Gold's Gym Mini Stepper

Very sturdy, very easy to use. It is not adjustable, but it gives good resistance and provides a good workout. Most of the time I use a walking stick to hold my balance, but the more I use it the easier it is to use without the stick. The time/step counter/calories burned feature is just an added bonus. When you first receive this, the belt is pre-greased and is loose. By moving one foot pad up while the other is down (when you are not on it), the tension is release and you can wrap the belt around the flywheel. Flip it back over and it is ready to go. That is it as far as assembly! Be careful moving it as the belt is likely to fall out of the flywheel again. It isn't hard to place back, but the grease on the belt/flywheel will get on your floor/carpet and also will pick up grit and can lower the performance of the stepper. Just move it straight up without tilting...but again, really, it's no big deal.

Worked great for a couple weeks. Used it every day for about a half hour in morning and in the afternoon at my standing desk. It would then randomly squeak, sometimes loud sometimes just enough to barely hear it. It progressed to be a nonstop noise that was disruptive to the office. I luned the hell out of every moving point on the machine and it just kep making the noise. Oh, the counter went out after day two but that was not a selling point for me anyhow. In the end it is a complete waste of money, you are better off saving for a higher end one.

Raised my desk to a standing desk and added this stepper to it, after illness and years of sedentary weight gain.Oh. My. God. What an amazing difference!When I first got on, I had to cling to my desk for balance, and I gasped and wheezed. Still, I persisted!It's been just a month and a half. Now, I routinely walk on this for hours at a time -- mind you, at a slow and gentle pace.I make this stairmaster the price I pay for reading online. It's like walking with a book.I am stronger, thinner, quicker. Happier. Less chronic pain. Better balance. Better sleep.It's totally silent, too, so I can ride it while my sweetheart sleeps.What a joyous and life-giving experience I have apparently stumbled upon.If you are hesitating, my two cents is -- Buy it now! Get on it soon! I wish I'd done it long ago.Buy with confidence, this one's a winner!!!

First of all, the product I received was a different brand from what was shown in the pictures (mine is a brand called Stamina), but it is functionally the same item. It was easy to set up (no tools are required), and it's simple to use. I generally use it for 30-60 minutes per day. The effort level feels comparable to hiking when used standing straight and like cycling in a standing position when leaning the upper body forward (similar to the position you'd be in holding a bike's handlebars). It makes an annoying squeaky rubbing noise, but mercifully it's not so loud that headphones don't drown it out. And the instruction book isn't kidding when it says the shocks get very hot after you've been using it a bit. I haven't experienced any mechanical issues with it yet. The readout only registers steps that are quite deep, and -- perhaps because I'm a rather short-legged person -- it feels unnatural and rough on my joints to take steps that deep (unless I'm in the forward leaning cycling-type position), so most of my workouts go unrecorded. I just ignore the readout anyway, but if the display is something important to you it's probably a good thing to take into consideration. It's not a replacement for the gym but it's a useful little exercise tool to have when you have to stay at home and need to get in some low-impact cardio.

Great product. Easy to use. Comes set up already. Has basic tracking (steps, time, calories) if you need it and it's small enough to move to the side or under a table as to not stay out in the open and take up space when not in use. I use this during my work day when I'm standing at a desk on calls or doing work that doesn't require as much concentration.

We did not receive Gold’s Gym stair stepper but kept it because it’s a pain to send back. It works great so far though.

I have lost faith in the quality of items with the Gold's Gym log. I have used this mini-stepper for 6 months, and had no problems with it's operation. My issue is that a major mechanical defect occurred and has rendered the item useless. If you turn the unit over, you will see a pulley, and a silver rod that mounts the pulley to the chassis. However this rod is fitted to the chassis has broken, resulting in the rod becoming loose, sliding in and out, and no longer causing tension in the stepper operation. So, it is completely useless.

I had it for a year and did not use it that much, maybe 15 times total. It worked reasonably well until about two months ago the clock/counter stopped working. I later realized that it wasn't the clock/counter that had malfunctioned, but the bolts that hold the pulley cord had become loose from the steps, which restricted their range of motion, which caused the clock/counter to not register the steps being taken. I tried to tighten them, but they are nearly impossible to access with conventional tools due to the design of the machine. Without the full range of motion in the steps, the purpose of the stepper is defeated because I can't actually use it for the exercise I intended to use it for.