Schwinn 425 Elliptical Machine

AT first glance this looks very solid and durable trainer. Schwinn is popular for making good quality trainers without breaking the bank. Spec of this one is very good: 18 inch stride, 16 level resistance, 300 lbs capacity. But this trainer is designed for single users (if you need to share elliptical trainer with others, we suggest you look for top alternatives, as this one comes with just a single user profile)

• Compact front drive
• Articulating Foot Plate
• Water Bottle Holder, Reading Rack, Transport Wheels
• 6 preset programs
• 16 level resistance
• Only 1 user profile
• 18” stride
• 3 speed fan
• Speakers

Build Quality

Build Quality of this is nothing ground breaking. But the actual trainer looks way more stable and polished than on any photograph. It’s a 150 lbs machine that can easily take upto 300 lbs user. We have tested this with heavy users and the 425 worked without any noise. We found the movement of this trainer to be fluid and comfortable. But please note, some users has reported noise issue about this elliptical. If yours is making any sort of noise, please call Schwinn support they will let you know what to do. We did not liked the Build Quality of the console and screen, It feels cheap.

Assembly

Assembling that trainer does take some time, but if you follow the instruction its quite easy. Schwinn listened to previous customer complaints and this time they made instruction manual quite easy to understand. You can assemble this unit all by yourself, but the manual suggest 2 people (having another person helping you will make everything easier). The box comes with 21 parts and a lot of screw and washer. Please sort everything before you start to put it together. There are in total 13 easy to follow steps in the manual, please follow them to the letter.

If your trainers do not come with a user manual, please download this one:

Heart Rate Monitor

This trainer only has Contact Heart Rate (CHR) sensors. Positioning of the sensors are comfortable, but their accuracy is questionable. If you really want to do heart rate zone training, we would suggest you but any good wireless heart rate monitors and use that. Because we found, 5-10 point discrepancy on the reading of this CHR.

It is mentioned in the manual that: “Movement of the upper body muscles (including arms) produces an electrical signal (muscle artifact) that can interfere with pulse detection. Slight hand movement while in contact with the sensors can also produce interference”. But when you are working out your hands are supposed to move. So the result will always be inaccurate.                                 

Display and console

It has oversized console with large 5″ X 2.25″ LCD window. LCD display shows: Current program, results, time, speed, distance, RPM, KCAL, level and heart rate. Program display shows the name of the program selection and the grid area shows the course profile for the program. Each column in the profile shows one interval (workout segment). The higher the column, the higher the resistance level for that interval. The flashing column shows your current interval. Nothing to rave about.

Programs

This trainer let you set up only one user profile (it has a guest profile option), which is not enough for most families. Your user profile will show: your name, age, weight,number of workout, total time, avg speed, total distance and total calories burned. You can set up a custom workout in your user profile.

There are in total 6 pre-set programs.

Warranty

Warranty period on frame is 5 years, Mech & Elec: 1 year, Wearable Parts: 90 days and Labor 90 day. For a $600 elliptical we expect better warranty. But after testing all the parts, we are convince that you will not need to replace this unit in next 5 years.

Schwinn’s customer support is not very consistent. Their phone and email support stuff are very helpful and will always get back to you. But many customer reported that their in house support stuff are slow and non responsive.

Conclusion

You cannot expect this one to perform as a $1000 elliptical, but this surely will blow your mind if you previously owned a Chinese budget elliptical.