There will be blood

I bought a cross trainer.


I had done tons of research.  Once I picked one, I got the best price I could find, and it arrived on Thursday in a giant box that had to be delivered by two guys.


I had read on the internet that putting it together was really not a big deal, everyone went on and on about the great instructions.  Regardless, I tried to buy it from the manufacturer because they had a platinum service where for 74 GBP, they will put it together for you and take away the packing.  Unfortunately, they do not provide that service to Thurso.


I thought about it and decided I would give it a go, bound to make a good post, and if I wasn't done after 4 hours, I would call Jason.  I read the instruction and saw it could be done in 4 steps.

The beginning

It took me a while to find the instructions and I was a little concerned that many of the pieces were difficult to move as they were really heavy, but I kept after it and laid out the parts.

The pieces - pointing labrador tail for scale

Step 1


Step 1 was a pain for a couple of reasons.  First, the diagram for step 1 was on one page, the written instruction were on the previous page and the parts diagrams were two pages before.  So, this required a lot of flipping around.  


The second issue is that this step really involved the heaviest pieces and all of the wiring to make the computer work.  I got the front connect to the back and completed the wiring.  I moved the pedal legs forward to makes this easier for me - classic foreshadowing here.


Then I ran the wires up the mast and connected computer.  The wires were fiddly, and there were lots of warning about kinking the wires and shorting them out.  Once I had them in the mast, I had trouble getting the computer on because there didn't seem to be enough room for the wires, but I finally sorted it out.

Step 1 done!

So I was a bit pleased with myself.  I was bleeding from a nasty cut on my hand and I had a big bruise growing on the same hand from a wrench incident, but it was done and I'd managed step 1 in 60 minutes, I was definitely going to make my 4 hour quota.


It was at this point that I tried to pull the feet petal back onto the track and noticed that this was impossible because the mast was in the way.  I tried many things.  I tried loosening the feet, the mast, wiggling and pushing but it wasn't going to happen.

Humph!

My brain went, that's it, I quit, but then I thought come on Dyan, so I took it all apart and put it back together and that took me 30 minutes - I can feel the learning and on-the-job experience paying off.


Step 2


Step 2 was a cakewalk compared with Step 1, I just had to connect the mobile arms.  They were marked right and left, and it was no big deal.  Took me 30 minutes, with no rework.

Step 2 - done, once!

Step 3


Step 3 was even easier, I just had to connect the mobile arms to the foot pedals.  Took me 15 minutes, and it was looking like a cross trainer.


Step 4


Step 4 had many substeps, and there were lots of piece left to go, but this was confusing to me because it already looked like a cross trainer, but these were all of the plastic pieces and covers.  All of these were very fiddly and involved all different kind of screws, but I went from one to another.  When I got frustrated, I skipped it and came back to the piece after finishing another.


I got to the step that said I had to plug it in and incline the deck for the last piece.  I moved it near the plug - the wheels made it easish and plugged it in.  


It came on!  It took me a few minutes to figure out how to incline the deck, but I did and last piece installed.  Step 4: 60 minutes and done.

The End - Sweet Success

All told, the project took me about 3.5 hours and 2 Paydays.  I only got 1 cut and 2 bruises.  I lucked out when the wrench flew out of my hand and straight up in the air and didn't land on me or Maggie.  


Maggie was a big help throughout.  She was most impressed that I spent that amount of time on the floor in the garage, in fact, I think she'd probably call it heaven.


I got on the trainer and did a short work out - although honestly I'd felt like I'd already had one.