Sole F80 Treadmill Review 2024 Model
Share This!
Sole F80 Treadmill – 2024 Model
$1,899
We always like doing reviews on Sole Treadmills. They have nice quality and are reasonably priced. There are a couple of performance-based issues which we will touch on below but for the most part, this is one of our higher rated products.
Sole has a good presence in the US markets and can be found at Dicks Sporting good stores, Amazon and direct on their own website. Sole’s MSRP and sales prices do fluctuate quite a bit so it may pay off to watch for frequent weekend sale prices to make sure you get the best deal. Waiting another week or two could save you a several hundred dollars.
Why do we like Sole? Sole Treadmills are built rather heavy duty, and the overall feel of the machine is good, especially for a big guy like me (300 LBS). Walking on the Sole F80 (2024 version) did not leave me feeling like I was too much to handle. On many treadmills I don’t feel confident that the machine can handle my weight with ease. I don’t want a machine that … kind of feels ok, kind of feels like it could handle my weight, I want a machine that absolutely can handle my 300lbs big butt! And to be honest, other than the 3G Cardio Pro Runner, this is the only other treadmill under $2000 that I would recommend.
Sole, like many current treadmills, has gone to what I call the Peloton style Z shape frame. This creates a more open design and looks nice. The handles are well placed, and the lower electronics console is easy to reach. One thing to be aware of is if you are a “close walker”, not to be confused with a “close talker” from the Seinfeld show, you may feel a little cramped to the motor cover when trying to interact with the upper display console. That is one of the downfalls of the Z Shape Peloton style designs as the console is a little further away than we would want.
The overall quality is good. The Sole F80 Treadmill is a quiet machine, and the belt does not slip or hesitate when I walk (here’s looking at you Nordic Track!) This treadmill also does a nice job feeling stable and not too shaky.
There are a lot of good things to talk about with the Sole Treadmills but there are also a couple of little things that may or may not matter to you. For one, the Sole F80 Treadmill is one of the slowest treadmills to accelerate. In our “ACCELERATION TEST”, it took the Sole F80 15 seconds to go from 2 MPH – 8 MPH. This matters if you are a runner and like to do any kind of interval training. It means that if you are doing a 60 second interval, less time will be spent at the actual speed you want.
We are also curious why Sole changed their warranty from a year ago. From what we can tell, Sole is using the same deck, motor, belt etc… from last year and simply changed to the new Peloton Style Z shape up top. So why cut the warranty from 5 Years parts / 2 Year Labor down to 3 Years Parts and 1 Year Labor. Was it quality issues? 5 Years parts is the standard for any higher end treadmill, and this was a little disappointing and it definitely dropped a few points in our overall comparison chart which you can see here: Comparison Chart
One other issue, which we experienced while filming was a “run-away belt” / incline issue. We assume that this was an isolated service issue and not a design flaw. If you watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CICLtpWFoYM&t=339s you will see the belt start to speed up on its own. This is a bit scary as it could obviously lead to somebody getting injured. What is a bit concerning though is why did the Sole F80 Treadmill not trigger a “speed error” message and shut the treadmill down. This should have triggered a shut down and it did not. There are safety precautions built into treadmills that should recognize the walking belt moving at a different speed than what they upper electronics read but that did not happen. Why? I have no clue. Again, we are assuming that this was isolated to our machine as there is no way in the world Sole would allow a major oversight like this to occur on all treadmills…. Hopefully.
Pros: Quality feel and strong feeling belt. Sturdy and easy to fold up and down.
Cons: Run-away belt speed with incline – not sure what that was all about. Belt speed acceleration is a bit slow, step up height is rather high.
Sole F80 Treadmill – 2024 Model
$1,899
We always like doing reviews on Sole Treadmills. They have nice quality and are reasonably priced. There are a couple of performance-based issues which we will touch on below but for the most part, this is one of our higher rated products.
Sole has a good presence in the US markets and can be found at Dicks Sporting good stores, Amazon and direct on their own website. Sole’s MSRP and sales prices do fluctuate quite a bit so it may pay off to watch for frequent weekend sale prices to make sure you get the best deal. Waiting another week or two could save you a several hundred dollars.
Why do we like Sole? Sole Treadmills are built rather heavy duty, and the overall feel of the machine is good, especially for a big guy like me (300 LBS). Walking on the Sole F80 (2024 version) did not leave me feeling like I was too much to handle. On many treadmills I don’t feel confident that the machine can handle my weight with ease. I don’t want a machine that … kind of feels ok, kind of feels like it could handle my weight, I want a machine that absolutely can handle my 300lbs big butt! And to be honest, other than the 3G Cardio Pro Runner, this is the only other treadmill under $2000 that I would recommend.
Sole, like many current treadmills, has gone to what I call the Peloton style Z shape frame. This creates a more open design and looks nice. The handles are well placed, and the lower electronics console is easy to reach. One thing to be aware of is if you are a “close walker”, not to be confused with a “close talker” from the Seinfeld show, you may feel a little cramped to the motor cover when trying to interact with the upper display console. That is one of the downfalls of the Z Shape Peloton style designs as the console is a little further away than we would want.
The overall quality is good. The Sole F80 Treadmill is a quiet machine, and the belt does not slip or hesitate when I walk (here’s looking at you Nordic Track!) This treadmill also does a nice job feeling stable and not too shaky.
There are a lot of good things to talk about with the Sole Treadmills but there are also a couple of little things that may or may not matter to you. For one, the Sole F80 Treadmill is one of the slowest treadmills to accelerate. In our “ACCELERATION TEST”, it took the Sole F80 15 seconds to go from 2 MPH – 8 MPH. This matters if you are a runner and like to do any kind of interval training. It means that if you are doing a 60 second interval, less time will be spent at the actual speed you want.
We are also curious why Sole changed their warranty from a year ago. From what we can tell, Sole is using the same deck, motor, belt etc… from last year and simply changed to the new Peloton Style Z shape up top. So why cut the warranty from 5 Years parts / 2 Year Labor down to 3 Years Parts and 1 Year Labor. Was it quality issues? 5 Years parts is the standard for any higher end treadmill, and this was a little disappointing and it definitely dropped a few points in our overall comparison chart which you can see here: Comparison Chart
One other issue, which we experienced while filming was a “run-away belt” / incline issue. We assume that this was an isolated service issue and not a design flaw. If you watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CICLtpWFoYM&t=339s you will see the belt start to speed up on its own. This is a bit scary as it could obviously lead to somebody getting injured. What is a bit concerning though is why did the Sole F80 Treadmill not trigger a “speed error” message and shut the treadmill down. This should have triggered a shut down and it did not. There are safety precautions built into treadmills that should recognize the walking belt moving at a different speed than what they upper electronics read but that did not happen. Why? I have no clue. Again, we are assuming that this was isolated to our machine as there is no way in the world Sole would allow a major oversight like this to occur on all treadmills…. Hopefully.
Pros: Quality feel and strong feeling belt. Sturdy and easy to fold up and down.
Cons: Run-away belt speed with incline – not sure what that was all about. Belt speed acceleration is a bit slow, step up height is rather high.
Who Took Home the Gold?
Find out which 2024 Treadmills Reviewed got one of the Prestigious “Big Guy” Awards
