Buy Cheap Sole F83 Treadmill on Sale
Work up a sweat from the comfort of home with this Sole F83 treadmill designed with a 6-window LED display that includes a message board for clear instruction and feedback. The folding treadmill is equipped with a 58-in x 20-in belt for taller users and a high-output 3.0 continuous-duty HP motor. It has convenient speed/elevation controls in the handles that allow you to easily change the speed and incline.
Features
- Features a 3.0 horsepower motor and lift-assist to easily fold
- Includes grip pulse monitoring and a heart rate chest strap
- Six standard programs, six user-defined programs, and two heart rate programs; speed range is 0.1-12 miles per hour
- LED display tracks your speed, incline, time, distance traveled, calories, pulse, and pace
- 375-pound maximum weight capacity; measures 33 by 78 by 58 inches (W x L x H) when assembled; folds to 70 by 45 inches (H x D)
- Dimensions: 23.00" h x 39.00" w x 83.00" l, 340.00 pounds
Customer Reviews
Terrific treadmill
The Sole treadmills have been very highly rated by many sites. I discovered this fact during extensive research I conducted when I decided to set up a "work out" room. I wanted to buy quality equipment but not pay premium prices just for a brand name. Sole treadmills sounded like the best "bang" for the buck. I got the F83 because I wanted a folding model. The F85 is their top of the line, but I'm the only one who'll be using it, so I felt I probably didn't need the bigger motor (3.5hp compared to 3.0 in the f83) for my purposes (I am by no means a runner). Now, I ordered mine directly from the Sole website, but for the same price that I found on Amazon. It is shipped by a common freight carrier. I ordered it at the end of October. It was just delivered yesterday, so I waited nearly one month to get it.
I'd like to point out that anything you order that is the size of this treadmill will almost certainly come via a freight carrier. Which means it will take a long time. Now, I paid extra to have them take it off the back of the truck and carry it into my house. The delivery was a nightmare, as they came over 6.5 hours late and were reluctant to drive their semi into my neighborhood....but that is not the fault of the manufacturer. It's just that one doesn't get to choose a freight carrier and it's not like I could pop over to a post office and pick the thing up myself. It's massive. Anyway, it comes in a very, very large box. The deck with the belt is already assembled. You just have to attach the two arms that extend up, attach the computer console and finally the bar across the middle that the drink holder sits onto. Really pretty simple assembly, except that the treadmill is very heavy so be sure to assemble it somewhere where you have plenty of room to maneuver around it.
Once assembled, it's a nice piece of equipment. I played with the speed and incline. It's very smooth and pretty quiet. It has two fans that you can tilt around at the top of the console, though they aren't strong enough to really cool you down. It comes with a chest belt for heart monitoring. I have a polar watch, so I was wearing a polar transmitter and it picks it up too. I haven't tried all the programs, but the manual goes through them all and is fairly helpful. When you're ready to stop, you press the stop button and the incline lowers and the belt slows down gradually for you...it's nice not dealing with an abrupt stop that might catch you off guard. Folding/unfolding is really easy. You lift up the deck at the back..it's not very heavy to do..and it locks in place. To unfold it, you push the tread deck forward with your left hand and use your right to pull a lever. It does not crash down...there is a self lowering process that gently lets the deck down. I'll get some pictures of mine up in a few days. I'll update in a few weeks after using it for some time. But so far I'm very pleased with it.
Update:1/1/09
Well, I've been working out now since around November 1st. I have a bike, elliptical and this treadmill. Since I started my program I've lost 30 pounds. I was totally out of shape at the beginning. I still have a ways to go, but really enjoy my cardio workouts. I use the treadmill every 2 to 3 days; I find my joints do better with the non weight-bearing equipment for daily use. This treadmill is really terrific though. I typically do a manual program and change the speed and incline to keep my heartrate where I want it. I have done the "fatburner" program once and the HR controlled program once. I just like being the one to control what I'm doing. I love using the fans on my face. The pockets on the console (one on left, one on right) hold a lot of stuff, including water bottles and remotes. I don't have an MP3 player, so I've not used that feature. This treadmill has definitely met my expectations and I really love it. I expect I'll use it more and more as I continue to lose weight and become more fit. I've done some very light jogging on it and feel it is very comfortable. I'm very pleased with my purchase and continue to feel it is a "5 star" product.
The Reviews Are Right! Highly Recommended!
This is a great treadmill! It just arrived two days ago and I'm very impressed with the build quality. The motor is smooth and the display looks sleek! It's also very solid and quiet. There's no difference running on this this treadmill vs. the $5000+ treadmill at the gym.
One thing, if you are 5'10" or shorter, go ahead and save some money by purchasing the F80. The deck on the F83 is a few inches longer but it really isn't worth the money - unless you are 6' or taller. I ran full stride on it and there was plenty of room behind me.
Great Treadmill with minor kinks
First of all, this is a great treadmill. It looks great, rock solid when running, very quiet and with just perfect amount of cushioning (gotta believe that it has 40% less impact on joints than running on asphalt).
I actually ordered F80 directly from Sole Fitness. I was trying to decide between F63 and F80, but the better ('whisper') deck (which is really quieter than on F63), warranty, and larger motor made me choose F80. I was surprised to see F83 delivered instead. It was quite nice because I am over 6 ft tall and extra 3 in of the deck is quite good for me. The only other difference is the heart rate % on F83 console, which is not that important. Oh yeah, and F83 is a bit heavier.
Talking about weight, it IS heavy. However, I was able to move it with my friend from garage to the basement (unpacked, of course) with no problems. However, if we had to go upstairs instead of downstairs, it would be much harder. Assembly took about 45 minutes. Those clip nuts are really bad idea, but they worked. All holes aligned just fine. However, my treadmill wouldn't turn on. What a disappointment (read more on Customer Service below).
Now that it works, I love it. Very quiet, smooth. A huge motor which you don't even hear.
A couple of minor issues are:
1. Heart-rate programs HR1 and HR2, while turned on indicate the same thing that they are for weight loss even though HR2 is supposed to be Cardio. Not a big deal because of issue #2.
2. Heart Rate programs will never be used by me. I tried HR2 and I gave up after 5 minutes at speed of about 2 mph (and no, this is not the warm-up, which I bypassed). The programs are so careful as to not to overshoot your target heart rate that they start toooooooo slow for toooo long. On the other hand, using HR2 button as an Autopilot to keep you current heart rate constant worked just fine. So, if I want to use HR program, I would reach my target rate with another program or Manual and then press the Autopilot button.
3. I wish the unit had a couple of buttons to store user info such as age and weight for a couple of users, so you don't need to enter it every time. Although it does remember the previous value entered (you still need to press Enter after it shows it to you). Also, I wish it remembered the maximum speed for each program used in the previous runs just as with age/weight (I have to press UP button too many times each time I choose a program to select higher speed).
4. The console had a little crack at the bottom (under the STOP button) and the middle part of it was scratched (a lot of micro scratches) during shipping due to packaging - the console had to be wrapped with a plastic and it wasn't.
As for some of the complains with Sole treadmills about speakers and fans...the fans are not strong but still they are good for keeping your sweat from dripping all over the treadmill. I ran once without the fans and the sweat was all over. The speakers are not your home-theater-quality speakers. But they are fine to use for 30 minutes while running.
Now about my experience with Sole Technical support (or should I say Spirit Fitness, which actually makes these treadmills for Sole?). I got a call back the next day I reported the issue. The tech said that it is either the console or the harness that is defective. It was Friday and he said he would take it to the shipping warehouse and it would be shipped the same day. On Monday I called and he said it wasn't shipped and he didn't know why. However, he would not do anything else because he did his job: he took the package to the warehouse and his job was done. On Tuesday I called and he said "it seems to be shipped" but no tracking number. On Wednesday I called and he said "it WAS NOT shipped". So, I had to talk to his manager, who promised to find out and call back. Never called back, of course, just as the tech, whom I asked to call back with the tracking number. So, it was finally shipped on Thursday. However, as it turned out, my unit was not defective. One cable near the motor was disconnected (probably during the shipping) and I didn't notice it first when I looked for the problem there. The tech didn't even ask to look there. Anyway, I am glad I got the new console as it was not cracked or scratched as the original one that went back.
