JTX Strider-X8, Smart Home Cross Trainer, Electro Magnetic Resistance, Compact Design, 16" Stride Length, 7kg Inertia Enhanced Flywheel, 120kg User Capacity, 2 Year In-home Warranty

Before moving house, I was a real gym bunny and loved the treadmill and cross trainer. Unfortunately, the nearest gym to me now is very limited and not easy to access either. So I researched some home gym equipment online.Deciding against a tread-mill because of the stress it puts on the knees, I concentrated on Cross Trainers. A folding version seemed like a good idea due to restricted space but all the reviews came across as though their stability is questionable.Then I found the JTX Strider X7 Cross Trainer on Amazon and read the reviews. All glowing on the whole, so I placed my order with a two week wait as the supplier was awaiting stock.I soon received a phone call from JTX themselves to arrange delivery and asking what day best suited me! Good start.The delivery team arrived and carefully carried the very large, heavy box upstairs with no complaints. The Strider X7 was wrapped extremely well, with protective coverings on all the parts. With some help from a sighted friend as I have severe sight loss due to Retinitis Pigmentosa, it took a few hours to assemble. None of the assembly is fiddly, the construction is very good.I have been using this piece of equipment everyday for three weeks and it just keeps getting better. The pre-configured programs are easy to access using the white caracters on a blue background, plus the five touch screen buttons are responsive when I’m using the Cross Trainer.When in operation, the Strider X7 is very quiet and smooth running, with very little vibration and feels very sturdy, even when comparing the X7 to a TecnoGym Cross Trainer costing £3,000 or more that you may find in a professional gym. At no point during use have I felt that the X7 is unstable and I have it directly on the bedroom carpet.The one thing missing from this Cross Trainer is a water bottle holder, that’s it! Not enough to stop me from buying it again if I had to. And most importantly, I’m getting fitter and losing weight too!Bear in mind that this Cross Trainer requires a mains plug socket in order to work. Once assembled, it dosen’t take up much room either.A In summary, the JTX Strider X7 is an excellent piece of home gym equipment and I recommend it to anyone. The initial cost is only the same as one years membership to a gym and this will last longer than one year in my opinion. Well worth the money.

Ok, so I thought I would catch up on some reviews. Now I am comparing this purchase against a previous cross trainer, the York 110 Active. Yes it was considerably cheaper however it may help people decide on whether to go cheaper for a machine like this.You can find my review of the york cross trainer here >http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1Y7WS6LFQIHWI/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B008FK2P6E&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=318949011&store=sportsAs I said, the york machine was cheaper, £159.99 against £399 for this one. The reason I went for the JTX is that here on Amazon I did see the people were having issues with it however what was important was that the company were responding here on Amazon trying to sort it out and dealing with faults instead of ignoring them. The customer service for something lilke this where you can't just pop it back in the mail is important.I am still waiting on York returning my emails/calls because of the junk I bought from them.Once ordered they were on the phone within 24 hours to sort out delivery and I did not have to wait long, 3 working days. It can be assembled by one person (I did it) however it needs a bit of effort to get it out the box on your own, remove the loose parts, lay the box on its side and slide the main unit out. simples.Putting it together was a breeze, about 90 minutes including my wife interrupting my with useless information about her day :)The build quality is good, it felt solid going together and unlike the the York machine you could tighten the bolts rather than them just spin around. Their are plastic covers over all the corners and edges to tidy it up after bolting which is a nice touch.The unit is electronic in that you need to plug it in to function, the tension is controlled by the panel, so no manual turning of knobs and lots of programs to get you going.I know some complained that the tension from level 1 to max was no different, it must be a fault, I nearly killed my legs putting it up full, there was a big difference.It comes with many pre-programmed options, you can out in your weight and height to make it put out more meaningful stats. And there are custom setting to make up your own program.The great thing about it is that you can jump on select a program and go whilst it does everything else for you. It is smooth and quiet, the change between tensions is very quick and responsive.Another important factor that I did not take into account was the distance between each step if you like, it's really small on the York compared to the JTX and with the JTX you really do feel like you need to work much harder even on a low tension compared to the York.It also comes with a wireless heart monitor you can strap around your chest to save holding your hands on the sensors.So basically I highly recommend this machine, Spend £159.99 on something like the York and whilst I appreciate not everyone can afford this machine, it will cost you less in the long run I reckon. Add on the responsive customer support you can see on this site with offers of on site servicing then you can see how that can add value in itself. The warranty as I wright this is 2 years I think but I will need to check.The important difference between this unit and the York is the stride length, having read a bit more about it the York is just too narrow and does not give you maximum benefit.30 minutes on the York at max tension and I come off thinking that was ok, 30 minutes on the JTX on a random program and I come off thinking S**t that was quite hard.Bottom line, if you can afford it go for this rather than the cheaper brands. My experience of the York was that it lasted a few weeks before it started going downhill. Loud creaking noises, bolts loosing their tightness and just rounding off and poor, poor customer service. Some things are just not worth the hassle.Will update in the coming months if anything should go wrong but so far all good.

Fantastic machine. I really dithered over whether to get it but I am really glad I did. It took a while (couple of hours) to put together but the instructions were clear enough. I think this machine is the best combination of value and quality. Don’t get me wrong, the cost is about 5 months savings for me but there are some crazy expensive machines out there that I don’t think would be much better than this one. It only has a couple of downsides for me. The instructions on how to use it, are translated from another language and not very easy to follow. I have mostly figured out how to use it though, I feel that there is more functionality to it than I am understanding, I just need to figure it out. You can just jump on though and stride away. The free heart rate monitor that came with it is great too, a handy addition. I needed to get a machine that is pretty quiet as we live in a flat and I didn’t want to get something that would annoy the downstairs neighbours. This has fit the bill there too, it’s a tiny bit clunky but the neighbours say they can’t hear it so the noises doesn’t carry.Finally, an unforeseen bonus, it comes in a pretty large and sturdy box, it has been the centre of my children’s playtime for months. Also pretty good for hiding in for a few minutes when you need a break.