FreeMotion 530 Elliptical Review

Brief Overview

The Freemotion 530 is a very solid elliptical that is a great value with the addition of Costco's lifetime return policy. FreeMotion decided to move to front-drive designs from rear-drive this year, they should have stayed put. They moved from a design that was really smooth, to one that can be choppy if you put it on the wrong incline setting. We would pass on this machine.

Overall Quality

It has a very good feature set along with solid quality but above that, the Costco guarantee is hard to beat. The FreeMotion 530 is a good option at $1,299. If you get bored easily on an elliptical, you'll be happy with the feature set that will help to keep you entertained throughout your workout. You're also getting a machine that is made with good quality parts, and when you buy it from Costco, you get the lifetime guarantee. That alone makes it worth taking a look at.

Ergonomically speaking, this model is pretty good. Very few ellipticals that sell at or below this price offer a more natural range of motion. You'll generally have to pay at least $2,000 to find a machine that is ergonomically superior. The adjustability is about as good as you can get in this price range. The stride length can be set between 20" and 22", which gives you a few options. The incline can also go from -10 to 20%, and there are 22 levels of resistance.

As far as projected reliability is concerned, this machine is decent. You can find models that sell for over a thousand dollars more than this one that has a similar life expectancy, but you can also find a couple of models selling below $1,000 that are expected to last longer than this one. The quality of parts is used is solid.

The noise levels of this machine are about average. This is pretty common among every elliptical regardless of price. If quietness during operation is one of your main concerns, you can find better models than this one in this price range, but you'll have to do your homework. That being said, we don't expect the average user to be bothered by the amount of noise this machine makes.

The warranty on the FreeMotion 530 is decent. Labor is covered for 1 year, parts are covered for 5 years, and the frame and magnetic system are covered for life. Costco's lifetime return policy is what's really worth noting.