Precor EFX 5.37 Premium Series Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer

3 Comments

1. Jeff Kraus says:

   April 23, 2010 at 5:58 pm

   Let me start by saying that I’ve wanted a good home elliptical machine for years. I’m a software engineer, and sitting at a computer all day is not the best exercise. I’m not a professional trainer or a marathon runner so I don’t have that type of perspective on this machine. However, I have been using it consistently since I put it together, so while I’m not a fitness expert, I’ve used it enough to give it a good, full review.

   This is one seriously expensive piece of machinery, no doubt about it. At this price point, I would expect to receive an elliptical trainer that is absolutely flawless. There are way too many other options out there to seriously entertain the prospect of putting down this much cash on a machine that is anything less than perfect. Seriously, if I sold both my car and my motorcycle tomorrow, I’d be shocked if I got enough for them to equal the cost of this elliptical.

   But enough about me and my aging vehicles. The shipping for this item mirrored the shipment of my Precor 9.35 Premium Series Treadmill almost exactly. The delivery guy dropped it off at my front door and waited while I opened the box and moved it, piece by piece, into my house so that he could get his pallet back. You have the option of having them put the box in your garage instead, but as I stated in that review, that option wouldn’t have worked for me.

   Moving the elliptical machine inside took several minutes and several trips. It contains a number of large and unwieldy parts, the biggest and heaviest of which was the pre-assembled ramp/pedal/motor section. Luckily, this part has wheels on the motor end, which is by far the heaviest end. It was actually relatively simple to lift the light end and roll it around to wherever I wanted it. However, if you are small in stature and/or unable to lift heavy objects I would definitely recommend having help. That goes for both moving the parts around and for the actual installation.

   In addition to the machine itself, the crate included a coupon for a free professional installation by a Precor expert, a nice looking rubber mat to protect your floor, and two Precor-stamped water bottles. If you decide not to follow the recommendation of professional installation, an assembly guide is included so you can put it together by yourself. Mine also included an addendum to the assembly guide, which added to the instructions and negated a couple of steps due to changes made in how the parts were shipped. Of course I didn’t see this until after I had completed the build, which led to a little confusion during assembly. Luckily, it all worked out correctly and I didn’t have to redo anything.

   === ASSEMBLY ===

   Taking my time to make sure everything was done right the first time, the full assembly took me a couple of hours, but an extra pair of hands would likely have made that go faster.

   Your best bet is to lay the mat down exactly where you want the elliptical to go, with the tapered end facing forward, and rolling the large main assembly into position on the mat with the motor cover end facing the rear. This way you’ll be able to put the machine together without having to move it when you’re done. When choosing a place to put it, note the location of any ceiling fans. While it doesn’t matter to my 5’5″ girlfriend, I’m 6 feet tall and at times can get uncomfortably close to ceiling fan blades while on the elliptical. I solved the problem by moving it closer to the edge of the room.

   The assembly of the machine itself was relatively straightforward thanks to a clear and detailed manual. You’ll need a pair of scissors (the manual says wire cutters, but anything that will cut those plastic zip ties will work), a crescent wrench (I couldn’t find mine, so I used open wrenches instead. A 1/2″ and a 3/8″ wrench will do the job), and a socket wrench with a 1/2″ socket and an extension. You will also need three different sizes of allen wrench, but these are provided in the box.

   Once you have that stuff in hand, it’s just a matter of “screw this to this, with this” a couple dozen times. It’s really not quite as bad as it looks when you’re staring at all of the components strewn about the floor.

   === BUILD QUALITY ===

   One thing you’ll notice about the 5.37 from the moment you open the box is that its component parts are all heavy and solid, built to last. This is great news, considering the fact that all of those moving parts are going to take a lot of punishment, especially at the moving joints. The front and rear covers, the display, and the pedals are a heavy duty plastic, the crossramp is aluminum, and the rest is an incredibly strong powder coated steel. The connecting rods in particular feel like they came straight off of a tank. The handles on the moving grips and the heart rate grips are a mix of metal and a high quality rubber material. It’s practically seamless, so there seems to be no way that the rubber will ever start to pull loose over time.

   The wheels on the ramp are sort of like a super heavy duty version of roller blade wheels. They are perfectly positioned from the factory, so you won’t have to worry about them running against the rails and getting damaged over time. They also provide near-silent operation. As a whole this machine is whisper-quiet, but the wheels seem to emit no sound whatsoever. The action is smooth too. With no power to the motor, you can push on one of the pedals and there is so little friction that it will complete one or two revolutions before coming to a stop.

   === FEATURES ===

   Many of the features are already listed in the product description, but here are few additions/enhancements:

   First of all, I have never seen the convertible grip feature on an elliptical before, and it’s really quite cool. You can convert the swinging arms into stationary arms. It only takes a few seconds to do and it really changes your workout. You can feel your lower body working harder, and your midsection seems to get a better workout due to the extra balance required if you’re not hanging onto the grips.

   The adjustable stride is a nice feature, although it’s more of a “set it once” kind of thing for me. Maybe as I improve I’ll try changing it to see if it will help me concentrate on different muscles. The pedals themselves are only 3 inches apart — this is great for maintaining a comfortable walking style. Some ellipticals have the pedals too far apart and it doesn’t feel as natural.

   The display panel is very similar to that of the Precor 9.35 Premium Series Treadmill. If you look at the photo that shows the display, you’ll see the calorie burn counter at the top left and the heart rate display at top right. Below those is an orange/green/orange strip that shows your heart rate graphically against different “zones” (warmup, fat burning, cardio, and peak). Directly below that is the graph display that shows you where you are within your current program, and the current crossramp incline setting. Then there’s a single-line scrolling display that can show you the program completion percentage, alert you to an upcoming change in resistance, as well as display a number of different metrics including max heart rate, average heart rate, vertical distance traveled, program completion percentage, calories burned per minute/hour, and several more. Along the bottom, you’ll see four more displays: Elapsed Time/Time Remaining (with a toggle button), Crossramp incline, Resistance, and Distance/Pace/Strides Per Minute (with a toggle button).

   You can save the information for up to four separate users. You enter a name, age, and weight, and the 5.37 will save all of the user’s cumulative data (total distance, strides, calories burned, etc) since they created the profile. It also remembers your favorite programs and best times, and uses your information to determine your target heart rate.

   In addition to the heart rate monitoring hand grips, the 5.37 comes with a wireless chest strap that will communicate data to the elliptical. Personally, I prefer the chest strap because it gives you constant data, while the grips only give you heart rate data while you are holding them. My girlfriend is the opposite, mainly because she doesn’t like the fact that the chest strap gets sweaty.

   Above the display there’s a place for a water bottle, wide enough even to accommodate one of those large sports drink bottles. There’s also a shelf for a phone/mp3 player, etc. and a lower compartment for magazines and whatnot. On the display face is a strip that can be used to hold a magazine or book in front of you in the open position.

   === USAGE ===

   There are a number of different programs to choose from. They’re separated by type, such as “Weight Loss”, “Heart Rate”, “Variety”, “Performance”, etc. so you can just hit the button for the type you want and then scroll through the different options. For those times when you have a specific goal that you’d like to achieve, there is a goal mode. This allows you to select your goal and the computer will determine how you can achieve that goal. For example (and I’m not using real numbers here, it’s just an example) let’s say you want to set a calorie goal — you want to burn 500 calories. You can enter your goal of 500 calories, and the computer will set a crossramp incline of 6, a resistance of 5.0, and a Time Remaining of 1.5 hours. Don’t have that kind of time? Just make an adjustment at any time to your incline or resistance and the time to complete will be reduced accordingly. Whichever goal you choose (calories, time, distance, etc.), the way in which you get there can be adjusted on the fly.

   Of course, if you’re not in the mood to set programs or anything, you can just hit the “Quick Start” button and be on your way.

   There’s also a “Fitness Test” program that monitors your heart rate while slowly increasing the difficulty over time for 15 minutes. It then assigns you a number based on your fitness level. It’s a great way to see your improvement over time. It’s also a great way to scare yourself into better shape.

   === CONCLUSION ===

   I said at the beginning that in order to be worth this price, an elliptical would have to be absolutely perfect. Well, so far I haven’t been able to find anything to complain about. It’s attractive and solidly built. The display is big and contains a lot of useful information at a glance, and the workout computer is great. It’s a comfortable, ergonomic stride. There’s no shaking or wobbling whatsoever — it might as well be bolted to the floor. It’s extremely quiet, impossible to hear in the next room even with the door open. There’s no squeaking or rubbing, like I’ve seen with some other models. As of this review, I have not heard of any other elliptical with convertible arms like this one. Even the rubber mat that comes with it is attractive!

   If you’re a bit worried about the cost, it might be worthwhile to go to the Precor website and use the Product Comparison tool to look at what the differences are between the models. If you don’t need the convertible arms, for example, you could probably find something at a lower price point that suits your needs.

   As is usually the case with my big ticket item reviews, I will update it over time with more information about how well it performs over the long term. In the meantime, feel free to make any update suggestions or requests, photo requests, etc. I’ll do my best to give you the information you need.
   
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. J-Reezy says:

   April 23, 2010 at 6:04 pm

   I will first start off by saying I workout at least 5 days a week and travel a lot. As such, I have used numerous different elliptical trainers and can thoroughly state that this is the be I have tried yet.

   That being said, if you have ever used a Precor trainer, you’ll be pretty familiar with all of the features which seem to be standard. One of the things I have not noticed on any other machine is the adjustable arms. You can switch them between fixed or moving. Sometimes I prefer to not use the arms so I found this very handy.

   Another Great feature is the Heart Rate Monitoring. This trainer has both the hand grips and the ability to receive a reading through a chest strap. I much prefer the chest strap as I find it to be much more accurate than the handgrips. It does come with a Polar chest strap, but you can use any other Polar chest strap as well. My wife and I both have straps from Polar watches and it integrates seemlessly.

   The display is easy to read and is very straight forward. You can choose to customize your workouts or use any number of the presets. Truly you can get a different type of workout everyday if you choose. Another feature that I have not seen before is the ability save user info for 4 different users. Once you’ve created a profile it will keep track of things like your favorite workouts, best times, and calories burned. This really helps to keep you motivated to go for more.

   Overall, I can’t say enough about how great this is. The only potential downsides are the cost and the size of the machine. If cost is an issue for you, there may be other machines out there that fit your needs, but this is hands down the best quality in my opinion. I also mention size, which truly should not be a concern for if you are looking for an elliptical — they all take up space, but you should measure out your space to ensure this doesn’t become the focal point of your room.
   
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. Newmanium says:

   April 23, 2010 at 7:53 pm

   We just bought one of these from our local dealer. Previously, we had a 5.17 for 4 years. Once you go Precor, it’s very hard to use anything different – the quality, the motion, it’s wonderful. The warranty is a big selling point. I called them up after 3 years to inquire if newer wheels would make things quieter; they sent out new wheels right away as a courtesy, no shipping or anything! Fantastic customer service.

   The biggest change from the 5.17 is how SMOOTH and QUIET this thing is!! I thought our 5.17 was amazing, but jumping up to this premium model really makes a difference. Somehow the wheels are practically silent, and it’s pure luxury to exercise on this thing. But it sure gives you a workout!! I religiously use the heart rate monitor, and while the smoothness makes things feel easier – my heartrate still shot up just like the 5.17. That’s what counts!!

   We love the new model – the electronics on this are amazing compared to our old model, but the nicest feature is the convertible arms. Being able to go back/forth, depending on our mood, was a total selling point. We could have saved $200 by getting the 5.35 which drops a few features, but when you’re spending this money – $200 is totally worthwhile to get the top of the line.

   Only real advice I can give? Our local dealer was much, much cheaper – plus they came and setup everything. These things have healthy margins, so negotiate. If you don’t get a discount of at least 20% off, something is wrong.

   We bought our old 5.17 for $2500, and sold it for $1000 4 years later. That’s about $400/year, which is comparable to a decent gym membership – but it’s so much easier to exercise at home. Precor is awesome!!
   Rating: 5 / 5