Bowflex Max Trainer Series

1.0 out of 5 stars

By Mark - Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2020

Honest review after 4 years of ownership, you have been warned!

I've owned a Maxtrainer for over 4 years. And if I could sum the ownership experience up in a single word it would be "frustrating." And that word can be used for every aspect of ownership from assembly, to use, it's frequent need for service, and particularly the inevitable experience you will have with customer service when it breaks. And it will most definitely break in some, or multiple, ways. Assembly is really dependent on your personal skill level and the tools you own. So I'm not going to bother other than saying you had better own a good ratchet set, otherwise you are in for a world of hurt. Use on the other hand I will elaborate on. When this machine works, it's fine. It gives a very good workout. The key word in this is "when." Because unfortunately it doesn't always work. Sounds such as creaks will develop within the first few uses, and will get louder with each subsequent use. Regardless of how well you assemble it, inconsistency in manufacturing will allow for some of the moving parts to shimmy and click, creating an unstable feel on the foot platforms as you complete your motions. Small and large adjustments will become the norm as you disassemble various parts of the machine in an often fruitless pursuit of either quieting down the sounds, or eliminating the disconcerting and sudden shifts the legs will make. Workouts will be interrupted or abandoned as you stop and wonder, "is this thing even safe?" Eventually, as I did in year two, you may experience a catastrophic failure, which will render the machine useless. Mine was with the drive pully. If you are still in warranty, as I was, when this failure happened, they will send you the part/s you require and you can either pay $150. plus for a tech to fix, or they will email you instructions for free. I choose the email option as I have tools and am proficient with them. The issue here is the instructions themselves. While in English, they are clearly written by non native English speakers, and therefore are confusing to an extent. Beyond that, they may not 100% match the configuration of your machine as changes both minor and major, happen over the course of the machines manufacturing life cycle. So you may be left with instructions with pictures telling you to remove a part that is no longer designed to be removed. Or plastic faring that is glued on rather than only screwed on, etc. Bottom line, if you can't improvise, you're sunk. Also please remember if you are no longer in warranty, you will pay for the parts, and service if you require it, out of pocket. In the end even after fixing, you are left with a persnickety device that requires constant maintenance, from small things such as chasing down sounds, loosening, tightening, and lubrication, to big things like disassembly, reassembly, and full tear downs... All things that interrupt your ability to have a consistent workout schedule. Do not be fooled by the claim that this is a gym quality device. It can not handle the rigor of one person using it 5 days per week for long. Actual gym quality would mean hundreds of workouts per week, something this machine can not do. Also importantly, please do not be fooled by 5 star reviews from people that have owned the machine for a few weeks. Their lack of real world long term experience with the Maxtrainer means you should take their reviews with a massive grain of salt. As a final aside, this review is happening as I track down yet another replacement part. This time one of the rollers, where the delrin insert has seperated from the rubber body. Unfortunately this will be an out of pocket expense. You have been warned!

4.0 out of 5 stars

By Mercedes - Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2019

All it took was girl power to assemble this!

I purchased this product with an additional Assembly service. After the provider would not return my message to move up my assembly date, I got frustrated and decided to unbox the product myself. I’m a 5’ 1” 54 yr old female and this product is 166 lbs, I was concerned I would not have the ability to lift things on my own. Despite that, I decided to tackle the assembly myself. First step is to watch a manufacturer’s assembly video which made it look fairly straightforward to assemble. Then I read the manual thoroughly. I unboxed the product and lined up all the parts. I wanted to make sure everything was there and nothing was damaged. It took me approximately 3 hrs to assemble the product from start to finish. Getting rid of the box, cardboard, and styrofoam, was the hardest part of the process! Seriously, I’m glad I did the assembly myself. I took my time and as recommended, I got my 15 year old daughter to assist me during parts of the assembly that required 2 people to accomplish. It took just a little bit of girl power to get the job done perfectly!

1.0 out of 5 stars

By Mat1974 - Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2019

Broke after two months

I have two of these, both broke in the same spot on the main shaft. Not a very reliable piece of equipment!

4.0 out of 5 stars

By SERE - Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2020

Modification needed to stop knocking sound.

Not too bad to assemble. The base is pre-assembled. All you need to do is attach the arms/legs. Necessary Modification/Adjustment! See photo, but I am OCD and do not like unnecessarily noises. The leg arm that attaches to the inside wheel, knocks continually during use. This is due to a gap in the assembly. I added a rubber garden hose seal to each leg bolt. This closed the gap, and since it’s rubber, allows for slight flexibility. No more knocking, and the only noise you hear is the wheel fan!

1.0 out of 5 stars

By Jason Scott - Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2018

Failed product by a failed company

Make sure you read the reviews, Make sure you read for forums. Make sure you are informed before purchasing ANY max trainer unit. Many of the machines ship improperly assembled from the factory, and most either squeek or clunk in short order. The Warranty is not worth the paper it is written on, and unless you have a local distributor, it is going to cost you. The company has must released a M4/M6/M8. The new app will not be backwards compatible, but that is OK because the new app will require a paid subscription. Any product requiring an infomercial, should be avoided at all costs.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Amazon Customer - Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2020

It hurts me good!

I've owned the Bowflex Max Trainer for a little over a month now. The advertising says a full workout in 14 minutes. I can't get to 14 minutes! This is a tough workout. I'm well overweight and out of shape. I've begun eating better and bought this machine to help with exercise. It is awesome. It fully works out my entire body. With 20 resistance levels it makes the workout challenging, yet controllable. With many, many exercise programs to work with I can see a great future of being challenged. This is non-impact on the joints. It is fun to use. It is easy to use. And the feedback from the machine and the downloadable, Bluetook enabled Max Trainer app is great. Also, for the price...the machine is very well built. I've owned NordicTrac before -- in an of itself a nice machine -- and lower end stationary bikes. This machine, in quality, is far above what I've ever had. Results? Well my longest workout so far has been 8 minutes. The first time on the machine it was 1-1/2 minutes. (Yes, I'm out of shape.) It has helped that much so far. Down 12 pounds (70 to go). Down 2.5 inches on my waist (12 to go). It has an impact.