Okay, so I've had this machine for almost exactly 3 years now. First off, sorry, I forgot to caption my pictures. Those are the places where I needed to squirt in some WD-40 due to the squeaking. It sounded like I was running over squirrels. I placed paper towels under that front part of the bike & liberally squirted WD-40 in and around that plate and that helped for a while. Okay....so 3 years later. The exerciser has held up, but now the frame seems to be a bit wiggly when used on the elliptical setting. I'm going to have my husband tighten up the bolts before I use it again. It's just fine on the recumbent setting. I've stopped using the timer/LCD screen as it sucks batteries like crazy. But you can use it just fine without the screen on. The only thing I *wish* it had is some sort of strap or way to position an iPad or Kindle on the part with the LCD screen. I like to watch a show while I'm peddling and it gets monotonous just staring at the wall. But this isn't a deal breaker, just my preference when I exercise. I'm still very satisfied with this machine, it fits my body size well. My husband decided that he doesn't like running indoors and just continues to run outside. I still recommend this machine for people who want to keep fit but are not heavy trainers. For that kind of workout you would want a gym membership or a much heavier duty machine. Thanks to all those who wished me well regarding my spinal surgery!! I'm doing very well now. :o)I've been looking for a new piece of exercise equipment for a few months, as I had spinal fusion surgery this past summer and was told by my orthopedic surgeon that I need to exercise regularly to get my back muscles back into shape. I had an old exercise bike for quite a few years, but trying to pedal without lumbar support was terrible. I've looked at quite a few elliptical machines and recumbent bikes (both on amazon & the local sporting goods store) but either the price was too high or the settings were too difficult for a novice. After reading a lot of the reviews I took a chance on this piece of equipment (the price was great, 2 for the price of 1) and the fact that most people complained about a "short stride" on the elliptical setting sold me. I am 5'2" (about 115 lbs.) but I have fairly short legs and an even shorter stride. Most of the machines I tried at the sporting goods store had strides so huge that I felt like I was going to get thrown off into the wall!! So here are some of the things I encountered after ordering this trainer (sorry if my list is a little long, but I wanted to give answers to a lot of questions I had before ordering):*It took 7 days to receive the purchase (I used the free shipping so I was expecting about a week to receive the order).*The box is HUGE (according to the UPS man 125+ lbs.) luckily I have a nice UPS man who rang my doorbell and asked where I wanted the box stored. He wheeled it right into the garage. My husband was able to unpack the box in the garage and bring the pieces up separately.*It took exactly 2 hours for my husband to put it together, and that includes looking for a piece that happened to be missing. He's not the handiest guy but he's put together his fair share of IKEA furniture. ;o) We also had all of the necessary tools, phillips head screwdriver, rubber mallet, a ratcheting screwdriver set/wrench set. You also need 4 AA batteries for the LCD screen.*The pieces were actually packed in a coherent manner. I'm sure you've tried to put together furniture where none of the pieces are labeled and/or all of the hardware is thrown together in a baggie. The large pieces were labeled left & right with stickers and the hardware was all prepackaged on a cardboard sheet and labeled with the size/piece # of each screw and nut.*One caveat, however, my husband had to do a lot of contorting around on the floor to get the trainer put together. Not all of the screw holes were in convenient areas on the machine! He also stated that it seemed each nut only fit one particular screw, some went on easy and some not so much. His theory is that the company makes it "just hard enough" to put together that you think about saving yourself time by hiring someone to put it together!*We found a piece was missing, one of the seat handlebars. We were able to put it together without the piece. We also found 2 extra pieces that don't even belong to this machine...weird. I called customer service, waited about 15 minutes on hold, but spoke with a very polite and friendly lady who ordered the part for me. Hooray! She didn't seem surprised when I told her that one part was omitted from the package while we received 2 parts that we don't need for this machine.*I tried the recumbent setting first. You have to lift each pedal, unfold the brace that is underneath and insert it into the pedal carriage. It's not difficult to do once you are looking at it--one of our pedal braces was pretty hard to unfold and we needed to loosen the screw some to get it moving. After that it was easy to fold & unfold. You also have to pivot the console, so you can see it while you bike, also not hard to do. If you need to adjust the foot pedals you just loosen the pedal knob and slide the pedal forward or backward on the pedal leg.*For someone who has had very involved back surgery, the recumbent seat is pretty comfortable. No, it does not adjust but you can adjust the foot pedals and put a small pillow behind your back if you need extra lumbar support (which is what I did).*I easily switched the trainer back to the elliptical setting (I was able to leave the pedals in the same position as the recumbent), so it was just folding the braces back up into the pedals & pivoting the console straight again. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.*Again, I have shorty legs so I thought the stride was just fine for me. Also, I was pretty much wheelchair bound by the time I had my back surgery...prior to that I had so much nerve pain in my legs that I couldn't do many day to day activities (i.e. drive, play on the floor with my 2 year old, sit or stand comfortably). I was never a competitive runner or athlete so when I was looking for a new exercise machine, I needed something basic, not too fancy, something that will provide good back support and a machine that would fit my petite size. Take this into consideration. If you are a marathon runner or are built (and workout) like a professional NFL player then this trainer probably isn't for you! But if you want something that is a decent "home machine" then I recommend the hybrid trainer.*I'll have to make an update after my husband uses the trainer (he's 6'2" and about 200 lbs.) and let you all know what he thought of the stride. **He used the trainer the other day and said that the shorter stride didn't bother him enough to make a difference in his exercising. But after he used it, it started to squeak some...**So overall, a good purchase for me, and I hope this answers any questions anyone may have!