The warranty is one of the worst you find on the market today. Parts and labor are covered for 90 days and the motor is covered for 5 years. We can't blame Gold's Gym for not offering more coverage on the 450. We wouldn't want to, either.
General Information
This is another licensed brand for Icon Health & Fitness. They put this brand in Wal-Mart over the past few years, and they have sold like hotcakes! Some of the newer models at the higher price points are on par with Proform and the entry-level NordicTrack units at a bargain price. If you buy their sub $400 units, you are getting what you deserve: a piece of junk for $400.
Quality / Philosophy
Gold's Gym is produced by Icon, a company with thousands of employees and large resources. Put simply, their machines have the best design in the business. Icon has a long, storied history that provides an example of how the big keep getting bigger. Icon used to be the mass-market darling because of their cheap prices, but they had the quality to match. Many of the quality upgrades that made it into Icon's other lines didn't make it into the Gold's Gym line.
Outlook
Icon is the largest fitness equipment producer in the world with over $1 billion in sales. If the fitness industry were a solar system, Icon is so powerful that they would be the Sun. In terms of stability they are the best, but overall, their customer service isn't up to the standards of any of the lower volume producers. They have promised an improvement on this and have new management in the service department, so we hope this helps. Although you get a value price for the product, you also get value service, so keep this in mind when buying their machines. Due to the sheer number of units they produce, we pick up support in many cases where this factory leaves off.
