Schwinn 430 Elliptical Machine Review and Recommendation

Schwinn 430 Elliptical Machine is medium priced, excellent home elliptical cardio exercise machine. It is not suitable for commercial gyms, but for people who like to exercise at home and need exercise machine to increase their daily calorie burn and increase stamina, Schwinn 430 is highly recommended.

Schwinn 430 Elliptical Specifications and Features

Schwinn 430 is big and rather sturdy machine.

Physical dimensions are 70.1" L x 28.2" W x 63.2" H (178.1 x 71.5 x 160.5 cm) and it weighs 168.7 lbs ( 76.5 kg). Unit has transport wheels for moving around and although it is not the lightest exercise machine, it can be moved around.

However, it is the best to keep it on the permanent location and to use it whenever one has time - out of sight, out of heart :)

One of the most important things to consider is the maximum height of the footplate, which is 21" (53 cm). Add this to the height of the tallest trainee, plus 3-4 inches for comfortable clearance, and one gets the minimum recommended ceiling height. This is very important for home gyms, which are often in the basements with lower-than-standard ceilings.

For example: minimum ceiling height = 21" + 6'2" (author's height) + 4" = 99" = 8'3" = 252 cm

In this example, I would not comfortable exercise on the Schwinn 430 Elliptical, if the ceiling is lower than 8'2" - 8'3" (250-252 cm).

Stride length is fixed and it is 20" (51 cm) long - good for most of the trainees.

Maximum user weight is 300 lbs (136 kg) - this is rather good maximum user weight, but it could be perhaps little bit bigger.

Power requirements: in order to operate, unit must be plugged into standard 110V-120V electrical wall outlet. It doesn't require much power like treadmills and it comes with 120V 60Hz AC Input, 9VDC, 1.5A output AC power adapter - some high-end home treadmills come with 2-3 continuous HPs electric motors.

Schwinn 430 Treadmill comes with 2 LCD displays, main display measuring 3.0" x 5.0" (7.6 x 12.7 cm) and secondary display measuring 1.0" x 5.0" (2.5 x 12.7 cm).

Displays are very informative and they present the trainee with the following information: time, RPM (rotations per minute or strides per minute), covered distance, hear rate, speed, burned calories, resistance level, track profile, heart rate zone indicator, % complete indicator, intensity meter, user indicator and goal achievement.

Unit has eddy current break system with large flywheel, providing smooth and quiet workout with 20 levels of resistance - note that console has 10 quick resistance buttons (levels: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20).

Schwinn 430 can memorize two user profiles, which is good for home use, although it could be better (5-8 users would, IMHO, be enough).

In order to provide as good as possible workout experience, treadmill comes with 22 workout programs:

- 9 profile programs
- 8 heart rate programs,
- one quick start program,
- 2 fitness test programs,
- 2 custom programs.

22 programs in combination with 10 degree incline manual ramp range with 6 positions provides enough combinations to avoid boredom, but in 21st century, electronics should NOT be a limit for number of programs - call me spoiled if you want ... :)

Schwinn 430 has two pairs of handle bars - one fixed par and one moving pair. For a total body workout, it is highly recommended to keep the hands on the moving bars.

Heart rate is on the grip. Since this is elliptical, for safety and other reasons it is recommended to have hands on the bars, so chest heart monitor with or without wireless link is not absolutely required, but it would be nice thing to have.

Schwinn 430 also includes water bottle holder, 3 speeds cooling fan, media tray, sound system with two very good speakers, USB charging port with data export option to 'Schwinn Connect' and 'My Fitness Pal'.

Warranty conditions:
- frame 10 years,
- mechanical 2 years,
- electrical 1 year and
- labor 90 days.

Unit comes in parts and before use, it must be assembled. It is recommended to assemble the unit near the permanent location where it is going to be used. If you are not accustomed to DIY activities, you can order a technician to assemble the unit for you, test it and to quickly show you how to use it.

Nonetheless, be sure to read the manual before first use.

Long story short - Schwinn 430 Elliptical Machine - very good, medium priced, home elliptical exercise machine. It is strong and robust and comes with many features required for regular cardio workouts at the privacy of your home.

For more reviews and recommendations, feel free to check Schwinn 430 Elliptical Machine Amazon link (link opens in the new window).