Hard to say if the box was damaged prior to or during shipping, but it arrived with a very damaged box. The machine itself looked ok. But the small parts package appeared have been damaged, opened-resealed or ? The tools that were supposed to have been provided were gone as were a couple washers & screws. I intended to use my own tools anyway and had screws in my parts bin that worked to replace those missing.

The assembly instructions would be difficult to follow for most folks. It was primarily text with only a picture or two and weren’t really accurate for what was shipped. A few of the important bolts were to be tightened “as hard as you can”, whatever that means. I’ve got tools that can exert in excess of 200 ft/lbs and I’m sure that would do some damage. But they say 90% of the squeeks are due to loose screws/bolts so I called their service number to find out what they mean by tight. All I got was a gal that knew nothing about how these are put together (I think she only scheduled service) and forwarded me to a phone number for service, got a recording, left my number and received no response. So I just cranked on the bolts and crossed my fingers and hope nothing was damaged.

I did considerable research and found the Esprit is virtually identical to the Sole (sold at Dick’s) and Spirit which is found in hotel gyms (I think exclusively at Hilton). Tried out the one at Dick’s, liked it and ordered this one for $hundreds less (I see the price is now [...] bucks more than mine purchased in mid-Dec).

If you don’t need to move it far from the driveway where the delivery will drop it and are mechanically inclined, this is a great elliptical.