V-fit air-walker (/free-walker/free-glider) review

air walker by V-fit

V-fit air-walker/free-walker/free-glider exercise machine

Conclusion :  Quiet and relatively inexpensive and foldable for storage but you are hardly doing any work other and can't increase the difficulty, and storage position is a bit precarious. Don't buy it.

Overall Score : 2/10
Score per cost : 4/10

Knowledge of product : consumer
Price at time of purchase : £79 ($125) from Amazon UK including delivery

Looking to lose a bit of weight with some low-impact aerobic exercise I can do anytime in the home. Priorities were price, quietness, storage and keeping it interesting. I had not heard of air-walkers/free-walkers/free-gliders until I started searching for suitable equipment. The obvious options were an elliptical machine or a mini-stepper but then I noticed an air-glider and this seemed interesting.

Pros :
It enables you to 'air-walk' in the house with no noise (if the squeaks are greased out).
A low impact aerobic workout (unfortunately too little of the aerobic part)
Folds away for storage
Relatively cheap
Pretty sturdy quality (should be long-lasting, I hope)

Cons :
Workout is far too easy. You are swinging in the air almost freely.
Storage position is quite precarious (mine is anyway)
Folding away can be precarious too (the foot pedals can fall at anytime)
Can squeak but so far managed to erase them (book recommends lithium/silicone grease. Moving Parts come pre-lubed)
No way to make the workout resistance harder
A few teething problems with bolts in moving parts working slightly loose and electronic counter moving around on the bar but hoping these 'settle down'
A bit awkward to assemble (2 people best)
Instruction book assembly was thorough (in their opinion) but pretty hard to follow and I don't even think in the best order.

Included :
V-fit air-walker
Electronic counter
Plastic juice container and holder (meant to be fixed to air-glider)
3 tools to assemble
Instruction booklet

Purpose :
You 'walk' on the footplates while holding the bars (a bit like ski-ing on the spot on a flat surface, but with no resistance). The hand and leg bars are part of the same bar. 

Quality :
For the price, the free-walker seems decent quality to me. It's pretty sturdy and seems designed to take the strain. All the parts seem capable.

Assembly :
The V-fit free-glider comes with a book with assembly, maintenance and exercise instructions. Assembling (and understanding the instructions) was awkward but after a while should be figured out. I am not sure the order of assembly is best. I had difficulty putting the green bar in last. I would probably try and put that in before joining both sides the next time. My electronic counter seems to move with the bar too, though it is 'settling down' now. At the moment I don't have the leads in to the counter in case it moves and rips the leads off.

Use :
Once I got used to the air-walker I was disappointed at how little 'exercise' I was actually doing by using it. In the first few goes the bolts at the moving parts tended to loosen, so be careful about that. The electronic counter also moved with the green bar so I undid the cable leads to it. It tells you only to do a walking style on the air-walker but I do all sorts of things that are probably 'dangerous' (such as leaning back and forward and rocking). It's pretty sturdy so no accidents so far.

Storage :

V-fit air walker stored

The V-fit free-glider is foldable for storage, though the storage position is a bit precarious (mine is anyhow). There seems to be no locking devices to keep it safely in position and it could fall down at anytime. The footplates fold upright but can fall forward anytime (one cut on my knee so far) so I usually have the footplates set against the wall. The booklet shows a way of moving the folded air-glider (like a wheelbarrow) but I find this instruction to be impossible to act out. Even when folded it takes up a bit of space. You will need to lean it against a wall

Safety in use :
I have read some of the Amazon comments on similar air-gliders, with one saying how a footplate cable snapped. Others say their feet move around on the plate which is dangerous. So far I seem to be ok on the plate. It has an incline at the front of the footplate and dimples on the plates which I guess give some grip. The footplate is not inclined the whole way round like ellipticals usually have, so I guess I could slip off (not yet). I have been 'rocking' to the max with no accident so far, including motions that are probably dangerous. So far I have been using it on carpet and it seems stable (it leaves marks which I presume will fade). I understand it should not move on other surfaces too but haven't tried yet.

Side cable : Make sure it's not caught

Side support cables issue : When I unfold the machine for use, I need to be careful that the side support cables (not the footplate cables) are not caught inside the tube and can be fully extended. One time one of the side cables was 'caught' in side the tube and then suddenly uncaught during exercise, making the machine shudder and could have caused an accident or damage if it had snapped. It looks like this may have been caught inside the tube a while and it has caused some minor damage to the side cable which then may snap over time. Update: Having now used the device a month, this is becoming a major issue when unfolding the device for use. Make sure the metal clips are not caught inside the tube. I check every time now and at least one is caught in the tube.

Conclusion :
A waste of money. The 'workout' is too easy and you can't increase resistance. At least it folds up but its precariously so. There is another version (the V-fit gravity strider) that apparently lets you increase resistance. That may be worth considering.

Update (12 Sept 12) :

I must confess it is getting a bit boring 'air walking' with no resistance. I can do things to make it a bit harder (such as pushing down when striding though this may brake the foot cables I guess, or using my hands to cause resistance) but it may be the case I am fed up with this after a few months. I will let you know if I lose weight over a while (meaning calories were burnt despite no sweating).

Squeaking : After a month of use I am starting to have squeak noises appearing from all sorts of places. The advice is to grease the moving parts (though they come pre-lubed). I have managed to stop a few but others then appear. I will keep you updated on my squeak hunt. Hopefully this latest one (which is pretty big) can be resolved. Update - at the moment I am squeak free.

Collapsing foot pedals when storing upright : It seems impossible to move or store the air glider in the way instructed in the manual. You especially need to be wary of the pedals unfolding when folding the machine up. It's a technique you will get used to to avoid this. I have found it best to fold it up with the pedals facing the wall so they can't drop. It does fold up pretty good though.

Links :
UK Amazon : V-Fit Air Walker
Amazon UK fitness section

USA Amazon - Air-walker similar to V-fit brand
Amazon USA : Exercise & Fitness section

Alternative or superior suggestions :
UK Amazon : V-Fit Gravity Strider
UK Amazon : TV Das The Original Nordic Walking Crosstrainer