horizon support, extremely helpful.
- Buy from Amazon.com: I am not credible enough to say anything negative about amazon 🙂
- Buy from your nearest Dealer: there are 2 benefits of buying from a retailer. (1) you can try out this trainer and be 100% sure before buying; (2) some time retail shops offer free assembly.
Who should not buy this:
- If you are above 260lbs, you should look into trainers with over 300 lbs capacity. (Even if this trainer has maximum capacity of 275lbs, prolonged heavy usage will make noise in future.)
- If you are taller than 5’11”; in that case 18” stride will not be very comfortable for you. You should save some money and get Horizon EX 69. (Please note: there several users above 6’1” who are using it with no problem.)
- If you are very used to elliptical training (If you can work out for more than 40 minutes easily), this trainer may seem too easy for you. Ex-59 comes with a light flywheel and don’t have any incline. If you are already an elliptical user, you should get one with heavier flywheel and has incline (manual or automatic).
Comparison of Horizon Elliptical Trainers
| Horizon EX 57 | Horizon EX 59 | Horizon EX 69 | Horizon EX 79 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest Price | $499 | $629 | $799 | $999 |
| Stride length | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 |
| Incline | N/A | N/A | Manual, 5 levels | Power Incline, 20 levels |
| Capacity | 275 lbs | 275 lbs | 300 lbs | 325 lbs |
| HRM | Contact grip | Contact grip | Contact grip | Contact grip |
| Resistance | 8 | 10 levels | 20 | 20 |
| Programs | 9 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Flywheel | 14.3 lbs | 14.3 lbs | 14.3 lbs | 17.6 lbs |
| Warranty | Frame: lifetime Mechanical: 1 years Electrical: 1 year Labor: 1 year |
Frame: lifetime Mechanical: 1 years Electrical: 1 year Labor: 1 year |
Frame: lifetime Mechanical: 1 years Electrical: 1 year Labor: 1 year |
Frame: lifetime Mechanical: 2 years Electrical: 2 year Labor: 1 year |
Photos: Horizon Fitness EX-59-2 Elliptical Trainer
