Customer Reviews

Sole E55 Elliptical Trainer (2009-2010 Model, DISCONTINUED)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've written a review on the e95 as well - I'll say go read that rather than have me write a complete novel here. :-)

After deciding the e95 had some features I didn't like and that the e35 would suit my needs but I'd like just a little beefier machine and a computer with a numeric keypad - I ordered this one directly from Sole. The box came... it was HUGE. The delivery guy helped slide it down our cellar steps so getting it in the house wasn't too hard but you might want to spring the extra cash for in-home delivery if your situation is more complicated. (The box is about the size of a small-ish fridge... I've turned it in to the best box house ever for my son. If you have kids, they'll love this)

Once it was in - assembly took maybe 2 hours but we weren't exactly trying to break any records. Assembly is very straight forward and the nuts and bolts are packaged in a tray with little compartments so you have just what you need for steps 1, 2, 3, and 4.

One complaint about assembly - this beast is HEAVY. Which is a good thing, for when you're working out on it - but I look at this thing and I think, my god, it's never coming back out of this house. We bought this house 3 months ago and I am not sure it's our "forever" house. So I wonder if an elliptical adds to the value of a house. Not that we're going anywhere any time soon with the market having just dropped but... I do wonder, will it ever come back out.

Working out on this machine is AWESOME. It compares *very* favorably to the LifeFitness machines I used at the gym before I got pregnant with my twins. They're now 8 months and I had to stop using the elliptical pretty early in my pregnancy so I'm really not in the best shape now - and this machine kicks my butt. Which is good! But it's kind of humiliating. I am using resistance level 3 for now and hope to get better soon.

So far I only use the manual setting on the computer and my one complaint is you can't add time on the fly like you could with the LifeFitness machines. You have to wait until the program is over and then you can hit "start" to do it again - but it does keep going from your current distance and calories burned, at least, so it's LIKE just adding time - it would just be nice to be able to add time. (For all I know though maybe you can - and I just haven't figured it out. Such a small annoyance, though!) (Update - I've figured out if you want, you can just hit "start" twice when you get on and it will count up, rather than down, so you can just keep going as long as you like)

All in all I am very pleased with this machine. I can't help but wonder if the e35 wouldn't have worked out just as well but I wanted a little beefier flywheel and I have it.

The only mechanical issue we've had with the machine is you need to keep the tracks greased or it makes a noise like styrofoam coming out of a cardboard box. EEEK! Machine comes with a tube of grease (actually a white tube with "LUBE" written on it in large black letters, the most generic thing you can imagine... we thought it was hilarious...)

Great machine, very pleased.

I have owned this machine for a month now. Overall I am very satisfied with my purchase.

The elliptical is well built and I marvelled at the the engineering expertise when I started putting this together. The designers' attention to detail is noteworthy.

After assembly I found two parts that were nosiy. The rails on which the wheels glide had to be lubricated and two plastic arm covers had to be loosened a quarter turn.

The manual is reasonably well written. It took me about 3 hours to assemble the machine. The elliptical is heavy with a long footprint. This increases machine stability while providing a smooth workout.

I felt that the resistance levels are adeqaute. In combination with the incline feature this goes a long way in providing a challenging aerobic workout. I love the fact that the arms have incline and resistance controls. Water bottle holder is setup in an awkward way but this is not an important criteria for me.

Amazon delivered it through Ceva, however the driver only dropped it off at the front door. The paperwork mentioned that this was a 265lb pakcage. When I mentioned that I needed help to move this upstairs, the driver told us that it would be easy to carry if we moved it in parts. Trusting his words I let him go. This was my first mistake. The central housing with the flywheel and the connectors is heavy and is difficult to manage for two people (moving/flopping parts). I had to invite some friends to help me move it. Finally it took three of us to carry this over a flight of stairs.

An option (if you do not want to get the white glove service which costs $250) would be to slice open the top and remove all parts that are not attached to the flywheel and carry the box (can reseal box for safety). While reducing the total weight of the box, this will minimize the risk of moving (flopping) parts and two (skinny)people can move it. This is different from the instructions on the box, which tells you to cut the box an inch above the base.

All in all a great machine for the price.

As the prior reviewer indicated in his good review, this machine is great! I was going to purchase the E35 but decided at the last moment to go with the larger and slightly more advanced E55. I have had it since January 15th or so and have not been disappointed. Our whole family uses it from the 50 year old (ol' man) to my 9 year old daughter. A very heavy duty unit that can take my 6'5" 275 Lb frame and not go limp! Simply an excellent machine that provides and incredible work-out. I checked on many other manufacturers and the Sole was the only one to come close (if not better than) those in the gyms I used to go to!

I researched for 2 months before buying this Sole elliptical machine. I decided to go for this one mainly because of of the followings:
- Quality. Go to Dick's Sporting Goods and take a look at the condition of a Sole machine, then go to Sears/Sports Authority and look at the ones manufactured by Icon (Nordic, Reebok, Proform, etc). Shake the frame a bit and look at the parts they use at different joints. I guarantee you will notice the differences in quality easily.
- Smooth motion. The operation is very quiet. Quiet mechanical operation usually means good quality.
- Relatively heavy flywheel. The motion feels more natural because of that. This was the main reason I chose a Sole elliptical machine over a LifeCore one (see below).
- Very good price. For such a good quality elliptical machine, this price is a real bargain. (after using it for a few days, now I think I should have got the E35 model instead. I think the additional features in the E55 model do not worth spending $200 more in my opinion)

About installation. As many other reviewers pointed out, the part with flywheel is very heavy. Even though that part has wheels, you will need at least 1 helper (2 if possible) to move it indoor. It is fairly straightforward to assemble the machine (but I'm kind of a handy man), but I have to say the instructions in the manual really suck ([...]). There are many obvious mistakes in the instructions and diagrams. Luckily it is not difficult to spot those mistakes so you should still be able to assemble the machine with their instructions.

Used this machine for a week so far. Very happy with it so far. The only thing I don't like is the sound quality from the built in speakers.

When I shopped for the machine, I tried out many different models in local stores. Here are my opinions on some of those (just some subjective opinions, but hopefully will be useful to some people):

- LifeCore CD400/CD500: Just half the length of a Sole machine, very good size for a small room. Smooth motion. I leaned toward buying a CD500 for a while. However, it does not have a heavy fly wheel, so it feels like running "in the air" when using it. That's why I decided to go for a Sole machine instead.

- Octane: These are high quality machines. Well constructed, very smooth, and also very short (about the same length as the LifeCore ones). However, they are rather expensive. I notice my heels lifted off from the pedal quite a bit when using this machine, probably because it is front-driven AND a short machine (i.e. short distance between the flywheel and wheel rollers below the pedals).

- LifeFitness: Oh, boy, I loved their X5 machine. Super smooth, super quiet, and the most important of all, it feels most "natural" when running on it. Of course it is also very expensive.

- Spirit: I believe Sole elliptical machines are manufactured by Spirit. You can buy an elliptical machine with Spirit logo on it. I heard those are made of better mechanical parts so they are a bit more expensive. However, I tried one out in a local store and couldn't really tell the difference.

- Precor: For some reason I didn't find Precor elliptical machines that attractive (probably because of its look). Note that you can adjust incline angle with Precor elliptical machines, which is a very nice feature to me.

- Icon (Reebok, Proform, Nordic): I plan to use my elliptical machine everyday, so quality is important to me. Looking at how the pedals arms are connected to the flywheel, and also the quality of the body frame, I just don't believe these machines will last long enough for me.

At last, I have a few suggestions to people shopping for an elliptical machine:

1. Try out different machines at least twice in local stores. At first I planned to buy a LifeCore CD500, because it is much shorter (so it looks much cooler), and the stride length is adjustable. I didn't notice the Sole machine has smoother motion until my 2nd or 3rd visit to the stores.

2. It is rather difficult to get objective reviews for elliptical machines. Some web-sites are paid to say good things about certain brands. Most salesmen in local stores I met would say bad things about any brand of elliptical machines they were not selling. I subscribed to Consumer Reports online to look at their reviews, and was rather disappointed because their reviews in this area are rather useless. Seems to me they were written by someone who don't know elliptical machines that well. I got the most useful reviews from Treadmill Doctor online. Highly recommended.

3. You can probably tell I don't like those Icon elliptical machines. However, if you don't plan to use your elliptical machine that often and you are not too heavy, those Icon machines actually may not be a bad choice. They are sold at very good price. One of my coworker loves her Nordic elliptical machine). Just don't expect it to last long if you are going to use it regularly.

My wife and I searched and searched for an elliptical because we were fed up with signing up for gym memberships and not using them. Having to go to the gym just wasn't practical for us. So we embarked on a quest to find the quietest, most reliable and feature packed elliptical we could find.

Our budget was 2K or less. Online research led us to many brands and many models - too many actually. It was a dizzying array of choices. So we decided to visit fitness equipment stores and sporting goods stores to try out a few ellipticals in person. The fitness stores carried mostly high-end brands like Precor, which we liked, but were all WAY out of our price range. Besides, after looking at the fine print, we noticed that Precors only come with a 1 year warranty. After that, the frame is good for 10 years but parts and labor are at the owner's expense!

The sporting goods stores turned up the typical mass market brands like Reebok, ProForm, Horizon, Ironman, and New Balance. Most were pretty flimsy feeling and wobbly or the stride just didn't feel right. The Reebok ellipticals came close but they didn't offer wireless heart rate monitoring and the stride still wasn't quite right. Our eureka moment came at Dick's sporting goods when we noticed one brand that we had never seen before, Sole. They had the E55 model on display and we tried it out. It was very solid feeling and the stride was natural. There was very little heel lift which is a key component for a low-impact workout - also, the foot pads are adjustable which virtually eliminates any heel lift. I was also pleased that the Sole elliptical had both pulse hand grips AND wireless chest strap heart rate monitoring. This is important not only to improve your endurance but also ensures a safer workout. There's also a great HRC program that varies the resistance based on your heart rate in order to maintain a constant heart rate.

Since I'm not an impulse buyer I was still concerned that I had never heard of Sole before. Searching online turned up a few reviews about their treadmills. Digging deeper yielded a wealth of information about the treadmills and it turns out that Sole makes a very reliable product and their treadmills are well reviewed and used exclusively at Hilton and other hotel chains. With an endorsement like that I was sold. My online research also turned up the official Sole company site and I was happy to learn that I could order online with free shipping and no sales tax. The delivered price was still $500 below our budget! We also learned that the Sole ellipticals came with a great warranty, 2 years labor, 5 years motor and lifetime frame and deck. Not bad and twice as good as the Precor which was 3 times more price-wise.

In summary, this is absolutely the best bang for the buck as far as ellipticals go. Sole ellipticals are the best ellipticals under $2000 and they even compete very well with the ones above $2000 as well!

Lastly, the best place to buy them is from the company's own website [...]

I received this machine on 8/10/09 - had it shipped to my house in Pennsylvania to save the $100+ in sales tax I would have had to pay if I had it shipped to my house in New York City... I was able to fit the box in my 2005 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon with the hatchback a tad open and tied down... it's not incredibly heavy, but you won't be able to move it by yourself (unless you're dragging it along the floor back and forth).

The instructions on VERY simple and straight forward. It looks like a lot in the diagrams but it really isn't - it's just very time consuming. It took me almost 4 hours to assemble it by myself. Very important - I followed everyones advice and made sure ALL the bolts were bolted on VERY tightly to prevent squeaks and noises.. but this proved to be bad advice in one of the bolts.. the bolts that attach the swinging arms to the central mast... these bolts attach in the middle of the bearings that are on the arms.. if you tighten these too much the bolts will snap on you... which it did in my case. The machine still works PERFECTLY though even with that arm not secured to the center mast... I'm having the center mast replaced because of this - they are sending it and it should arrive in a few days...

So, make sure ALL bolts are very very tight except for the ones you attach the arms to the center mast on.. just tighten them regularly. All other bolts are fine to go crazy on.

Another suggestion is to use a ratchet wrench.. you'll need from 9mm - 14mm bits for this job... the ratchet wrench makes assembly much easier and wont kill your hand.. much...

Also make sure whenever you use the elliptical that the wheels are properly aligned with the rails.. if they aren't then you will scratch the smooth aluminum plates... I made that mistake when my son was messing with those wheels and took it off the rails before my workout... Sole is also sending me a free replacement plate for free.

Sole customer service has been great with me... my only complaint is that I had to keep on following up on my request for warranty service - I called three times within 3 days.. first call was to report the problem and register the machine in my name, then they asked that I send them proof of purchase via e-mail, then the second call was to followup if they received my proof of purchase which they did and they told me they'd call me the same day - never called.. third time I called was to follow-up on the call I was waiting for.. but they transferred me directly to the service department who then went over all of my issues and put in a parts order for my replacements.

I really do not understand the couple of people who gave bad reviews on this product. One guy had a lot of complaints on the assembly.. I mean, come on.. if you have half a brain you can figure out how to assemble this thing... i can't believe people charge $150 to assemble this... save yourself the money - this would be a fun thing to do with your kids if they're old enough... Another guy said the machine was not stable during the workout... you must have not followed the instructions or you didn't bother tightening all of the bolts properly!

I gave this machine 4 out of 5 stars only because of the minor issues I had with the broken bolt and customer service followup. Very minor issues but this machine is QUALITY and is well worth the money.

NEARLY 1 YEAR LATER UPDATE: I wanted to update my review since it has been nearly a year since I bought it. I changed my review to 5 stars because the pain of putting it together and the lack of good assembly instructions has paled in comparison to the great performance of this elliptical. I spend 30 minutes a day on this elliptical and it still kicks my butt! I get a great workout, my back doesn't hurt, I have toned up all the way around and the ride is still as smooth as it was the day we put it together. I love the Sole E55 now more than I did the day I got it!

I ordered this elliptical after months of researching on-line reviews and considering used equipment. I decided on the Sole thanks to good reviews on Treadmill Doctor and others and the E55 particularly because I got a good deal on it on Ebay (new and direct from Sole for the cost of the E35). It shipped in about 5 days; took another 2 or 3 to get it to my house. They delivered it to my garage and took away the pallet. The box was huge and looked filthy and beaten up. The product inside was fine but heavy. My husband and I took it out piece by piece (thanks to another reviewer's recommendation) then pushed the box with the heaviest parts into the spare bedroom. It took a few minutes with two of us shoving the box across the floor and we were sweating before we even got the box into the room. Assembly took probably 3 hours (easily). What took us so long was getting the wiring through the mast; we used a wire coathanger taped to the wires and that was easy but in doing so we disruped two little wires that stick out of small holes in the mast--getting them back to their proper place took awhile. Also the small rubber grommets that protect those wires we found after we put everything together (they are in the package with the electrical cord--not in the box with the parts. Anyway, we got it all together and the ride is so smooth and quiet! We (husband and myself) are out of shape so for the first few days, we used only the weight of the flywheel (no incline no resistance) and 15 minutes was tough! Slowly we are getting stronger and increasing our time and endurance. This is a sturdy machine. The reviewer who said he felt it was unstable--I can't imagine that. We love the machine; took off one star for the assembly difficulties but would give five stars for the machine after assembly.

1 month update:
Have used this elliptical every day for the last month and it's still as quiet and smooth as the day we put it together. I use the manual setting to set my own incline and resistance; my husband uses the cardio and fatburner settings and it kicks both our butts. No problems with anything so far. BTW, we have it set up in a room with 8' ceilings and we have ample headroom for a 6' tall person to work out on.

This is just my initial review, I will come back and update later if need be. I just received this unit yesterday and my husband put it together in about 3 hours. I recommend using your own tools, as the tools provided just don't seem to be able to tighten the bolts as well as a socket wrench set would (my husband used the wrenches provided as a "nut" stabilizer while using his own on the bolts) The plastic covers are not labeled either, which makes construction a bit time consuming. And a couple of wires that plugged into the console were identical and unmarked-- I believe another reviewer had this issue also and got lucky like us. Either that or it doesn't matter which goes where. The unit has a lot of plastic covers, but the plastic seems to be pretty sturdy. The construction underneath these covers is very good, it is heavy duty and looks to be able to carry a very heavy person with minimal strain. The light-up console is user friendly and easy to read and has many neat features (customized workouts for 2 users)I like the fact that there are 2 hand positions, and that the moving arms are stabilizing rather than the opposite which you could get stuck with in cheaper models. The cup holder is really just two open cubbies at the bottom of the light-up display, and could be useful as much more than just a drink receptacle. Think: remote controls, phone, gum, baby monitor, etc. So after I jumped on in for my first use last night I noted that you did indeed have to lube the rails or they squeak, but that seems to be a construction requirement as the unit does come with a bottle of "LUBE" (like another reviewer my hubs and I cracked up at it). I am about 5'10" which isn't SUPER tall, but a lot of my height is in my legs so the stride seemed just a bit short. I did notice that adjusting the foot angle seemed to help this quite a bit. The ride is very smooth and not choppy at all, unless you do what I kept doing which was trying to lengthen the stride-but like I said adjusting the foot pedals corrected this. The unit itself does not wobble at all; I feel very safe atop it, and I am not a small woman--5'10" and 190 lbs. The incline feature hurts--but as I am woefully out of shape, that is a good thing-- and this feature is one of the reasons I purchased this unit, we needed something that was challenging as well. And with it, it seemed to combine a running machine with a stairclimber. We were debating this or the Bowflex Treadclimber, and based on the reviews at http://www.fitness-equipment-source.com/ for both of these, we decided on the E55. The console is much larger than I anticipated and very easy to use/read as a result and the fan is a nice touch also. All in all, as of this morning, I am thrilled with this purchase and can't wait to lose all the weight I gained from having babies. Treadmills have always been very unappealing due to the jarring effect of running (NOT an option for me)and this is a smooth alternative for large breasted and joint sensitive alike.

After a LOT of research, I took the plunge in Feb. 2009. The delivery took about 1 week after the ordered was placed which was a surprise.

Some installation comments; as with the previous reviews, the fly wheel section is VERY heavy and awkward to move since the foot pedals assembly is attached. Fortunately, I did not have to move it upstairs but just moving it from the garage in the house was difficult. I like one of the suggestions (from the review) of having the flywheel portion in the box package when moving. Note, I discovered this afterwards but the foot pedal assembly can be easily removed and reassembled. It took us around 3hrs to put everything together.

The machine was great after the first week of use. However after two weeks, I experienced a knocking noise from the joint connecting the left handle bar to foot pedal. After contacting Sole via email on the problem, they were prompt to respond (via call back). It wasn't too long before I received the replacement parts which resolved the problem. Within the third week of use another noise surfaced. The machine was making some very annoying creaking noise. It turned out one of the nuts on the pedestal was not tightened completely. After nearly 10 months of use, the machine exhibited another noise problem, a thumping noise from within the flywheel section which was very difficult to pinpoint. I contacted Sole once again. It wasn't too long before they had the parts delivered and arranged for a local service repair appointment. The internal bearings for the flywheel were replaced and the thumping noise was gone.

After a year of ownership, I still like the machine and continue to use it. The total odometer reading shows nearly 340 miles. The machine still exhibits some minor noises which isn't too bothersome yet. So here's the break down...

Likes: 1) The machine is quiet enough to keep my young kids sleeping since my exercise routine is early in the morning. This is a BIG PLUS for me. 2) The stride length/step and its smoothness. This equipment does feel like a prof. equipment. I get to try out other machines in the hotels during some of my travels and they don't come close. 3) The foot pedal adjustment is a nice feature, although I still experience some mild foot numbness. 4) There is a good list of programs options. I tried nearly all of them too. With the various combinations of incline and resistance, this machine definitely provides usability for the long haul. I frequently use the 80% THR mode and the Calorie Burn mode. 5) The supplied chest strap heart rate monitor. I've learned quite a bit about THR. 6) Sole support service. Sole is definitely standing behind their products.
Some dislikes: 1) Outside of the noise / mechanical issues encountered the other issue is the documentation, although minor. It needs to be updated as it has some errors. Also I discovered there is a safety feature which is not noted. The machine will turn off the machine if you exceed the target HR range (if you don't increase it as you progress). When this happens, you will lose your entire progress data. 2) This was noted in one review...once you are in a routine, you will not be able to increase the time. To address this, I program my time beyond the anticipated workout routine and stop when desired. 3) The fan is a bit weak but it's better than nothing.

Overall I'm fairly satisfy with the purchase. I would recommend it.

If you are "assembly challenged" get someone else to assemble this machine because the instructions are very poor and you will go nuts trying to put this together. The very first bolts didn't line up. There were a few instances where the part or bolt numbers were wrong (Try finding the part #25 in step 4 it's really #24). Particularly frustrating was the electrical connections to the console. This was not diagrammed and poorly described. Then there were the screws from the inside of the machine. They do give you a little screw driver for those. Good luck if you have big hands.

The good news is - after three weekends assembling this thing, it does work very well and feels nice and solid.