The Sole F83

Sole is a great company. Despite their crappy website, they have grown incredibly fast and are practically the largest treadmill company in the world. They have dealers all over the world, and they get most of their attention from their exceptional customer service. People who own sole treadmills are in good hands. Probably the best in my opinion. They stick to their warranties well, and do well at making their customers happy. They get most of their business from selling their treadmills to Hotel Chains around the world. But they are becoming more and more active in the home treadmills market.
Their line consists of about 8 treadmills total. The Sole F83 is one of the higher-end folding treadmills, just under the F85, and just a step up from the F80. It has a heavier horsepower motor than the F80, jumping up to a 3.25CHP motor that makes less noise due to a heavier flywheel. The Deck has a higher weight capacity coming in at 375lbs, which is stronger than you’ll find on most home treadmills.

The Sole F65 Treadmill Review

OHIYO!

Here we go with the Sole! One of my favorite treadmill brands out there. Sole has some of the best treadmills, and is one of the top selling treadmill dealers. They are most recognized for their amazing customer service.

The F65 Model is a brand new middle model for 2011. The motor jumps up to a 2.75 CHP. With more power like this, the motor will remain at lower RPMs and will be quieter and last much longer without problems than a smaller motor would. The belt is a full 20″ width and a 58″ length with 2 ply thickness, the rollers are a full 2 1/2″ which help the belt move more smoothly and easily.

The Sole F85 Treadmill is a strong, durable and well built treadmill. Some have said that the F85 is the best fold-up treadmill available. We would have a hard time finding evidence to dispute that!

The Sole F85 Treadmill is equipped with a powerful 3.5 HP Continuous Duty DC, Ultra High Torque Motor, with the ability to handle the heftiest users (400lbs). The motor is big, powerful, yet quiet.

The Sole F63 Treadmill is a simple but high quality treadmill in its price range.

The Sole F63 Treadmill is built with a quality 2.5 HP Continuous Duty, DC Motor to provide a long service life. It comes with a 20” x 55” tread belt, just adequate to make you feel comfortable during your workout. The F63 Treadmill can accommodate up to 325 lbs. It has a foldable design to accommodate users that live in a small room apartment or small house. You can simply fold the deck vertically to recapture your living area. The treadmill has a total weight of 245 lbs. so you know it is a quality machine.

Ohiyo!

We’ve been sent in a new “Deal of the Week” by you, the Treadmill Sensei’s loyal readers. This week StevenJ1978 sends in this:

Sensei, I know ya’ll are always on the look out for new sales going on and I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the Sole treadmill deals going on at Amazon. The 2008 Sole F80 treadmill is on sale right now for $1299.99!!! I ordered one a couple of days and can’t wait for it to get here so I can work off some of my holiday fat. By the way I love your website. I read it for a couple of weeks before making my decision. Thanks for the great advice and the unbiased reporting. -SteveJ1978

Thanks for the tip, SteveJ1978!

For those of you who, like those of us here at the DOJO, absolutely love the Sole Treadmills in general and the best buy award winning Sole F80 Treadmill in specific, this is a fantastic deal. Normally the top rated Sole F80 goes for just under $1500 so this Amazon.com sale is a great way to save $200.

The Sole F80 treadmill took top awards in the Treadmill Sensei’s Ichi-Ban Best Buy Awards for Best Treadmill Under $1500, so this price drop just makes it even sweeter. The F80 features a large 3 horsepower motor, solid 2.75″ precision machined rollers and a steel-welded frame with a 20″x55″ running area.

In addition it comes with 6 preset programs, 2 heart rate control programs, heart rate monitoring, an 11mph top speed and incline up to 15%. Pound for pound, the Sole F80 is one of the best treadmills on the market today. If you are looking to purchase a treadmill in the $1000-$2000 range, drop by and check out the Sole F80 at $1299.99 to save yourself a bit of cash.

As with any sale, we have no idea how long this one will last or what kind of stock Amazon has on the units.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com

Click Here to Save on this Treadmill

Ohiyo!

For more than 3 years now, the Sole F63 treadmill has been one of the dominant treadmills in the under $1000 price range. It has been one of the top sellers online and is one of the best reviewed treadmills at any price. This year Sole has upgraded the unit while keeping it at the same under $1000 price tag that consumers have gone crazy for.

The 2008 Sole F63 Treadmill comes with the same monster, cool running, low RPM 2.5 horsepower motor from years past. The F63 motor was the same one found in most of the Spirit treadmills as well as in last year’s best buy award winning Sole F80 treadmill. When properly maintained, the motor on the Sole F63 should outlast the 20-year warranty it ships with.

It still has the same 10mph top speed, fantastic 15% incline, large precision machined 2.5″ rollers and large 20″x55″ deck. The only real changes in the Sole F63 this year are in its look and in the larger support tubing in the upright console supports. The large supports give the already solid SOle F63 even more stability and sturdiness, making the Sole F63 the single most stable and shake-free treadmill under $1000…and it gives higher priced treadmills a run for their money as well. Step on a Sole F63 after checking out a higher priced Spirit treadmill and you’ll see the difference immediately. Gone are the shakes and bouncies often found in the Spirit XT175, Spirit XT275 or Spirit XT375 treadmills. The budget-priced Sole F63 out-performs them all.

I can say that I was glad that Sole Fitness decided to keep this best buy award winning treadmill unchanged aside from the cosmetic changes and the larger tubing. The Sole F63 was about as close to a perfect treadmill as you could find in the budget price range.

My one warning about purchasing the Sole F63 comes in where you buy it. A lot of online retailers are knocking a few bucks off of the price of the unit (you may see it listed at $995 some places), but they are tacking on a $99 shipping fee. What that means is that even with a promised 5% discount you’ll still end up paying more than market value for the Sole F63. Check out Amazon.com for the Sole F63 priced at $999.99 with free shipping. Don’t get conned into paying more by shady sales people, especially when you can get it at a lower price on Amazon as well as take advantage of Amazon’s buyer protection.

For being a solid, best buy treadmill, the Treadmill Sensei gives the 2008 Sole F63 Treadmill 4.5 out of 5 golden buddahs.

The Sole F63 gets a great 4.5 gold buddahs out of 5.

We have found the lowest price for the Sole F63 treadmill online. Don’t be fooled into paying for shipping…get more information and save more with Free Shipping at Amazon.

2008 Sole F63 Treadmill Specifications
Horsepower: 2.5 HP
Max Speed: 10 MPH
Max Incline: 15%
Rollers: 2.5″
Belt: 2 ply
Deck Size: 20″ x 55″
Display: LCD
Readouts: Speed, Incline, Time, Distance Traveled, Calories, Pulse, pace and 1/4 mile track.
Programs: 6 standard
Heart Rate Monitoring: Yes
Heart Rate Control: No
Folding: Yes
Max Weight Capacity: 325 lbs.
Weight: 245 lbs.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com

Ohiyo!

This year Sole Fitness has tweaked their entire, award-winning line of treadmills and ellipticals. In general, most of that tweaking was cosmetic — color, shape of console and thickening of tubing to make the units stronger — but for the already spectacular Sole F80 Treadmill, Sole has gone one step further and added in a larger, cooler running motor. That’s right, last year’s great 2.5 horsepower motor was replaced with an even larger 3 horsepower motor that runs at low RPMs in order to extend it’s life and give owners fairly care-free maintence.

It’s very very easy to see why just about every fitness expert out there, as well as more consumers than you can shake a stick at, consider the Sole F80 to be the best buy treadmill for under $1500.

2007-2008 Ichi-Ban Best Buy Award Winner for treadmills under $1500.

Last year I talked about the sturdy platform and frame of the Sole F80 and how it would hold up to some fairly hardcore workouts. How runners and walkers alike would enjoy the stability of the machine, as well as Sole’s patented shock absorption system. Well, that is all back this year, along with the extra large 2.75″, precision machined rollers, heart rate monitoring and control programs, and one of the best hydraulic-assisted folding found in any treadmill at any price.

The 2008 Sole F80 treadmill continues to shine as the best buy treadmill award winner and one of the best machines in any class. For still being a great treadmill, the Treadmill Sensei gives the newly upgraded Sole F80 treadmill 4.5 out of 5 golden buddahs.

For the second year in a row, the Sole F80 Treadmill gets 4.5 gold buddahs out of 5.

Get more information on the Sole F80 Treadmill. Find the guaranteed best price online, and Save More with FREE Shipping Now!

2008 Sole F80 Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 3 HP
Speed: 11 mph
Incline: 15%
Unit Weight: 250 lbs.
Max User Weight: 350 lbs.
Running Surface: 20″ X 55
Belt: Double Woven 2 Ply”
Rollers: 2 3/4 inches
Folding: Yes – with hydraulic assistance
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and wireless
Display: LED
Standard Programs: 6
User Defined Programs: 2
Heart Rate Programs: 2
Cooling Fans: Yes
Price: Under $1500

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com

Ohiyo!

Today your Treadmill Sensei is just about conviced he’s going to die before the end of the day. You see, we had another fairly incompentent driver come in from one of the freight companies to drop off equipment and I wound up pulling a whole bunch of nifty muscles in my back. You’d be surprised at how much muscles there are in your back that you can hurt.

Luckily, I go to a great chiropractor down in Huntington Beach and they have an adjustment table waiting for me tomorrow. Until then I’m hunched over and just want to die.

For now I’m going to review the treadmill which caused me so much pain today, the Sole S73 treadmill. This unit is an easy one to review because it is just the non-folding version of the Sole F83 treadmill, which I’ve already reviewed.

With the Sole S73 you get the same giant 3 horsepower, high-torque, low RPM motor as the F83. You get the same maximum speed (12 MPH), same max incline (15%), same heart rate monitor and control, same just about everything. The only two differences are the non-folding nature of the S73 and the slightly shorter deck length. The S73 has a 20×55 where the F83 has a 20×58. So, you’re getting a slightly shorter deck but saving around $100. Not a terrible trade off, but I would have preferred it if the Sole S73 treadmill had the same deck as the F83.

You really can’t go wrong with the Sole S73 but if you can spare the extra $100 I’d just upgrade to the F83 and get more running room. For not being quite as good as the Sole F83, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Sole S73 treadmill 4 out of 5 golden buddahs.

The Sole S73 comes in at 4 gold buddahs out of 5.

Sole S73 Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 3.0 HP
Folding: No
Max User Weight: 350 lbs
Max Speed: 12 MPH
Max Incline: 15%
Running Area: 20×55 inches
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and chest strap
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Programs: 6
Display: Tri color LED
Readouts: Speed, Incline, Time, Distance Traveled, Calories, Pulse and Pace
Treadmill Weight: 260 lbs.
Roller Size: 2.75″
Deck Thickness: 1″

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com

Click here to Save on this Treadmill

Ohiyo!

One of the popular lines of treadmills and ellipticals right now is by Sole Fitness out of Utah. Their units are all produced by a Taiwanese manufacturer by the name of Dyaco, who is best known for owning Spirit Fitness and having produced equipment for a number of other companies, including Free Spirit, SportsArt, Red Zone and a few others I’m sure I am forgetting in my old age.

Sole itself has been around since around 2002-2003 and have been known more as a repackaging/relabeling company than anything else, as well as being some of the best internet marketers around outside of Smooth Fitness. From what I remember, before Sole hooked up with Dyaco, they were putting out units based on old Reebok Bodytrec designs (does anyone else remember the horrible Sole E89 ellipticals?).

Due to the high quality, mid-range product that Sole sells, they signed a fantastic deal with the Hilton Hotel chains with Sole equipment, which helped to heighten the public’s awareness of the Sole brand. In a further effort to expand their visibility, Sole also signed with Dick’s Sporting goods as their major brick and mortar vendor within the last 2 years.

Overall, thanks to some fine equipment produced by Dyaco, Sole has a very solid line of treadmills and ellipticals which are on the top of most “best buy” lists. The only downside to their product is the aforementioned Compton shipping warehouse. This past year, Sole has greatly improved its shipping department and has become one of the quickest, most reliable fitness equipment shippers around. Combined with its top-notch and highly rated customer service department, Sole is one of the most well rounded fitness manufacturer active in the market today.

Sole contines to be one of the best rated fitness companies by both experts and consumers alike.

Sole Fitness Ellipticals:

• Sole E25 Elliptical – Best Buy elliptical under $1000
• 2008 Sole E25 Elliptical – Best Buy Elliptical under $1000 for 2008
• 2007 Sole E35 Elliptical – Best Buy elliptical from $1001-$1500 for 2006-2007
• 2008 Sole E35 Elliptical - Best Buy Under $1500 for 2007-2008
• 2007 Sole E55 Elliptical – Fantastic upgrade to the Sole E35 for just a little more.
• 2008 Sole E55 Elliptical – 2008 upgrade to great unit
• Sole E95 Elliptical – Best Buy runner up from $1501-$2000.
• 2008 Sole E95 Elliptical – Best Buy Runner Up for under $2000.

Sole Fitness Treadmills:

• Sole F63Treadmill – Ichi-Ban Best Buy Award for a treadmill under $1000.
• 2008 Sole F63 Treadmill – Ichi-Ban Best Buy Award winning treadmill under $1000.
• Sole F80 Treadmill – Nice upgrade to the Sole F63, but be prepared for the higher price.
• 2008 Sole F80 Treadmill – 2008 Best Buy Award Winner Treadmill under $1500
• Sole F83 Treadmill – Decent treadmill in the $1500-$2000 range.
• Sole F85 Treadmill – Best Buy Award for a treadmill under $2000.
• Sole S73 Treadmill – 4 out of 5 golden buddahs.
• Sole S77 Treadmill – One of the best non-folding treadmills on the market.
• Sole TT8 Treadmill – Solid, but over priced treadmill.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com

Ohiyo!

We received a batch of freight damaged Sole treadmills here at the DOJO yesterday from a local dealer. Every so often a freigh company will drop a load or damage a shipment with a poorly maneuvered forklift blade and the units are brought to a repair facility like ours to see if they can be salvaged. We fix them and return them if we can. If not, the freight companies pick them up and take them away. Unfortunately, I think a lot of these repaired machines wind up on ebay and sold as new.

2007-2008 Ichi-Ban Best Buy Award Winner.

Anyway, in this batch of freight damage we discovered a nearly perfect Sole F80 treadmill. Since all it had was a couple of cracks in its upright support casings, your Treadmill Sensei decided to go ahead and put it together to do a quick review.

The Sole F80 has much heavier uprights than most other units at this price range…up to a good 2 inches thicker to be precise. If you’re going to be doing a lot of hard running or are a heavier runner, then the Sole F80 is going to feel quite a bit more solid and sturdy.

Aside from that the Sole F80 has a commercial style LED console very similar to what you might work out on at a gym. Standard on this unit are 10 workout programs, a 20×55 running surface, very large 2.75 inch rollers and a huge 3 horsepower motor. As with all of the Sole motors from Dyaco, you get a very big motor, running cool and at lower RPMs with a lot of torque. Sole has done an excellent job in choosing the motors for its units. They are easily the best grade motors in the $1000-$2500 range.

A great feature that no one really mentions is the hydraulic-assisted folding on the Sole F80. With one hand you can easily raise the deck in to the folded position and, with a click of the safety switch, it slowly lowers itself all the way to the ground without the painful drop a lot of other units experience.

If you need a heavier machine and don’t want to pay $1700 or more, then the Sole F80 is an excellent choice. For continued excellence, the Treadmill Sensei gives the Sole F80 4.5 out of 5 golden buddahs.

The Sole F80 gets 4.5 gold buddahs out of 5.

Get more information on the Sole F80 Treadmill. Find the best price online and Save More by paying No Tax and get FREE Shipping!

Sole F80 Treadmill Specifications
Motor: 3 HP
Speed: 11 mph
Incline: 15%
Unit Weight: 250 lbs.
Max User Weight: 335 lbs.
Running Surface: 20 X 55
Belt: Double Woven 2 Ply
Rollers: 2 3/4 inches
Folding: Yes – with hydraulic assistance
Heart Rate Control: Yes
Heart Rate Monitor: Pulse grip and wireless
Display: LED
Standard Programs: 6
User Defined Programs: 2
Heart Rate Programs: 2
Cooling Fans: Yes

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com