Sole F63 Treadmill

Excellent treadmill for the money!

I bought the Sole F63 a few weeks ago. It's my first treadmill. I should mention that I got a great price on this unit at Dick's. It was on sale for $999 but the floor model had a small sticker on it that said $849.99 (which was clearly marked as the price for the '08 model). When I pointed the sticker out to the salesperson he offered to sell me a new 2009 unit at that price so I jumped on it. Otherwise I had planned to order it from the factory and save the sales tax! Having said that I think this is a very nice treadmill even for $999. It's not without its issues though.



First and foremost this unit is very sturdy. I weigh 170 lbs and run for 1/2 hour at a time and average 5.5 - 6 mph so I'm not exactly stressing the treadmill but to me it seems extremely sturdy (actually the unit I tried in the store seemed much less stable than the one I bought.) The console doesn't have any visible shake to it and the deck is also very stable. The deck has adjustable feet to compensate for an uneven floor (which I have).



It's not exceedingly quiet but I can easily hear my iPod using the built-in speakers or my nearby TV. The speakers are adequate as are the fans although neither are great.



I chose this model over the F80 for several reasons. First off although the F80 has a slightly larger motor there is a lifetime warranty on the motor so who cares? The motor seems more than adequate for someone my size. The belt seems a little slow to get going which may be a drawback of this size motor. Second I didn't like the F80's LED display which I found very difficult to read in the store. The F63 has a bright blue LCD display which is very easy to read. And lastly the F80 has heartrate control programs but I had read that the included heartrate monitor was not very reliable so I didn't want to gamble on that feature. Imagine my surprise when I found the F63 also has heartrate control programs built in! They are not advertised but they are there and they are explained in the manual. Unfortunately I couldn't get them to work very well. The chest strap heartrate monitor which comes with the treadmill works fine. But the heartrate program went for several minutes at a very slow speed at which point I gave up. Perhaps they work if you have more patience but they didn't work for me. Suffice it to say you should not go for the F80 just for this particular feature if it's anything like the the F63!



A few other minor complaints:

1. The included programs have much too large a speed range for my liking. They can go from 2 mph to 6 mph which (for me) ranges from slow walking to running very fast. I'd rather have more subtle steps in my programs. The F63 does allow you to create two custom programs with separate speed and incline profiles. I use them almost exclusively.



2. The cupholder/accessory tray is so low and far forward as to be useless. If you are a child or are 5' tall maybe you can reach them while running or walking. For me at 6' 2" I can't reach my water bottle without hitting my head on the console! Fortunately there are two accessory holders up higher which work fine for water bottles.



3. The heartrate handles similarly are too low and far forward for running.



4. Assembly was somewhat tricky and I assemble equipment for a living! Plus it weighs a ton - plan on having two strong people to move it in.



Some of the good things:

1. As I said the unit is very stable and does its job. Whether you run or walk this treadmill does the basics well. It would not be out of place in a health club! Although the deck isn't the cushiest or quietest I've tried it's not too bad. I believe the F80 is supposed to have a cushier deck but I couldn't discern a difference in the store.



2. The fan and audio input/speakers are a nice touch if not the highest quality.



3. The unit folds up and down very easily.



4. The price! I still can't believe I got such a high-quality machine for less than $1000. I tried many other units and found that I could have easily spent $2000 on a treadmill that isn't as nice as the F63.



If you are looking for a basic reliable treadmill and don't require an absolute top-of-the-line unit you'll be doing yourself a favor by trying the F63. I believe mine will be a long-lasting reliable machine for years to come! More detail ...