Review: Gold’s Gym StrideTrainer 410

Today we’re taking a look at the Gold’s Gym StrideTrainer 410, an elliptical trainer that boasts a large 18-inch stride, 12 personal workouts, and Jillian Michaels’ “iFit” workout technology. We’ll take a look at the good, the bad, and everything in between. We purchased this unit a few weeks ago and several of us here at Wafflesatnoon have been using it daily. We’d also like to hear from you if you’ve tried this product.

First we’ll take a look at some of the positive features of the StrideTrainer 410.

Pros

• Price/Value. At about $350, the price is quite competitive.
• Workout. This machine does a good job of working the muscles and raising the heart rate. We’ve had five different people using the machine, none of whom had used an elliptical lately, and we all felt pushed by the StrideTrainer 410 after only a couple of minutes.
• Heart Rate Monitor. This is a nice feature to have, and does appear to be accurate. I’ve tried other ellipticals that either didn’t have a monitor, or seemed way off in their measurements.
• Comfort. The motion of the elliptical is quite smooth and comfortable, and the unit doesn’t feel like it is about to fall apart as many others in this price range do.
• Quiet. Perhaps one of the better features is how quiet this unit is. You can watch TV without having to adjust the volume while using the StrideTrainer 410.
• Appearance. It’s a nice-looking unit and its slender design prevents it from taking over  your home as some bulkier ellipticals tend to do.

Cons

• Display. Despite their description online that it boasts an “easy-to-read display” – we’ve actually found the display quite difficult to read even in good light. One would assume such a display has back-lighting, but this one does not. Black letters on a dark gray (or “blue” as they claim) background is simply not a good design. At all.
• Assembly. For the average person (they suggest two people), assembly will take anywhere from one to three hours. I found that the screws labeled #92 – which attach the console to the unit – absolutely would not fit the pre-drilled holes. Three of us tried, but none of us could get the screws more than half-way in. It’s unclear if this is a widespread flaw, or if we were just the “lucky” ones to get this issue. Also, we have found that the bolts which attach the arms to the unit do not lock down completely, meaning you have to re-tighten them regularly. Finally, there are a few parts to which you must apply grease during assembly (they do include the grease). In my case, I didn’t apply enough the first time, so the unit squeaked upon first use. This meant I had to remove parts to apply more grease. After doing so, the unit operated very quietly.
• Power. The biggest disappointment is that after  you’ve spent $400, and then a couple of hours assembling it, you then realize they didn’t provide you a way to power the unit right out of the box! You must purchase a separate adapter or four D batteries. The adapter can be found online for about $20. I would have gladly paid $20 extra to have the adapter included, rather than order it separately and wait for it to arrive in the mail. If you attempt to use the StrideTrainer 410 without power to the console, you’ll find it operating at a rather high level of resistance for an un-enjoyable experience. Very disappointing.
• Squeaking. I have added this “con” much later than the rest of the article. After about 6 weeks, the unit began squeaking. It’s not the kind of high-pitched squeaking that one would expect from a lack of grease, but a lower-pitched squeak that sounds more like plastic rubbing together. After partially disassembling the unit, two of us were still unable to locate the source of the squeak. The only “solution” I’ve found is to lean forward while on the unit so that more of my weight is on the handles.

Neutral

• Fan. The fan included on the console is a nice addition, though it doesn’t really blow hard enough to make much of a difference. If you are powering it with D batteries, you’ll want to leave this off.
• iFit Program. You can go through workouts with Jillian Michaels, and they include an iFit card to get you started. Some may find this useful, but it’s an “extra” that not everyone will use.
• iPod Connector. You can attach an iPod or just about any mp3 player to the console, and they even include a cable for it. While this is a plus, the speakers are only of moderate quality. Plus, the concept of listening privately to music with headphones on seems suited to a gym. The benefit of having an elliptical at home is that you can blast your music or just watch TV.
• Extended Warranty. If you purchase this from WalMart, they will offer you a 2-year extended warranty for about $35. Not everyone is sold on extended warranties, and we haven’t had to use the extended warranty, so we can’t say if it’s a good idea or not.

Your reviews
Have you used the StrideTrainer 410? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.

Article updated February 25, 2013