Customer Reviews

Diamondback Fitness 1260Ef Elliptical Trainer

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Price$$ Five Stars
I've been wanting to buy an elliptical for months now. Did my research on consumer reports, shopped around. I must admit that I was a little nervous about buying such a large purchase through Amazon, but I'm glad I did. I noticed the price dropped to $1699 from $1899 and that was the motivation I needed to pull the trigger.

Shipping Five Stars
I elected to do the free shipping option. My impression was that this unit would not ship for 3-5 days and that it would probably take another 5 days to get to me, so I did not expect this unit to arrive for 1.5 to 2 weeks. In reality, I ordered this product on a Friday night and the product was in my possession on the next Wednesday afternoon. 3 business days is awesome in my book, especially when it's free. I live in the southeast, so not sure if your results would be the same if you live elsewhere. If anything, this was too quick, because the expected time frame was going to be that Friday and it came 2 days earlier. If you are trying to take off work to be available for the shipment, this could be a problem. The elliptical came in a crate and is too much to handle for one person. You need at least 2 strong guys to help you move this unit into your home. I was able to slide it into my garage and uncrate from there. Even disassembled, the base part of this unit is really heavy. I had to get a friend to help me move it up one level of stairs.

Assembly 4 Stars
As hinted above, this unit is not fully assembled. I would like to think I am handy, but this assembly could be a little tricky. Here are the things that tripped me up.

First, there is a rear foor stablizer bar that needs to be installed. The instructions give the wrong screw size, but the screw pack clearly labels the screws to be used for what assembly. For this step, make sure you use the longer screws as labeled in the screw pack, not the size given in the instruction manual.

Next, there is a control mast that slides into the base. One thing the instuctions failed to mention (or I failed to pick up on) is a small grey flexible rubber flush piece designed to cover the circular gap between the base plastic housing and the control mast. DO NOT FORGET to slide this piece on before you secure the control mast to the base.

Lastly, becareful when you install the handle swing poles. It's easy to get these inverted. They are labeled "L" and "R", but this was very hard to find and I ended up putting the wrong one on first. Find the "L" "R" label before you start screwing them down.

Overall Operation 5 stars
This unit runs really smooth and quiet. I was concerned about buying an elliptical before I had the chance to try it out, so I only relied on the write up in consumer reports. I have not had a chance to try the provided heart rate attachment, but the fixed handle grips do have a built in heart rate sensor, and that seems to operate correctly. It has several programs for all levels of elliptical users.

In summary, I am very pleased with this elliptical and glad I bought it from Amazon. Make sure you have help when you move it and becareful when you assemble it. The footprint for this machine was a little larger than I expected, make sure you have enough space for it.

I bought this machine after reading the Consumer Report ratings. I am a regular user of ellipticals at my gym and I really like the Life Fitness machines they have there but they were too big for my space, so I went for the Diamondback.

This is a very well made machine and I love the incline feature ... but at 5'6" and with long arms I find that the arms are uncomfortably far away and if I work out using them my back and neck end up aching. Now, one of the reasons I mix the elliptical into my running routine is to give my arms a bit of a workout, so not being able to use them is a bit sad for me. If you are significantly taller than 5'6" I would highly recommend this machine.

As mentioned in other reviews, assembly isn't that easy - but I was able to do it by myself with a bit of time. Although something in the electrical wires must be a bit loose as sometimes I have to tap (okay hit) the control panel to get it to turn on and I fear that sooner or later I'm going to have to take the whole thing apart to fix this which would be a pain.

My final word of caution is that this is large and heavy which is one of the reasons why it feels so solid when you use it but it is a challenge to move - especially upstairs. Even in it's unassembled state the main part of the unit is HUGE. I had two 200+ guys moving mine for me and they still dropped it and dented my wood floor.

This is a sturdy, stable, well constructed elliptical that should provided years and years of use. There are many cheaper versions by other companies, and even though lighter weight feels like a benefit, in the long run they don't last as long. Elliptical training was recommended to me by a doctor after a foot injury. I would not have thought about it prior to that. It feels like a great workout to me and it is not as boring as my treadmill. Consumer reports recommends this particular elliptical and when it comes to my health, I like to get the best. Fluid motion is essential, especially if you have knee and foot issues. Not all ellipticals provide fluid motion.

I also love this this will read my polar rate heart monitor.

And for those on the heavier side who have difficulty finding equipment, this one goes up to 325 lbs. My friend can't buy many things for home use because of the weight restrictions (some as low as 250) so he was thrilled with this.

Lastly, measure your space. This is not a fold up or tuck away in the corner of the room machine. It will take up a lot of space because of the quality of construction. It also weighs a lot so you won't be lugging it from room to room unless you have to.

Unfortunately for me, I did not think to check to see if amazon sold these and other stores are quite a lot more expensive.

Hi
I purchased the elliptical machine through Amazon on Nov 6th, 2009. I got it set up a couple of weeks later. Absolutely loved the workouts and smooth, quiet movement of this elliptical machine. In mid January the electronics went haywire the machine lights up but we have no control over program, resistance or incline. I have left 3 phone messages with Diamondback. In addition, I have now sent 5 emails through the website. Each time, I received an auto response that someone will get back to me asap which I am beginning to think is probably never. DO NOT BUY THIS ELLIPTICAL OR ANY OTHER DIAMONDBACK PRODUCTS as they do not stand behind the warranty.

Our elliptical was delivered two weeks ago and we haven't been able to use it yet. No matter what program is selected, it runs for five seconds and then goes into "pause" mode. I called Diamondback. Though it was during their business hours, no one answered at technical support. I got transferred around several times, finally to a destination that just hung up on me. After about three days of this, I got snippy with the phone operator and finally got a human being on the phone in the technical support department.

After describing the problem, he said it sounded like a problem with a sensor on the wiring. He asked me where I bought it, and I told him Amazon. He asked who assembled it, and I told him I did. He said that I should check the wiring connections before having a service technician come out, because if it turned out to be a problem that occurred in the assembly, I'd have to pay for the service call.

I started taking the elliptical apart to check the wiring connections, but stopped when it became clear that it would be hard to do so without running the risk of damaging something. For instance, to inspect the wiring connections, you have to remove the screws that secure the console mast cover. But the screws are covered by a rubber mat in the console mast cover that is stuck down with adhesive. You have to remove the mats to remove the mast cover to get at the wiring connections. But I can't get the mats off without damaging them or the console mast cover. (At a minimum, the instructions should tell you not to stick the mats down until you know the thing is working correctly.) So now I have to call Diamondback to get a service technician to come out. I wonder how long that will take, and how much it will cost. And, of course, I'll have to take time off work to be here.

I am an experienced DIY-er and have assembled things a lot more complicated than this elliptical. I had no trouble with the wiring connections, double checked them during assembly, and am confident that I did not do anything to cause this problem. What do you bet that the service technician will agree?

If I had it to do over again, i would not buy this product.

Update: After several more calls to Diamondback, I was told that they did not have a service technician in my area (a major metropolitan area) and that they would get back to me when they could find one. They never did. After a week of waiting, I returned the elliptical. I got the distinct impression that Diamondback was stalling until I could no longer return it.

Very dissatisfied with this product. After years of desire for a quality elliptical, months of research and great respect for Consumer Reports, we purchased the 1260ef just last month at a terrific price here at Amazon. Assembly challenges weren't anything we hadn't been warned against in the reviews.

One week later the machine disappointingly stopped operating after less than 10 uses. It is now permanently in "pause" mode. Amazon's kind customer service folks are willing to take machine back as return but suggest contacting manufacturer for tech assistance first. Diamondback doesn't accept phone calls and our website request for assistance has resulted in only an automated response 3 days later.

3/8/10 UPDATE: Machine now repaired after 3 weeks. Resolved after receiving replacement sensor from manufacturer and making swap with defective part ourselves since no technician could be found in our area. Was informed by Diamondback that they had multiple defective sensor complaints in sequentially-numbered machines. Lucky us!

I also have had a problem with the machine going into the pause mode and have been very frustrated with it. Today, I finally spoke to a human being at Diamondback. Call 1-800-776-7642 and say "fitness" to get you to the right department. (They are west coast time) There are only two guys in the department, David and Scott. The email link on the Diamondback site doesn't get your complaints directly to them. After a chat with them this morning, I received a call this afternoon from a service technician who will be sending someone next week with the needed parts. They ARE aware of the "pause" problem.

Hope this helps.

I purchased this elliptical machine for my husband because I had read several reviews that were quite favorable. I have not been disappointed by the machine, although I AM disappointed with how little my husband has used it. The item is quite heavy, so was difficult for us to get to the second floor of our house. Even though we brought it up piece by piece, the main piece was the part that we struggled with. We ended up doing some damage to our wall as we pushed and shoved the thing up the stairs. Assembly was not hard at all. I had read the warnings by others who said to pay close attention to the instructions, so I did. Everything went together very well. The only critisizm I have is that there is a decorative sleeve that needs to be put over the neck of the machine before other parts are assembled and there was nothing in the instructions about this sleeve. We found it in the box after we had assembled the entire machine and then had to take apart most of what we had done to get this sleeve on. Look for the sleeve before you put anything together and put that on FIRST.

The machine works like a champ, when it is used. It is extremely quiet and runs very smoothly. It is also very sturdy. There are many handy features. All in all, I am quite please with this purchase. With the $100 credit from Amazon.com, I paid just $1,700. It was listed at a much higher price on the company web site and in Consumer Reports magazine.

My wife and I waited 3 months for this item to get back in stock on Amazon. This is a very high quality piece of equipment; very sturdy and quite heavy. We have both been very pleased with the purchase. There are a lot of cheaper options out there, but you get what you pay for. You won't be able to find this (new) at a lower price than Amazon. Plus, the free shipping via ABF freight (a $167.24 value) arrived in only 4 business days!

The only bad thing I have to say is about this product is the assembly instructions - they were awful. In some cases, entire steps were left out and I had to redo some of the assembly more than once.

Overall, a great product at a great price.

I just got done assembling the elliptical. As I was putting it together I was impressed with the construction quality, but a little disappointed with the instructions. I'm pretty handy but some steps were just missing (see some of the other reviews for the details). But the real disappointment came when I first went to try it out. As others have reported, 5 seconds after the start of any program it goes into "pause" mode. I'm assuming it can't tell that I'm pedaling, and that it has the same sensor problem that others have mentioned. I'll call support tomorrow, but given what others have said, I'm not expecting a quick resolution.
If the product worked, I expect I'd be pretty happy with it. But as it is, its useless.

Update:
I tried twice to get ahold of customer support myself. I ended up leaving messages and no one ever got back to me. Then the Amazon "concierge" called me about the purchase (nice work, Amazon). When I described the issue and my lack of success getting ahold of Diamondback support, the Amazon guy asked how he could help. I suggested that he try to get ahold of customer support, and he did. With me on the phone he called a "direct" number he had and within a few minutes I was able to talk to a real, and helpful person at Diamondback. We went through some simple troubleshooting, and ultimately concluded it was the sensor. The Diamondback guy said they had a bad batch of sensors over a year ago, but he thought they had that problem resolved. He then went on to say that they were out of the sensor for that model (sounded to me like they have been sending out lots of replacements), but they had the sensor for another model in stock. The sensor itself was identical to the one in the 1260Ef, but the wire on is was shorter. I told him I could handle splicing in the new sensor as long as it wouldn't invalidate the warrantee. He said it wouldn't, and he shipped me a new sensor and explained how to put it in. Once I got it and installed it, everything worked great.
We've used the elliptical for about a month now and are really happy with the purchase.
The guy at Diamondback was very helpful, once I was actually able to get ahold of him. Points to Amazon for following up and helping out.
As much as I like the product, I would only recommend buying it through Amazon if you're willing to potentially have to fix it yourself, or if you've got a local dealer nearby and you're willing to wait for them to come and fix it.
I could have bought it through a local dealer and avoided this problem (they would have tested it on delivery), but the local dealer wanted over $700 more than Amazon. For me the hassle was worth $700, but still disappointing.

Update (May 2012):
We've now used this machine for over a year, and we love it. I'm not improving the rating because of the effort involved in getting it working. But we use it regularly (or try to) and its working well. Good features, solid construction, and fits well in our limited space (its long, but narrow).