Treadmills Item ID: #74Sole F80 Treadmill
WAS
Product Information:
Item DescriptionThe Sole Fitness F80 folding treadmill is equipped with cooling fans, a 6-window LED display, convenient speed/elevation controls in the handles and a high-output 3.0 continuous duty HP motor. Its 6 standard, 2 user-defined and 2 heart rate programs provide all of the options you need to reach your fitness goals. Item Reviews5 Responses to “Sole F80 Treadmill”Leave a Reply |
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I am a first time treadmill user and I’m the type that does a lot of Internet research before I make a major purchase. I started out thinking I would spend about $1000, and I almost bought the Sole F63. But since the treadmill would be used daily by both me and my wife, I decided to step up to the F80 for the bigger motor, better deck and a longer warranty. I have had the treadmill for a week.
We tried out the treadmill at Dick’s, but we ordered online from Dick’s website.
Delivery: I ordered on a Monday morning. It was delivered 10 days later on Thursday. This is in line with the delivery estimate on Dick’s website. ABF called a week ahead and set up a delivery time with a 4 hour window. They arrived at the end of the time window with 2 guys. The box was in excellent condition. They hand-trucked the box into our designated room with no problems. The treadmill is extremely heavy. I hope I never have to move.
Assembly: I assembled by myself. It took about an hour and 15 minutes. When putting the console on top of the treadmill, the instructions say to connect the wiring before mounting the console. This is impossible for one person to manage. I found that you can mount the console and then connect the wires with no problem. Putting the plastic shields around the wiring/console connection is tricky. You have to make sure the wires are positioned correctly so the shields can be attached without pinching the wires.
Noise Level: I’ve never used treadmills before, and based on the other reviews I expected it to be really quiet. The motor makes a low whirring noise and the pitch of the whir sound changes with the speed. It is not loud, but you do hear it. Also, walking or jogging on the deck makes a plop sound as your foot hits the deck. I assume this would be the same on any treadmill. I watch TV while I workout and I do have to turn the volume up louder to hear over the motor and the deck impact sounds.
Controls: I like the controls a lot. The quick keys for incline and speed on the console are great, and the incremental up/down keys on the hand-rests are nice also.
Programs: I’ve tried the heart rate program with the wireless chest strap. It’s really nice for setting and maintaining the desired heart rate. The treadmill will alternate incrementing incline and speed until your heart rate gets to the desired number. It will then alternate decrementing if your heart rate goes higher than the target number. I sometimes put it on manual with the heart rate strap so that I have more control over whether I want to increase my speed or incline. It also allows me to get up to my target heart rate quicker. I haven’t tried the other programs yet, but it seems to have a good selection.
Construction: The treadmill is very well constructed. Raising and lowering the deck is very easy. After I got it assembled, I was very impressed with the overall look and feel of the treadmill. I’m 5′10″, 180 lbs. and it feels very sturdy and stable when I walk or jog. However, even though the treadmill is a fold-up portable with wheels, it is very difficult to move on carpet. This is due to the weight of the machine which causes the wheels to sink down into the carpet, and I even have Berber carpet which is very low. The hardest part with moving is turning the treadmill in order to roll it in a different direction. If you are moving in a straight line forward or backward, it’s not too bad. I imagine if you were on a hard floor it would be very easy to move.
Bottom Line: I am very happy with my purchase so far.
If you’re looking in the $1500 range for a treadmill, this is it. I’m a very picky treadmill owner, and I shopped for six months before I bought this. It has everything you’d expect in a gym treadmill, with the price of a home treadmill – I have a few minor complaints below, but they aren’t show stoppers at all – and you’ll find these complaints with every other treadmill under $3000.
I initially bought a treadmill from smooth fitness. Although I’d like to see a few options from the Smooth make it into the SOLE, I was horrified with the lack of features and preferences of the Smooth unit. The motor on this is plenty for me running at 9mph, and also a fast walk at 15% incline. I’m over 6 feet tall, and well over 200 pounds. I should also mention that smooth and sole people don’t get along, so don’t call either of them and ask for a comparison… you won’t get an unbiased opinion.
Minor complaints:
* The heart rate monitor strap is unpredictable and useless… it was the same with my smooth fitness treadmill. The heart rate handles simply don’t work, AT ALL.. either that, or I’m superman because I always have a 60bpm pulse. I could care less, if you don’t know a good ballpark of what your heart rate is by feeling your pulse, you need to learn.
* The 15% incline isn’t a true 15% incline. In the gym level equipment, you’ll get a true 15% incline, but not here. I’d say its about 12-13%. Yes, it makes a huge difference. All of the mid-level treadmills get away with this and I’m not sure why.
We’ve only had our Sole F80 Treadmill for about three weeks; so far we love it. I did some research, looked for customer satisfaction, ease of use, noise factor, warranty details, etc. I chose this machine and am very happy with it. It’s fairly quiet and most important, it offers a good workout. The treadmill is sturdy and sound and I’m sure it’ll hold out for as long as we have it. Also, amazon.com’s delivery service was spectacular! I read reviews otherwise, but my delivery was perfect, a team of two who worked together, very professional and very nice.Sole F80 Treadmill
Good enough horse power, quiet enough, easy to move, very convenient switches for speed and inclination, precise heart rate transfer, MP3 player attachable, cool fan, and fancy board. Stongly recommend this to anybody hope to work out at their home. (Just one Warning! When you are supposed to assmble it by yourself, don’t release the velcro strap until you read the pink paper in it! It can be dangerous!)
I’ve owned the Sole F80 for about a year. I did a lot of research beforehand, and decided on the Sole based on reputation for quality and an excellent warranty. I’ve not been disappointed.
About two months ago, the struts which are designed to gently lower the deck to the floor from a raised position began to malfunction. Here was a chance to test customer service. No problem – they were easy to reach & responsive. Sole mailed the parts necessary to my address & had a repair person call me to arrange a time for the fix. Everything went smoothly and, of course, no charge (2 year warranty on parts and labor).
For those who may note realize it, and are having the machine shipped to them as I did, the box containing the unit is VERY heavy. I had it loaded on the back of my pickup, and managed with great difficulty to unload it myself. This is NOT recommended. Be sure to arrange for help – you’ll need it. And plenty of help if you intend to move it from one floor to another. Once I got it wrestled into my exercise room, assembly took a while but was not difficult.
The only negative I can think of is that the manual is not well written and is cheaply produced (at least as of a year or so ago when I bought mine).