Price Sole E55 Elliptical Trainer Review

                     Price Sole E55 Elliptical Trainer Review

 

Price Sole E55 Elliptical Trainer Review

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2008 in Sports & Outdoors
• Size: One Size
• Brand: Sole
• Model: E55-11
• Released on: 2010-09-15
• Dimensions: 23.00" h x 33.00" w x 66.00" l, 232.00 pounds

Features

• Elliptical trainer with heavy 27-pound flywheel for smooth performance
• Power incline feature adds resistance while targeting different muscle groups
• Vibrant 7.5-inch blue LCD display tracks time, distance, calories, resistance. incline, pulse, and pace
• Integrated sound system; oversized, custom-designed foot pedals
• Built-in cooling fans; 375-pound capacity; 200-pound product weight
• Features ten programs; pedals adjust to ten positions
• Footprint measures 82 by 27 inches
• Warranty: Lifetime on frame, five years on parts and electronics, two years on labor

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The E55's console includes a vibrant LCD display and an integrated sound system.

Offering a similar design to the Sole E35 but with a larger display and heavier flywheel, the E55 elliptical trainer offers all the features of a health club model in a machine that fits comfortably in your home. The E55 is equipped with a heavy 27-pound flywheel, a high gear ratio not found on most comparable models, and a whisper-quiet drive system. As a result, the trainer delivers an extremely fluid performance and plenty of top-end resistance, helping it function like a much more expensive trainer. The E55's power incline feature, meanwhile, boosts resistance even more while targeting different core muscle groups, adding diversity to your workout. Simply press a button to raise the incline ramp to your preferred position. The ramp angle is fully adjustable from a level plane up to 40 degrees, so you can individually target and work all major lower body muscles. The E55 makes it easy to track your workout progress via the vibrant 7.5-inch blue LCD display, which includes windows for resistance, incline, time, distance, calories burned, pulse, and pace. The console also offers a number of handy amenities, including built-in speakers for listening to your iPod or MP3 player, built-in cooling fans, and a water bottle holder.
The E55 comes complete with two heart-rate-controlled workout options, so you can customize the workout specifically to your needs. Throughout your HR workout, the elliptical will display a heart rate zone graph on the console while adjusting the resistance to keep you in your target zone (the trainer includes a wireless chest strap that touts a 99.9 percent accuracy rating).

The E55 offers an adjustable pedals so that you can angle the pedal from heel-to-toe for a comfortable feel.

The remainder of the time, you can challenge yourself with the six automatic programs or two customizable programs. To encourage a more comfortable workout, Sole added oversized, custom-designed foot pedals to the E55. Designed in collaboration with a leading physical therapist and sports enthusiast, the pedals feature a 2-degree inward slope, helping reduce the ankle and knee stress that's common in other elliptical machines. This collaboration also produced a revolutionary foot pedal adjustment system not found on any other elliptical brand. Sole knows that not everyone walks the same way, so the company's engineers designed the E55 to adjust to your gait via a dial mechanism. This allows you to set the pedal angle from heel to toe, with 10 total choices. The feature also reduces the numb toe effects and sore Achilles tendons common on other elliptical machines.
Additional features include a pair of stationary handlebars with built-in pulse sensors; adjustable incline and resistance controls built into the arms; and 20 resistance levels.
Specifications:

• Flywheel: 27 pounds
• Front drive: Yes
• Stride length: 20 inches
• Resistance type: Eddy Current Braking
• Resistance levels: 20
• Adjustable pedals: Yes, 10 positions
• Upper body: Yes
• Handgrip: Standard
• HGP: Yes
• Telemetry belt: Yes
• Heart rate control: Yes
• Power incline: Yes
• Display: 7.5-inch blue backlit LCD
• Data: Time, distance, calories, resistance levels, incline, pulse, pace
• Profile matrix: Yes
• Standard programs: 6
• User-defined programs: 2
• Heart rate programs: 2, with chest strap
• Built-in cooling fans: Yes
• Water bottle/accessory holders: Yes
• Maximum Capacity: 375 pounds
• Product Weight: 200 pounds

Manufacturer's Warranty
Lifetime on frame; 5 years on parts and electronics; 2 years on labor
About Sole Elliptical Trainers
The perfect elliptical trainer should
combine both natural human movement and exercise effectively to simulate the suitable pattern your foot travels during a smooth, continuous, elliptical motion that is comfortable the entire time. Sole has included an incline function on every elliptical model which will target key muscle groups and enhance the options available for your workout. This addition is provided with no additional cost on the products:

• Convenient Controls: Adjustable incline and resistance controls built into the arms make it easy to change your workout without ever moving your hands.
• Adjustable Foot Pedals: These unique foot pedals were developed in collaboration with a leading physical therapist. Together, with Sole engineers, a design was created featuring a 2-degree inward slope to the foot pedals to help reduce ankle and knee stress common in other elliptical machines. This collaboration produced a revolutionary foot pedal angle adjustment not found on any other elliptical at any price. Not everyone walks the same way; so for this reason Sole has made the pedals adjustable to fit the way you walk. This feature also reduces the numb toe effect and sore Achilles tendons.
• Smooth Whisper Drive System: Smooth natural motion is provided by a whisper quiet drive system. The combination of a heavy flywheel and a high gear ratio means an easy feel with plenty of resistance that will provide a challenging workout with the smoothest motion on the market.
• Sound System: Sole has an integrated sound system with MP3 player compatible sound cord which enables you to play any audio device with a headphone jack to play through the elliptical trainer's speakers.

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
61 of 68 people found the following review helpful.
Unbelievable quality and value!
By D. Matheny
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3476XTYPEZT7C In this video, I show the Sole E55 elliptical trainer and talk about the quality, stability, install, and use. I also filmed my daughter riding it just to give a feel for how rock solid this is - even on carpet.

We've been using this Sole E55 elliptical trainer for the last month and have been incredibly impressed with it!

If you don't feel like watching the video, here are some of the details:

- One of the most impressive things is the rock solid stability of this elliptical trainer. It is far beyond what you're probably expecting from a piece of equipment in this price range! The whole machine has a quality feel and I suspect it will last for years of heavy use.

- It took about two hours to set it up with a couple of my kids helping me - there were a couple times where I was glad I wasn't doing it by myself:).

- The ability to adjust the incline of the feet may seem gimmicky, but it really does help with the overall comfort while working out. As I mention in the video, it is pretty hard to turn the adjustment knobs.

- The programs and features are intuitive and easy to use. I love that it can save 2 users' settings, as well as remembering the details from the last user. That is the biggest complaint I have with our exercise bike.

- The adjustable fan is nice.

- The heart-rate monitor works great and it picks up my Polar heart-rate strap, as well as my wife's. The Sole E55 comes with it's own strap; so now my oldest daughter has one that she can use too.

The only complaint I have, and it won't impact most people, is that it isn't made for tall people. I'm 6'7" and I've found that the stride seems a little short (although it still works). The fan also won't adjust high enough for me.

Other than that, this is an excellent value.

Overall, I highly recommend this Sole E55 elliptical trainer!
40 of 44 people found the following review helpful.
great equipment
By tommyd
i bought the e55 as a christmas gift for my wife. the e55 is very durable, extremely quiet, easy to construct (2 hours while watching a movie) and the electronics are user friendly, isn't jerky, etc. she really enjoys the e55. the base is very, very heavy and was difficult to get down the steps, so i had to buy a good dolley for 69 bucks to help facilitate the move. other components were heavy, but very managable. based on much cheaper equipment, i felt the e55 was a bargain based on anticipated life cycle. i would recommend the e55. delivery was very quick with no physical damage due to heavy internal padding. i hope this helps others..... tommyd
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
Great Machine but some Real Quality Issues
By John Knox
I recently purchased the E55 (2011 model) and thought I would share my experience. I did not purchase from Amazon but the unit did ship directly from the Sole warehouse in CA. Box arrived in great condition, in a timely manner, and everything was meticulously packed inside of the box.

Unpacking and assembly was no problem - contrary to some others, I thought the assembly instructions were very good indeed. I like the way the hardware was packaged by assembly step in a plastic tray. During assembly I noticed that the handles did not align very well with the pedal connector arms but I didn't think twice about it since there was sufficient play in the overall mechanism to allow going together without any trouble.

Finally, after a few hours of effort I was ready to power up and take my first test run. The computer came up with no problems, I tested the incline and level controls - all was good. I selected the manual program and started pedaling - Ouch! There was a horrendous grinding/rubbing noise coming from the flywheel on the right side of the unit. I jumped off to investigate and could see that the silver cover for the flywheel appeared to be rubbing continuously with the shroud that contains the whole flywheel assembly. I was not sure if that was the full extent of the problem since the noise sounded like it could damage something so I decided to stop using the elliptical.

Anyway, long story short, after a bit of investigation I could see that he flywheel appeared to be significantly mis-aligned with center of the frame. On the right side of the unit the sliver disc protrudes outside the profile of the shroud by a half inch and on the left side the disc is recessed within the shroud by about a quarter inch. After calling Sole to report the issue they told me there is no adjustment I can make to resolve the issue and they will have to send out a technician to disassemble the flywheel and make some kind of axle adjustment. Also, they could not arrange an appointment at that time and I would have to wait for a local technician to call and make the arrangement. That's fine it's only a couple of days so I have no problem with that. However, in the meantime I cannot use my new elliptical!

Repair Update - 4/20/2011
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A month later I am finally getting to use and enjoy my new elliptical. Repair involved several calls to Sole and two visits by subcontract repair technicians. Both parties were professional and courteous although I always had to take the initiative to setup appointments, otherwise I'm not sure they would have called me. The initial repair attempt took about two hours but did not resolve the problem.

The flywheel shaft/axle was pushed to the right side due the fact that a circlip (holding it in position) was not properly seated in its groove during manufacture. Technician attempted to move the shaft back into position using a hammer but that turned out to be the wrong approach and after re-assembly we discovered a thumping sound and roughness during pedaling - he knew straight away it was bad (damaged) bearings. We ordered new bearings from Sole and 10 days later I setup a second service appointment to have them (two) installed. Second technician was in and out within an hour (seemed much more competent that the first guy). Before leaving he had me test the action and all was good - very smooth and quiet now.

So, overall quite a painful experience, but Sole customer service was definitely up to the task of taking care of the problem. Too see the price by Amazon.com