What's wrong with the Sole Fitness F80 Treadmill

Last October I tore my achilles tendon badly in my left leg. I was then sent home from work for six weeks. My left leg was in plaster right up to my thigh and to make the tendon heal faster the doctors said to keep my leg in a horizontal position as much as I could. I have always worked outdoors and consider myself fairly fit. Staying at home without been allowed to do any exercise was a cruel blow. Add to that the non ability to wear a pizza off and by the time the plaster came off I was a good 18 pounds bigger than I was used to.

I've seen this weight gain before with super fit guys I've played football with, once they give football away they can balloon in weight. It's so much easier to put weight on than take it off.

I tried dieting but I love my carbs and found that way of losing weight too hard. So I went to the gym and of all the equipment I used, the treadmill became my favorite. I just liked the way that these days you can interact with them which is kinda fun and makes the time go fairly fast. The drawback with the gym was that the treadmill seemed to be everyone else's favorite too, so there was always a load of us hanging around waiting our turn.

I decided to buy my own treadmill. At first you wouldn't believe how many treadmills there are out there. But it didn't take long to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

As I said you wouldn't believe how many treadmills are on the market until you want to buy one. I had a particular price point that I wanted to stick to. That was $1500 to $2500. Once I'd settled on this it made things a lot easier. I did quite a lot of research, starting off with my gym and then calling others around my state too. My question was, I'm interested in joining and by the way, what make of treadmill do you use? This always got them talking and I found by this simple question that the sole fitness treadmill was used in over 70% of gyms. They said that they had used other brands but their customers find the smooth fitness more comfortable than others and they themselves said they suffer fewer breakages with more reliability than other makes.

So, if the gymn's mostly used Sole Fitness, will that was good enough for me.

I then talked to my local sports store and they suggested the Sole Fitness F80. It has a powerful electric motor in 3.5 HP, plus quite a good sized deck at 60" long. It has great shock absorption (perfect for repairing achilles heals) and I thought best of all, is an easy folding treadmill, so in our small place after a good workout, I can easily fold it up and wheel it off to an out of sight place in the corner of the room.

I was offered a good price I thought by my local sports store (Usually $2500 but they would discount it to $2200) but then searching online I got a huge deal. Instead of $2500, how about a Sole Fitness F80 for $1499 delivered free to my front door.

I didn't hesitate.

The F80 treadmill duly arrived, actually right to my door and only three days after ordering. I was pretty excited I've got to say. It was incredibly easy and fast to put together and had all the features I'd been looking forward to. A great big easy to read display, 2 different fitness programs with 6 different workouts on each.

Take my advice though. My packaging was a little damaged so I asked the driver to stay while I unpacked it and made sure it wasn't damaged. Thank goodness on reflection that the box was a little damaged, because he said how about we move it into wherever you're going to be using it. It weighs 275 lbs so if he hadn't of suggested that, I would have been struggling to move it on my own. Just ask your deliverer to help you into your house or garage with it. Anyway, we unpacked it and carefully checked it over and there wasn't any damage at all. Then it took me about 45 minutes to assemble it. Great easy to read instructions came with it.

One complaint here that I've got to point out is that, I thought it would easily fold into a corner. Its easy to fold but is still reasonably bulky when folded. Problem is that it doesn't quite fold vertically but more like 75 degrees. Remember though its a fairly sizable machine at 275 lbs so I would rather have a quality treadmill that folds to a degree rather than a lightweight treadmill.

Well it worked well straight out of the box and a year later and its had a real pounding. My heal is 100% repaired and I'm in a great position to tell you what I think about the Sole Fitness F80.

Mainly its great. The only complaints I've got is that the fan isn't really a fan. I don't know what it is. It looks like a fan but doesn't really blow air at all. Anyway, I learnt this early on and just use my own home fan which is just fine.

Another negative about the F80 treadmill is that it takes about a minute to scrub off speed when you turn it down. This is a bit annoying, but from what I've read online this very slow speed decrease seems to apply to all treadmills under $5000. I don't know why it is. I'd say its deliberate, probably to protect the deck from very large users.

I find the drink holders a little small, but truly for the price and quality of the Sole Fitness F80 I really can't grizzle about minor stuff like this. I've achieved my aim well and truly of losing my extra 20 lbs without dieting so its worth its weight in gold to me.

• Overall measurements - 35inches width x 58 inches wide x 80inches high.
• Overall deck measurements - 35 inches x 80 inches length
• Deck surface - 22 inches x 60 inches
• Overall weight - 275 lbs
• Maximum load weight limit - 375 lbs
• Motor - 3.5hp
• Speed - 0.5mph to 12mph
• Incline - to 15%
• Heart rate monitoring
• Programs - Six standard programs. Two custom programs
• LED Display - 7.5 inches.
• MP3 compatible sound system
• Warranties: Frame / motor / deck = Lifetime. Running deck - 5 years.

Q) How high does the F80 treadmill go when folded up? We have a fairly low stud.

A) It measures 70 inches vertically when folded up

Q) What mat is best to use under this treadmill?

A) It doesn't come with a treadmill mat, but they are available online for about $25. Make sure you get the correct size though.

Q) Do Sole provide someone to assemble the Sole Fitness F80?

A) Yes they do but you will pay extra. This is not difficult to assemble at all. The instructions are loud and clear but its best with two people as there is some lifting involved.

Q) What are the dimensions when shipped of the box.

A) The Sole Fitness F80 comes packaged in a pretty large box. About 38 inches by about a foot but then its slightly over six feet long. That's not nearly a bigger deal than the weight though. Make sure you've got a helper or tip the deliverer a little extra. It weighs in its box about 294 lbs.

Q) Whats included in the shipped package?

A) You get everything you need in the F80 treadmill package. Apart from the actual treadmill, you'll get good assembly instructions, tools needed for assembly. Heart rate monitor, LED display, MP3 controls and speakers. Cooling fans. Plus extra lubricant for the running belt. I'd suggest buying a mat for it though. It doesn't come with one.