CE 3.2 is a great machine in the middle tier price range
Written: Feb 12 '06 (Updated Jun 25 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Great quality for the special sale price, very quiet, solid construction, friendly customer support.
Cons: Short stride length, some ergonomics issues, unreliable contact pulse monitors, squeaky.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended if you're looking for a solid machine for around $1500 that will stand up to daily use and will give a good workout without making too much noise.
jwdenmark's Full Review: Smooth Fitness CE 3.2 Elliptical Trainer
Overall Thoughts:
The Smooth CE 3.2 is a great, middle price range elliptical machine for home use. It's really solid and very quiet, and it's backed by a very friendly service department. The stride length is rather short (16" compared to 19" for the Precor EFX 5.19) and in order to use it comfortably I need to keep my legs bent all of the time, putting a lot of strain on my leg muscles (which will hopefully normalize as I use it more). The electronics are nice, but I don't use most of the functions, and the upper body movement is great.
If you're looking for a solid elliptical machine for around $1500 that will stand up to daily use and will give a good workout without disturbing your spouse who's still sleeping in, I would highly recommend the Smooth CE 3.2.
Back Story:
My wife and I had $1500 to spend on an elliptical machine for our home that would get used twice a day every day (ideally). We did a lot of research, looking at Precor, Schwinn, Diamondback, Horizon, and sporting goods store brands, as well as tons of online reviews and websites. We finally settled on the CE 3.2 without testing it out first, knowing that it would have some drawbacks (short stride length of 16", no adjustable angle like Precor) but expecting a solid machine. So far, we have not been disappointed.
If you've researched online about these products, you may have read about fake reviews written by Smooth Fitness to make their products look better. I don't know if that's true and it seems like it hasn't been done in a while, but it certainly put me off at first from buying from them. Nevertheless, the CE 3.2 is quite a good machine and I highly recommend it.
Price, Value, and Model Comparison:
We paid $1500 for the CE 3.2 during their January 2006 sale (now, a month later, it's $1700). I believe that the CE 2.1 is the same basic machine as the 3.2 except with different electronics and no wireless heart rate monitor. They were only selling the CE, CE 2.1, and CE 3.2 at the time (they had no CE 7.4, but it's a bit too expensive anyhow).
While I can confidently say that the CE 3.2 is worth $1500, I doubt we would have bought it for the current price of $1700. We set a value measure for ourselves based on the entry Precor elliptical (which is what we really wanted). At $1000 less than the EFX 5.19, we were sold on the Smooth CE 3.2, but when you start eating away at that price difference, it becomes harder and harder to make the sacrifice. Don't get me wrong, the CE 3.2 is a great machine, but the elliptical motion just isn't quite the same, and, after all, the motion is one of the most important things. Hey, it's not a Precor, but it's also not $3000. For $1500 is it a great value, and for $1700 it's probably a good value, too. But if the CE 2.1 is in fact the same frame and motion (which I think it is) that might be a better value, since I don't think the extra electronics are worth the difference. You will just have to set your own value scale and see how everything adds up for you.
Ordering and Shipping:
Ordering was no problem, and we received a confirmation and receipt a couple days later saying the order had been processed. They were a little slow to tell us about shipping -- in fact, the freight line contacted us and delivered the machine before Smooth sent us an email confirmation that it was shipped. The freight carrier for central Texas was very friendly, responsible, and delivered before 10am, which was nice.
Note: Our order had a different billing and shipping address and different telephone numbers. Even though our invoice stated clearly which was the shipping telephone number, I called to make sure they had it right (thanks to the advice from another epinions review). Sure enough they were going to give the carrier the wrong number, but a quick call fixed that right up. Be sure to call Smooth Fitness to confirm your shipping information as soon as you get an invoice. Otherwise they might be trying to reach you at work when you're at home.
The CE 3.2 comes in a single box around 6' long and over 150lbs. Standard delivery will bring the box onto your property, that means they could leave it at the bottom of your driveway. RL Carriers was nice enough to bring to box right up to my garage (I have a very short driveway), and I was able to slide it one side at a time into the garage. The machine comes packed pretty well, tied to a wooden frame of sorts with plastic ties. You will need a sturdy pair of scissors to cut them because they're around 1/8" thick. My wife wasn't home at the time, but I was able to get all of the pieces out of the box an into the house by myself. To get at the main flywheel and pedal assembly I needed to totally open the box (which meant prying out 15 heavy duty staples on each side) and roll the thing out. I couldn't see any other way of doing this even with help, so I don't know how I would go about repackaging the machine if I decided I didn't like it and wanted to take advantage of their money back guarantee.
Assembly:
The machine arrives in a few basic parts (one which is the whole back assembly and definitely requires 2 people to lift up stairs) with a couple boxes for the screws, electronics, and plastic molding. I highly recommend having another person to help assemble the CE 3.2. It could be quite difficult to align the parts while trying to thread the screws and work the screwdriver all by yourself.
I love assembling things like this, so it wasn't too bad for me, but it did get confusing. The instructions are a little bit off, especially when it comes to naming the screws and bolts (for example: they say you should have two 90mm and two 70mm bolts when you really have two 100mm and two 80mm bolts). There are pictures to follow along with that help. On the Smooth Fitness website in the support section they have the manuals available to download as a PDF, so you might want to check them out ahead of time to see if you think you can handle the assembly, or to see if you want to pay the extra money for turn-key installation.
There was only one other assembly problem. There are several pieces of plastic that fit over the joints to prevent pinched fingers and to make it look nicer. Some of those pieces don't align perfectly with the frame, making it really difficult to screw some of them in. Other than that, the assembly was fairly easy, and we were up and running in about 40 minutes.
Having assembled the machine myself, I feel much better able to repair it if need be (i.e. tighten loose joints and attack squeaks with lubricant). But I shudder at the thought of disassembling it and packing it up again if I decide I really don't like it and want to send it back for a refund.
Construction and Machine Design:
The CE 3.2 is solid. I was worried about durability because we were first looking at the Smooth CE which apparently had some issues with bolts snapping. The CE 3.2 is a new design and provides much more support at the handles making me think it will be more durable over time. Rather than cantilever the entire weight of your body, there is another supporting arm, dividing the stress forces in half. The frame is in large part a single monster piece of tubing with a 4" diameter which makes it feel really solid. The machine doesn't shake or wobble like some of the sporting goods store brands that sell for around $500-$1000. It feel very stable and if we had it on a concrete or hard wood floor, I doubt it would shake at all (we have it resting on some snap-together hardwood flooring on top of carpeting to protect our floor, so it rocks on the carpet cushioning).
The two wheels on the back are the size of rollerblade wheels (around 3" diameter) which makes moving it around relatively easy. The wheels are really nice when you're moving the flywheel and pedal assembly around before assembly. But once you fully assemble it, the front handles get in the way and make it pretty awkward to move around.
The display is nice and large. Unfortunately, there's no place to keep a water bottle, and it would have been nice if the display panel could hold a book or magazine. I am able to find a perch for both my TV and DVD remotes although that's just good luck, not any design feature.
Another big selling point is that the CE 3.2 is very quiet, which is quite nice for a home environment. (We can watch TV at a normal volume while one of works out, unlike ellipticals with rollers that I used in some home gyms.) When we finally put it together and tried it out, however, the right foot pedal creaked like crazy -- it was 3-4 times as loud as the machine. In the end, I lifted the pad out of the pedal assembly with a screwdriver (it's just sitting in there not screwed or glued down) and sprayed WD40 (a multi-purpose lubricant you can find in a hardware store or even the grocery store) all over the pedal housing. This took care of the problem in no time. Also one of the main joints (at the arm handle and foot pedal) developed a pretty nasty squeak that was fixed with some WD40.
While I was able to fix the squeaking, there is some clicking in the foot pedals. I think I've traced it back to some axle covers in the foot pedal assembly that slide back and forth. I didn't see any easy fix for this, but the noise isn't very distracting, and the CE 3.2 ends up being much more quiet that other machines out there.
Ergonomics:
Ergonomics is where my big complaint with the CE 3.2 lies as well as the reason why I couldn't give it 5 stars. The stride length is only 16", compared with 18" for the Schwinn and 19" for the Precor. Three inches may seem small, but it's the difference between feeling like you're running and feeling like you're quickly shuffling in place. And it's much easier to get a cardio workout by running.
Additionally, there's something about the motion that puts pressure on my hip muscles unless I keep my knees bent. When I'm using the machine at higher RPMs, I want to straighten one leg, but that sort of pops my hips back and forth uncomfortably. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I haven't had this problem on any of the Precors I've used in gyms. My guess is that the difference in height between the pedals at maximum leg extension is greater on the CE 3.2 than on other machines.
That being said, we're still keeping the CE 3.2. My wife is 5'6" and has no trouble with it (I'm 5'10"). As I use it more, the short stride length isn't as noticeable (we were after all trying out other machines just before getting this one), and I am trying to keep my legs bent more to prevent the hip pain. I expect that as I use it my legs will get stronger and I will be able to keep up a higher RPM without my legs getting tired in order to get the cardio workout I desire.
The upped body motion is really nice, too. It's the most comfortable arm motion I've used on an elliptical, and I think it gives quite a nice workout.
Features:
Other than durability, quietness, and a nice upper body workout, the CE 3.2 has pretty good electronics, and at the time I bought it, it came with a wireless heart rate monitor. The wireless HR monitor is the same kind I've seen for other machines. It works well and comes included with a battery, but when I use the handles, my pulse rate drops for some reason.
I have to say, that I wasn't too impressed by the workout programs -- the resistance can get really hard very quickly making me feel like I'm trudging through mud rather than running. But I suppose I might use them later if I get bored with manual control (but the TV works just fine for me as a distraction).
I was initially excited about the program that adjusts to maintain your heart rate. I had spent a fair amount of time on a nice Precor that shows you a little LED graph of your heart rate and where the optimum zone is. After the workout it would tell you how long you were "in the zone." But this program never worked out quite right for me. First, you have to know what heart rate you want to maintain before working out, which I didn't know. So I had to start and stop the program 3 times before I settled on a number. When I finally got going, it started out fine, increasing resistance every few seconds. As the resistance increased, I needed to use the handles to keep going. However, when I used the handles as well as the wireless heart rate monitor my pulse kept decreasing even though I was working really hard. So instead of the resistance backing off it kept getting more and more difficult and eventually I had to stop the program and try something else. As a note, my hands get really sweaty when I work out, so perhaps that messed up the pulse monitoring. However, I've never had any problems when using a Precor with contact pulse monitors. So that problem pretty much rendered the heart rate program useless for me. I've been sticking to manual control and it's been just fine.
Other than that, you can store up to 9 user profiles, and the resistance is divided into some 16 levels rather than 400 like the Smooth CE. So it takes a lot less time to adjust the resistance level on the 3.2 -- a very nice improvement.
Service and Warranty:
The Smooth service department was incredibly friendly and understanding in all of my interactions with them. I called them to fix a creaking foot pedal (see above), and they gave some suggestions and said they would work on a solution and send someone out. I do have a caveat: the man I spoke to wasn't incredibly familiar with the CE 3.2 (it is a relatively new product for Smooth Fitness, so he said he'd go to the showroom and play around with it), he ultimately didn't figure out a solution, and he didn't set up a service appointment (saying he'd call me back after he had a chance to look at the machine). In the end I figured out the problem and called them back to tell them the solution. Once again he was incredibly friendly and even thankful for my effort. So, I believe that they mean well and would have solved the problem to my satisfaction, but I didn't experience that first hand so I can't swear to it.
Additionally, it's good to know that the warranty is non-transferable, so don't expect to be able to sell it on craigslist at near full price a couple of weeks later.
General Tips:
1. Before buying, try a machine with a 16" stride length in the store to see how it feels and see if it works for you.
2. Use eBates when you place your order and you'll get around $50-$90 back (see the post script for more information).
3. Call Smooth Fitness to confirm your shipping information as soon as you get an invoice, otherwise the freight carrier might try to reach you on the wrong telephone number.
4. Bring a box cutter, a flat-head screw driver (to pry up staples), and a pair of heavy duty scissors when you unpack the CE 3.2 from the box.
5. Work with another person when moving and assembling the machine.
6. Keep a standard Phillips screwdriver handy during assembly because they are much nicer to use than the one supplied.
7. Keep a can of WD40 near the machine to take care of those squeaks and creaks that may turn up after a bit of use.
I've only had the CE 3.2 for a couple of weeks, and I've been quite pleased with it, but I will be sure to update my review after several months of use. Good luck deciding on your elliptical trainer purchase!
UPDATE: (6/26/06; ~6 months of use)
After about 6 months using the Smooth CE 3.2, all in all I still think it's a great machine. About 2 months into using it, the bolts needed a serious tightening. In fact, it was a little scary when I heard this loud "thwap" and a "chunk, chunk" noise behind me. It turned out that one of the bolts that attaches the whole pedal tube to the flywheel was coming loose, and in its loosening it was hitting the plastic cover. And it's a good thing, too, because if I didn't hear the metal hitting the plastic, I probably would have rode the thing until it fell apart. But after tightening it real well, I haven't had trouble. Except for the squeaks.
My biggest complaint with the CE 3.2 is the squeaks, creaks, and clicks. The machine gets used about 6-8 hours a week, and I would say that ever 1-2 weeks it develops some irritating, repetitive noise that grows louder and louder. One of the things I loved most about this machine was how quiet it was in the beginning (after solving the squeaking foot pads). Now I find myself starting a workout and then stopping to oil the machine because I can't hear the TV. It's nearly impossible to tell where the noises are coming from, so I end up spraying WD40 everywhere until I find the culprit. Unfortunately, after that, I'm sucking down oil vapor while trying to work out. This doesn't stop the machine from working, and in face it's probably good to know when it needs an oiling so it doesn't fall apart, but it sure is a nuisance. And it's not something the warranty will really help with since it's not worth the effort of having them come and fix it.
Finally, the stride length is still a problem for me, as I can't seem to keep up as fast a pace on the Smooth as I can on a Precor, making the workout less intense than I'd like it to be. But I find there is plenty of resistance to keep my heart rate up.
All in all, even with the recurring noise problems, I would still say the Smooth CE 3.2 is a great machine for the price I paid. It's still as solid as ever and showing very little signs of wear. And it is so wonderful to have a machine in my home that I use pretty much every other day!
PS: I learned about eBates from another epinions review on the Smooth ME elliptical, and I will get back $67 just for clicking through their website. So if my review helped and you decide to buy the CE 3.2, click on this url http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?id=27663957 and we'll both get $5 for your signing up and buying through them. Or, if you want, you can sign up with the referral of the woman who told me about eBates: http://tinyurl.com/9uegz. As a note, since shipping in included, you will only get a rebate of the price you paid minus around $160.
Update to the PS: Thanks to everyone who read my review and followed my eBates referral. I really appreciate it!
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