Just a rant / warning about Gold's Gym exercise bike

agfsteve · #1 04-03-2019, 09:14 AM

My wife is recovering from knee replacement surgery, and the place where she gets her physical therapy has her use a recumbent bike, so we decided to get one and do the bike exercises at home (in addition to doing at physical therapy).

So we bought a "Gold's Gym Cycle Trainer 400 Ri", and after assembling it, I turned it on, and I discovered that in order to use the basic features (e.g. setting the pedaling resistance level), I had to first visit www.ifit.com/activate to activate it.

And you know what? It won't let me activate unless I enter my credit card details, and sign up for a $15 / month membership ("First month free--cancel any time!").

So I have a useless piece of junk recumbent bike with no basic usability unless I give out my credit card info, which I refuse to do.

It should be illegal for a company to require credit card info at any time before any actual payment is required. Or it should at least be an opt in/out thing. The sign-up process states "First month free, cancel any time", so the logical, ethical way to do that is to require credit card info after the first month, in order to continue, cancelling if you do not enter credit card info.

OK, rant over, deciding whether to disassemble and return the bike, or use it in one-resistance-fits-all mode.

Silly Moustache · #2 04-03-2019, 09:21 AM

Surely an exercise bike can be purely mechanical.

I'd return that straight away!

agfsteve · #3 04-03-2019, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Surely an exercise bike can be purely mechanical.

I'd return that straight away!

Nope! All adjustments, other than moving the seat, have to be made via the electronic console, which can only be activated by signing up with credit card info.

Tahitijack · #4 04-03-2019, 09:36 AM

Why did you choose the Golds bike?

agfsteve · #5 04-03-2019, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

Why did you choose the Golds bike?

The short answer is that we wanted to get a recumbent bike ASAP, in order for my wife to exercise her operative leg. The physical therapist told us that scar tissue is forming from the moment the surgeon starts cutting, and the sooner you get the leg moving in full range of motion, the better it will be long term.

So we tried buying a recumbent bike on the very same day that we first saw the physical therapist, but we live in a tiny town, and the only place that had one was Walmart (of course!), and the Gold's Gym bike was the only one they had, except they were out of stock (display model is not a working bike), so we just went home and found the same bike on walmart.com and had it delivered to the local store in two days.

This is one of the rare cases when I did not do an anal amount of research prior to purchase. And here we are!

frankmcr · #6 04-03-2019, 10:29 AM

Send it back!!!!

And then just go to amazon & pick one that suits your needs.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=recumbent...f=nb_sb_noss_1

bsman · #7 04-03-2019, 10:35 AM

That is consistent with the new business model being followed by almost every manufacturer - from autos to razors. The actual product is sold at a minimal profit or even a loss, with the revenue actually arising from a perpetual requirement for cartridges, blades, software updates, enhancements, etc., etc. I wrote a paper about this sort of business model in a business school class back in the 80s - indicating that this would be the future of business (as represented at that time by Gillette and a very few other companies making software), and my professor thought I was an idiot...

XYRN · #8 04-03-2019, 10:35 AM

That sounds really frustrating, sorry.

One workaround might be possible.

Do you have any VISA gift cards with $15 on it?
You may be able to sign up with that, get access and then forget about it.
Possibly.

Is the bike WIFI enabled or how does the CPU get the "permission" from Golds to operate?
Do you receive a code or something during sign-up that you punch into the controls on the bike? One time or every month?

Depending on these variables you may be able to sign-up and get going without getting hooked into a recurring charge as once the gift card is empty they can't pull any more money off of it.
People do that with "first week free" introductory offers, that require a credit card, all the time.

Dirk Hofman · #9 04-03-2019, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agfsteve

It should be illegal for a company to require credit card info at any time before any actual payment is required. Or it should at least be an opt in/out thing. The sign-up process states "First month free, cancel any time", so the logical, ethical way to do that is to require credit card info after the first month, in order to continue, cancelling if you do not enter credit card info.

I don't know a paid service which offers a free trial which doesn't do this. Just set a calendar reminder at the end of the trial period to cancel, and cancel before they charge you.

Or return it if you're philosophically opposed? Seems easy either way.

agfsteve · #10 04-03-2019, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XYRN

That sounds really frustrating, sorry.

One workaround might be possible.

Do you have any VISA gift cards with $15 on it?
You may be able to sign up with that, get access and then forget about it.
Possibly.

Is the bike WIFI enabled or how does the CPU get the "permission" from Golds to operate?
Do you receive a code or something during sign-up that you punch into the controls on the bike? One time or every month?

Depending on these variables you may be able to sign-up and get going without getting hooked into a recurring charge as once the gift card is empty they can't pull any more money off of it.
People do that with "first week free" introductory offers, that require a credit card, all the time.

I don't have a VISA gift card, but I guess I could get one and try that idea. I have a feeling that the Gold's Gym system will detect that it is not a "real" credit card, though.

I'm not sure how the electronics of the bike actually get activated. It says it is Bluetooth enabled, so I guess I would be entering the serial number at the web site and it would send a code over my home wi-fi to the bike, or something like that.

Thanks for your help.

agfsteve · #11 04-03-2019, 11:38 AM

OP here. I just noticed that we can't even turn on the fan (little built-in fan to blow in your face while pedaling) without providing the aforementioned credit card info.

Ridiculous.

Pura Vida · #12 04-03-2019, 05:41 PM

Take it back.

I have a Schwinn recumbent bike that I purchased via Amazon about five years ago, and an elliptical that was one of the first iFit machines (I'm seven years post-TKR surgery). The bike is wonderful, but the elliptical has always been sketchy. And it took them three machines, as the first two had mechanical issues within the first week, plus it's an Android OS (I'm an Apple guy). I should have known better!

agfsteve · #13 04-03-2019, 08:15 PM

I don't know whether to take it back or not. I want to take it back on principle, but my wife says it is working out well for her in the default (only) resistance mode, and the pedals turn nice and smoothly.

So, ironically, it is doing everything we need it to do for the single task for which we bought it.

imwjl · #14 04-03-2019, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

Why did you choose the Golds bike?

What I thought. I suggest getting bikes from bike companies kind of like most here would probably get guitars from guitar companies.

XYRN · #15 04-03-2019, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imwjl

What I thought. I suggest getting bikes from bike companies kind of like most here would probably get guitars from guitar companies.

He explained that in a prior post.

There was concern of scar tissue setting in and their locale has limited retail options so they pulled the trigger with little research on a model they saw in a store but had to order online.