Sole F83 Treadmill

Sole F83 Treadmill
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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.