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| Sole E55 Elliptical Trainer (2008 Model) | 
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| Brand: Sole
Category: Sports
List Price: $2,499.99
Buy New: $1,499.00
You Save: $1000.99 (40%)
New (3) from $1,499.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 57669
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 196
Dimensions (in): 66 x 33 x 23
Model: E55
UPC: 192300000009
EAN: 0192300000009
ASIN: B000ZGUSVU
Release Date: July 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 4-5 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Poor shipping July 8, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I suggest buying this equipement from a local store. Amazon shipped this item through ABF freight and it was a horrible expieriance. First you have to set up an appointment, which no one told me. After I set up the appointment it was late. I called the company and asked how long it would be and they told me the shipment would be there in 2 hrs. After 3 hours I called back and they told me they forgot to load it. They said they would have one of their drivers load it in his pick-up truck and deliver it on the way home. I asked them if they could just setup a morning delivery. They said they would make a note, but it would probably be delivered in the afternoon. I guess I will just sit around all day again and see if it comes...VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH AMAZON!!
I've had the elliptical for a week now. It is a smooth motion, but is not the quietest machine. The plastic foot pedals make a creaking noise constantly, and there is a sqeek on one of the rails. I have the foot pedals as tight as possible, and it still sqeeks. I'm not sure why the wheel on the rail is making noise. I cleaned it and even tried a little oil, doesn't help any.
 Can't beat it for the price - compare to $3k machines May 20, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
After a long process of analyzing elliptical trainers and physically trying about 18 different units consisting of front, mid and rear wheels, we finally settled on this one. Surprisingly, it came down to 3 manufacturers: Life Fitness, PreCor and Sole as all others we looked at either were poorly made or had an annoying issue (e.g., many front wheel systems other than the Sole E55 and E95 have a lttle "kick" at the end of your backstride making your knee respond sharply and uncomfortably). The price of the models we wanted varied from the Sole E55 with a price tag of less than $1500, the Life Fitness was $3299 and the PreCor was $4299. The Dick's sporting goods store just opened in San Antonio and the E55 was on sale for $1199. It was such a great deal we went ahead an grabbed one the minute a new shipment came in as they were sold out of their original shipment the first day we went in. We grabbed one of the two that arrived and they are sold out again that day. Now the price is back to $1499.
I decided I could save $100 and handle delivery in my little Ford Ranger truck that I keep around for hauling. The box fits perfectly in the bed of the truck (it would probably fit into an SUV with the seats down) and with a common 300 pound dolly I was able to handle taking it into the house without any assistance. If I would have had more than a couple of stairs to traverse I would have needed some assistance but not a lot. Be sure to keep the unit in the box until you get to the final room location as the legs are attached to the wheel and it becomes hard to handle once they are out of the box as they want to flop around.
Assembly was fairly simple except I began working from the first step of the instructions and didn't realize until I was to step 2 that I as reading the E25 steps and not the E55. I was beginning to think I didn't have the right parts but once I started reading the correct page, everything came together nicely. All screws and bolts are heavy duty except a few self-taping screws that finish off some plastic parts that are mainly for looks and to keep little fingers from being pinched. The plastic parts actually bolt down nicely to the frame but they have these cheesy screws that work to hold them together more cleanly and they have a tendency to strip the plastic (I had 2 strip a little and won't tighten down). They have no affect on functionality or form as the parts are secured pretty well. I guess they do this to ensure the seam is closed tightly. I just hate a screw that doesn't tighten down. Total assembly time took me 2 hours although it would have been 30 minutes less if I had started on the right page. I recommend assembling this yourself if possible as it will provide some familiarity with the machine if you have any issues later. Sometimes the people from the store don't do such a great job of assembly.
As for usage, wow what a nice machine. It is smooth as it can be but when I get on (I weigh 230 pounds) I get a small click during use that you can't feel but can hear sometimes. I think I have tracked it down to a bolt on one of the arms that I will need to tighten although Sole recommends that the unit be leveled with one of the 6 leg levelers if you experience any noise and I haven't tried that either. My wife (she weighs 150 pounds) doesn't experience this click so it isn't on my high priority list just yet. :-)
I saved so much money I went ahead and purchased Dick's 3 year warranty on the unit for $129. That way they will cover something that goes wrong due to system use in addition to manufacturing defects.
I would absolutely buy this system again. I like it better than the E95 because of the LCD display allowing me to see many aspects of my workout instead of toggling through an LED display. I hope this helps you to make up your mind on an elliptical.
Sole E55 / Good Value May 19, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I Have used the E55 for about 4- months now. I peddle 3.5 miles per use
4 times a week.(off days i lift) My current weight is 174. I have
had no problems with squeaks or other odd sounds. My family ran our last bike a Pro-Form 700, into the ground. I had a part welded and had fixed it about 7-10 times. I was very glad to scrap the Pro-Form. looks like the
E55 will out last the Pro-Form by at least a factor of 10.
The guy that said leave it in the box, until you get it to where its to be set up, is correct. I removed it from the box for a tough corner
stairway. The problem with that is, the arms are then free to flop around.
The only heads up i have is that there is a wire connector just under the foam piece that keeps bolts from falling down the mast hole. This is sometimes not plugged in. End result will be you install the control panel and think its dead. Check this connector before calling
support. I paid 1200.00, online auction. Unit was drop shipped from Sole.
No Shipping.
Best Elliptical Trainer...period - Features, Reliability, & Price April 22, 2008
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
My wife and I searched and searched for an elliptical because we were fed up with signing up for gym memberships and not using them. Having to go to the gym just wasn't practical for us. So we embarked on a quest to find the quietest, most reliable and feature packed elliptical we could find.
Our budget was 2K or less. Online research led us to many brands and many models - too many actually. It was a dizzying array of choices. So we decided to visit fitness equipment stores and sporting goods stores to try out a few ellipticals in person. The fitness stores carried mostly high-end brands like Precor, which we liked, but were all WAY out of our price range. Besides, after looking at the fine print, we noticed that Precors only come with a 1 year warranty. After that, the frame is good for 10 years but parts and labor are at the owner's expense!
The sporting goods stores turned up the typical mass market brands like Reebok, ProForm, Horizon, Ironman, and New Balance. Most were pretty flimsy feeling and wobbly or the stride just didn't feel right. The Reebok ellipticals came close but they didn't offer wireless heart rate monitoring and the stride still wasn't quite right. Our eureka moment came at Dick's sporting goods when we noticed one brand that we had never seen before, Sole. They had the E55 model on display and we tried it out. It was very solid feeling and the stride was natural. There was very little heel lift which is a key component for a low-impact workout - also, the foot pads are adjustable which virtually eliminates any heel lift. I was also pleased that the Sole elliptical had both pulse hand grips AND wireless chest strap heart rate monitoring. This is important not only to improve your endurance but also ensures a safer workout. There's also a great HRC program that varies the resistance based on your heart rate in order to maintain a constant heart rate.
Since I'm not an impulse buyer I was still concerned that I had never heard of Sole before. Searching online turned up a few reviews about their treadmills. Digging deeper yielded a wealth of information about the treadmills and it turns out that Sole makes a very reliable product and their treadmills are well reviewed and used exclusively at Hilton and other hotel chains. With an endorsement like that I was sold. My online research also turned up the official Sole company site and I was happy to learn that I could order online with free shipping and no sales tax. The delivered price was still $500 below our budget! We also learned that the Sole ellipticals came with a great warranty, 2 years labor, 5 years motor and lifetime frame and deck. Not bad and twice as good as the Precor which was 3 times more price-wise.
In summary, this is absolutely the best bang for the buck as far as ellipticals go. Sole ellipticals are the best ellipticals under $2000 and they even compete very well with the ones above $2000 as well!
Lastly, the best place to buy them is from the company's own website, soleellipticals.com
The One To Get April 17, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Great job Amazon; my unit arrived in 7 days. The carrier, ABF Freight, was great. ABF called to schedule delivery at a time of my choice and the driver, called to confirm the time of delivery and arrived on time.
I read over 100 product reviews prior to selecting the Sole E55 based on comparing quality, features and user experiences.
1. Design quality is excellent, my only negatives: 1) the fan is too small to be of much benefit 2)the holes in the plastic roller covers did not align with the mounting holes on the roller arm (a few seconds with a drill to enlarge 2 holes solved this problem).
2. Materials quality is excellent. Heavy steel components that fit precisely together. The welding is high quality as are the bearings which are very snug, but are not too tight.
3. Assembly took me 45 min working alone. I know that using instructions is not a 'guy thing', but in this case it is a really good idea. The fasteners are packaged together and labeled according to the steps in the assembly instructions. This is a real bonus for those of us who don't know the difference between a flat washer and a waverly washer (but now I do). I did not tighten one of the fittings enough the first time so if I assemble one again I would delay adding all of the plastic covers until after a few days to make final adjustments much quicker.
4. I have only used it once so far but it is very stable, operates very smoothly, and is very quiet. The adjustable incline on the foot rests seems to be a very useful feature.
5. Although expensive, this is the same price as a one year membership in a local fitness facility. So my cost will be $0.00 starting the second year ;).
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