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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost perfect, but not quite..., November 12, 2008
I have been researching home ellipticals for a while now. I was spoiled with the LifeFitness machines (20 inch stride) at the gym and I know many home ellipticals fall short - they feel shaky, flimsy, the stride is short... I had read great things about Sole machines and went to a local store to try them out.
They had the e95, e35, and e25 in new 2009 models as well as an old (2008) e55 being sold as a floor model. I had originally thought I wanted the e55 but the new e35 is actually better than the old e55 so that ruled out the floor model, even at a killer price.
I looked mainly at the e35 and the e95.
Both are very, very, very sturdy machines. I was amazed at how much they feel like the LifeStride - very solid and a nice, long stride. I am only 5'4 but anything less than 20" in stride length feels choppy to me - I don't know how anyone can stand most home machines!
If I really, really got going hard and fast, I could feel a slight difference in sturdiness between the two machines. I should point out I am between 140-150 pounds - the sales guys said if they were me, they'd go with the e35 but someone of a higher weight would notice the difference more than I did. The difference in sturdiness alone was really too slight to justify the difference in price, but since we could afford to go higher, I wondered if we should.
The other thing I debated, though, was the computer. For the most part you can do the exact same thing with both machines, but the computers are a little different. The e95 is flashy red LED and has a numeric keypad. The e35 is blue LCD and has arrow keys for input (ie it says "Input age" and it starts with, I think, 32 - you then have to toggle to the right age). It's a little annoying but something that will be annoying at the start of the workout and that's all. Again a case of we can afford to pay more and this would be nice, maybe we should.
Both machines have buttons on the handlebars for adjusting resistance and incline - VERY cool. Both machines allow you to adjust the foot pedals although the e95 has a knob you turn so you can adjust to any angle within the range whereas the e35 has a lever you pull out and then lift the pedals which have 2 or 3 notches in them that catch on the lever when you push it back in - like an exercise bike seat - so you may not get THE perfect adjustment.
So it seems like if you're willing to spend the cash the e95 is the way to go, right? Not so fast. There was one big drawback to it and one small drawback. The small was, I didn't care for the padded footbeds. They neither added nor detracted from the workout but I didn't see the need to pay extra and I worried about the padding breaking down over time. If you're wearing tennis shoes who needs padded footbeds? The biggest drawback was, the e95 has fat, molded handgrips. I found these felt chunky and sticky in my hands. Maybe if you are a 6' plus beefy guy with bigger hands, you would prefer this, but I really didn't like it and it would bother me the entire workout. The e35 has thinner, smoother handgrips, like I was used to at the gym. I did not want to pay extra for the e95 and hate those handgrips.
In the end I ordered the new 2009 e55 from Sole because it has all the features I like - a little sturdier than the e35, numeric keypad though screen is LED not LCD, smooth handgrips with buttons, killer warranty, fully adjustable and non-padded foot beds. I wish I could have tried this one in the store but I liked both the e35 and the e95 so much I am quite sure this was the right choice. These really are great machines but the handgrips on the e95 were a deal breaker for me.
If you have a Dick's near you - try this machine, you will be amazed. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the models - it all comes down to slight differences between them. (But of course as you go up in weight, they say the heavier flywheel does make a bigger difference)
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Machine!, March 9, 2009
I've been into health and fitness for about 12 years, and I've owned several cardio and weight machines over the years. Also, I go to the gym so I have experience using commercial grade pieces of equipment. I purchased this machine so that I could do my cardio at home and only have to go to the gym for my weight training. I've been using it about 4 days a week, for 45 minute sessions, for about 4 weeks now and I absolutely love it! This is a very sturdy piece of equipment, and is very smooth. I am very happy with this product, and as long as it doesn't break on me any time soon, I will continue to be a supporter of Sole products. Some people mentioned some difficulties in assembling this machine, but I don't recall having any major problems other than the issues mentioned below, which I don't think were really related to the assembly. I did take it real slow (and had someone looking over me lol) just to make sure I didn't mess anything up, so just be sure to set aside plenty of time so you can follow the directions exactly. Fortunately, they include all the tools you need and all of the small parts (screws, bolts, etc.) are separated out in a package according to the step you use them.
There were 2 very small issues I had after I assembled the machine, but they were very minor so I didn't think it warranted taking a star off the rating. First, after assembling it and getting on it to test it out, I noticed some type of squeaking noise. After narrowing down where the sound was coming from I found out that it was caused by the rollers, so I applied the supplied lube to the rails and that solved that problem. The other issue was another noise I noticed while being on it for a few minutes. I narrowed that noise down to one of the "O" bolts that screw into the end of the end where you connect the leg arm to the arm handle. The problem was caused because you couldn't screw the "O" bolt in all the way because if you did you could line the arm handle up with it. Anyways, I called Sole and they had a technician call me. He shipped me the part I needed (another "O" bolt, washer, etc.) and that solved the problem. It should be noted that, after seeing what they sent me, I could have very easily fixed this problem myself by just using a washer on the "O" bolt, but I figured I'd just let the part come in from the technician. These 2 issues were very minor and the noises were not very loud, but I thought I should at least mention them.
Some other things:
- Another poster mentioned the tube of lube that comes in the box, and I believe that is used to lube the railings that the rollers ride on. At least that's what I used it for.
- Someone mentioned the arm grips being a bit large, and they are somewhat large compared to other machines, but I got use to them after a few workouts.
- If you like really hardcore, grueling training sessions then get on this thing and pump the resistance level up to 10+ (it goes to 20 I think). This thing has more resistance than any home piece of equipment I have ever seen, and just as much as most of the commercial ones. The bottom line is no matter how strong you are, I don't think you are going to outgrow this thing.
You usually get what you pay for, and if you are serious about getting a good piece of home exercise equipment that will give you an awesome workout, then expect to pay at least this much. I actually purchased this thing from a local Dick's Sporting Goods because it was the same price but I probably paid a good bit more once you figure in sales tax (10% here in Montgomery, AL). If you have a local sporting goods store that carries this elliptical, you may want to go check it out there first just to make sure it feels ok to you.
May 15, 2009 update: I'm still very much enjoying this machine and getting a lot of use out of it. I didn't say anything about the included heart-rate monitor in my original review but thought I should mention it now because I've been using it a lot. Unlike the hand-grip monitor that this machine and others like it have, the included chest strap monitor seems to be very accurate! I've experimented with it a few times by slowing the pace down and picking the pace up and watched as the on screen display accurately reflected the change in heart-rate.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comments on Assembly Process, January 31, 2009
I just finished assembling my 2009 Sole E95 and felt compelled to comment on the assembly process. It took about 3 ½ hrs from opening the box to powering up the unit for the first time. Here are some tips:
1. The assembly process isn't that complex but it does require some mechanical reasoning (like understanding a schematic) to fill in the many gaps in the instructions. If you are able to assemble a more difficult piece of Ikea furniture, then you should have no problem.
2. The parts kit includes the necessary tools (wrench, screwdriver) but realistically these tools are too poor quality to be effective. If you don't own tools, that might be an indication you shouldn't be tackling this project.
3. I opened the box outside and carried the parts into the house. Technically you could carry the box inside but that would be difficult and require 2-3 people. You can use a hand truck to carry the box but the box is too wide (34") to fit through most doors. The heaviest part is the flywheel assembly. You can rotate the assembly up on its wheels and pull with one person but that won't work going up stairs.
4. There are four basic assembly steps: connect back frame to flywheel assembly, connect post to flywheel assembly, connect arms and attach the many plastic covers.
5. The hardest step was connecting the post to the flywheel assembly. In this step, you have to feed the wires through the post, slip the whole thing through a plastic cover and slide down into the flywheel assembly where you will attach with bolts (making sure to tighten the fourth bolt already in place). The trick is making sure the wires are routed up the right channel in the post otherwise they will get pinched when inserting the post. You also should leave the foam insert in place at all times when working with the bolts. When the wire didn't fit correctly, I had to remove the bolts and since I already removed the foam, I dropped a bolt into the flywheel assembly. This required me to remove the plastic side around the flywheel to retrieve the bolt (taking 20 min).
6. Connecting the wires to the control panel assumes you know how to plug in small connectors correctly. The wires going to the hand rails are not marked left or right. I'm not sure if it matters. Everything worked correctly when finished so maybe I got lucky.
7. The instructions slightly mention a grommet that must be inserted into the post to protect the wire going to the hand rail. Couldn't find a grommet in the parts kit so I assembled anyway thinking I'd have to call later. Turns out the grommets were in the bag with the electrical cord (last bag opened) so I had to disassemble the plastic covers to insert the grommets (more time).
8. Connecting the plastic covers with the sheet metal screws is difficult because the holes are deep and the screw doesn't want to find the hole. Using a small magnetic screwdriver is very helpful as once the screw is stuck to the screwdriver, you can slowly insert into the hole making sure to keep the screw centered.
9. Included is a tube of lube. The instructions don't mention what to do with the lube but I hope it it's just for the rear rails.
Fortunately no parts were damaged or missing. That was my worse fear starting this project. Cross my fingers and hope everything stays working.
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