FitDesk Under Desk Cycle

I love my FitDesk elliptical. I love being able to at least get SOME kind of exercise while I'm sitting at my desk all day working. I think it has really made a difference in my life as far as watching calories and what not. My only thing is that I don't know that I believe the amount of calories I'm burning. One day the meter said I burned 1000 calories...I used to work out a bit and I don't believe I ever burned THAT MUCH. Regardless, I know it is burning SOMETHING. As for the squeaking that some people complain about. I have had mine for about a month and have yet to hear a single squeak. It has started making noises like gears are clicking or something but it isn't all the time and my coworker says she's never heard me using it from the room next door. All in all EXTREMELY HAPPY with my purchase UPDATE: 3/4/19 It has developed a squeak, but I have found that if I wipe off the foot pad(on the floor that the pedals roll on) with a dry towel or even just my hand the squeak goes away! Must get some dust or something built up on it that just needs to be wiped off. =] STILL EXTREMELY HAPPY! UPDATE 3/18/19: Has developed a pretty bad squeak =[ Will be contacting the manufacturer on their recommendation to fix it FINAL UPDATE 4/4/19: I stopped using it for a week or two and all the sudden the squeak is gone....my recommendation is to just keep messing around with it and I promise you will love it as much as I do. Squeaking is pretty typical with exercise equipment so just wipe it off and/or grease it and everything should be fine =]

I sit at a desk 8 hours a day and need to get my legs moving due to having Lipedema. I found this little wonder and thought it might be the answer to my prayers. I started using it yesterday and I love it. It's not hard to work at all and I wondered if I was getting any benefit, but my heart rate went from 70 to 94 so I guess I am. It is quiet so nobody knows what I'm doing. Today I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to do about 5 minutes worth every 30 minutes. It was also fairly easy to put together according to my boyfriend. If you do use it at work, I would caution you to watch any wires you have hanging nearby. My mouse wire got caught in the pedal and got all twisted up!

For me, this is a 3 1/2 star review., but could have been a 5 star review. Please note that I bought this one at full price. After looking at reviews of all the under desk ellipticals and comparing videos, I ordered my FitDesk Under Desk Elliptical based on the smoother motion it had than other under desk ellipticals. Edit: If your FitDesk Under Desk Elliptical has too much resistance, you can try two things first - loosen the nuts on the outside of the pedals and if your wheels are too tight as mine were, you can loosen those nuts, too. Now back to the review. It arrived partly assembled, and while the base is a bit challenging to put on, it's not crazy. When built, the elliptical seemed nicely made - nicer than my daughter's under desk elliptical from another brand or my current mini bike. The motion was smooth and silent, but at the lowest resistance, it was pretty challenging - we measured it as having 10 pounds of resistance, going up to about 12 pounds at the top of the resistance. Ten pounds is pretty stiff at a lowest resistance, so I contacted FitDesk. After talking and emails, they had us loosen the bolts on the pedals, and please note that the pedals arrived bolted on, so this was how it arrived in box from the factory. That did lower the resistance to about 6 pounds of resistance, but it was still the stiffest under desk elliptical I've tried, and since several people on Amazon say the lowest resistance is very low, I knew this wasn't typical. FitDesk told me to return it to Amazon, that perhaps I'd do better with an underdesk bike as all ellipticals have some resistance. I know that, and so do all quality bikes - this elliptical right now has about double the resistance of my daughter's Stamina InMotion E1000 at its lowest and also a different model I tried used. My husband discovered that the wheels were very tight - they mostly weren't turning as I used it, but it was easy to adjust by loosening the bolts. Something I wanted to mention is that this elliptical is longer than my desk is deep. I have a fairly typical home office desk, about 23 inches deep, but the FitDesk Under Desk Elliptical is a bit longer than 30 inches. I wasn't actually planning to use it at my desk, so this wouldn't be an issue for me, but do measure your desk's depth if you plan to use it while working. Since we recently made several Amazon returns, including a non-working treadmill, we would have liked to have a new resistance module sent to us - I've read reviews of other companies doing this other warranty, but it's true that most companies use Amazon returns as their quality control, so this isn't unusual. I was disappointed at their final email, where they put the issue on me rather than the unit. Six pounds of draw is a lot for the lowest level on a home unit, and possibly too much if you've had knee surgery or are rehabbing your knees or ankles. Here's the TL;DR summary - nicely made elliptical, quiet and smooth, and I paid full price; I didn't get it through the Vine program. Longer than some desks at just over 30 inches. Although some on Amazon say this unit has almost no resistance at the lowest level, even after trying FitDesk's fix, mine has more resistance than it should have. They recommended we return it. It was otherwise exactly what I was looking for. I know I'm an outlier since others say their lowest resistance is so light, so if you don't mind risking a return - always a possibility with any product - this one is nice and is definitely worth a shot if it fits under your desk or you plan to not to use it at a desk. UPDATE 1 1/2 years later... My legs are stronger, so I no longer find that 6 pound resistance painful. Obviously the eliptical is still much longer than my desk is deep, so I can't use it as an underdesk eliptical. It doesn't squeak or groan, the motion is still pretty smooth, but it's more like pedaling a bike with small crank arms than using an eliptical.

Easy to assemble. Easy to use. I can always say both of these statements for FitDesk products AND their customer service is fantastic.

Tried 3 other brands and I returned them all due to noise level, clunking or not smooth feeling. Figured I would order this one as one last type to try or give up. Let’s just say it is great, so I took it to the office! Works great and I feel like I have really accomplished something in my day with excersize as your legs will really feel it. Another positive is it helps get the stress out, the negative, my staff knows when I am aggravated as I pedal faster instead of a slow motion when all is well.

I bought this elliptical for my office and because of its "magnetic resistance and balanced flywheel keep the pedal motion smooth and whisper quiet." It makes a clicking sound with every rotation. Definitely not "whisper quiet" as advertised.

I have had this elliptical for a few days, and I am enjoying it thoroughly. It arrived with all the hardware and tools necessary for assembly and clear instructions. The build quality is great. Unlike other under-desk ellipticals and pedal machines, this device uses magnetism for resistance rather than a friction device, which makes for smooth, quiet operation. I first thought there was a squeak, and then I realized that it was my shoe was squeaking. I am using it while I am typing this. Great product!

I've used this happily for almost 2 months now, without any sign of deterioration. Appears well made of quality materials. Note that some similar gadgets require a desk the height of a kitchen counter to clear your knees when pedaling. This one works well with foot-size pedals on a bicycle crank set-up where the crank arms are very short, so your knees don't get up so high. That does mean you can't pedal directly downward as you would with a bike; rather, you shuffle forward and back, mostly. In turn, that means you need to be further back from the gadget so your legs are more stretched out, more like a recumbent bike. I know these gadgets are called "ellipticals", but the motion of a real elliptical in your gym (that you stand on) feels quite different. The resistance settings work well for me, and I can get a decent workout if I want, or just use it as a meditation, fidget machine or distraction from my computer work in front of me on my desk or a boring zoom session. It's a particularly good way to exercise your ankles, since these have to transmit the pedaling force in differing positions over the course of each stroke. I never installed the display, since I can't see it while sitting on my desk, and collecting data on my exercise is of no interest to me. If you are interested in a real-time display, you might be able to rig the cable so you can see it, but I have no idea how useful it might be.

Easy to set up works as advertised. Light enough to move around but strong enough to do the job!

The Fitdesk is working well for me. I had a heck of a time finishing the assembly since I didn't know what a locking screw is. However, the guys at my local hardware store helped out. I do find that my movement is a little constrained because I hit my knees on the underside of the desk, but I am finding ways around this.

Absolutely well built solid pedal excercise machine. It works fantastic and does the job.

This machine is bigger than I thought it would be, and very heavy. I looked at the Cubi but bought this one because of price. Wish I had followed my first instinct!

I have a desk with 27" of clearance and I can pedal no problem (I am 6 feet ish tall). It also makes a great foot rest when not pedaling. It isn't amazing cardio, but it is -something-. And it's something I can do while working. It's very quiet and smooth. My sole issue in the meter screen, needs work. Things aren't labeled well and the instructions for it are unclear. It does show how much time I have spent pedaling fairly clearly, so that's a plus. EDIT - had to change the rating. After about 3 weeks of use the device started to make a loud 'clunk' noise while pedaling. Trying to set up an exchange has proved to be an absolute chore with Amazon claiming they can not process an exchange and FitDesk claiming Amazon should simply be doing an exchange. I have now spent several -hours- trying to send the elliptical back. All I wanted was to exchange and try a new one. Instead I am returning it, getting a refund, then I guess I will decide if I want to risk having to do this stupid process all over again if the next one is also defective. Just crap service from both Amazon and FitDesk on this one.