Fortis Magnetic Elliptical Cross Trainer

Don't bother. It will end up as nature strip hard rubbish – RRP was $1000. I bought this on sale at $700. Dick Smith/Kogan are are now trying to offload them for $600. That should tell you everything. On the face of it, 13kg fly wheel, lots of programs, user definable programs, 500mm stride, rated for 150kg (I'm <<2/3rds that weight) - this unit looked promising. Despite some pre-assembled items in the box, it took a couple of hours of assembly. When done it looked the business, but it had a loose articulated joint and a thump from the right hand side. The faulty joint actually came factory pre-assembled - nothing I could do to remedy it. DickSmith replaced the entire trainer and I assembled the second one - took an hour this time given that I knew what to do.

Unfortunately another faulty unit. This one didn't "glide" on its rollers - it was lumpy and rough and it left rubber debris on the rolling surface. I asked DickSmith if they could provide replacement rollers and they said they'd check but never got back to me. Radio silence. I was using the unit every other day for about 15mins and it started creaking and groaning despite all bolts/screws being tight. Then a wobble developed on the LHS due to a loosening primary articulated joint despite the screw being tight and my dash was done. Give me a refund. To DickSmith's credit they put the return paperwork through right away.

Now I'm looking at commercially available units for something that will go the distance.

Proof of purchase is available.