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December 18, 2012 Update:
We purchased the Sole
E35 on January 9, 2012
with free delivery. It came in a few
days. We had the delivery guys bring it around
the back and put it in our exercise room
through a sliding door. Other places
charge extra for inside delivery but the guys
were very pleased with a $20 (two $10 bills)
tip and thanked us over and over. We allowed
several hours for assembly while watching
sports on TV so we would not be rushed.
It went together without a hitch but we are
handy with tools. After eleven months
of use about 20 times a month, we could not be
happier with our choice.
The biggest
surprise is how QUIET it is. We could
barely hear our TV at full volume with our old
treadmill while this is nearly silent while in
use. You can workout while people sleep in
other rooms and not have the machine wake them
up. We also recommend a Pedestal
Fan & an Equipment
Mat. The only maintenance we do is
dusting and towel cleaning of sweat. Occasionally we wipe it down with
Lysol wipes to keep it fresh.
If the E35 is unavailable, then we
would consider the new for 2013 Sole E25 and Sole E95.
January 8, 2012: We
are in the process of reviewing elliptical
trainers for our own purchase to replace an
aging treadmill. If we were to buy today, we
would buy the Sole E35 (List $1,999 now on
sale for $1299!!) If you have any
models you want us to review not on the list
below, then send your request to us at:
EllipticalTrainerReviews@ForBestAdvice(remove).com
We started our search with the February 2011
issue of Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports
(CR) rated 31 different elliptical training
machines. CR's top three recommended
elliptical trainers were #1 Diamondback
1260Ef at $2,200 , #2 Sole
E35 at $1299 and #3
Precor
EFX 5.31 at $3,600 with their #8 Nautilus
E514 rated at "CR Best Buy"
at only $750. If you are on a budget,
then their lowest recommended elliptical was
the $600 Schwinn
420 at #17 with a "CR Best
Buy." Our hope was to
spend under $1,000 but to get the features we
wanted, heart rate monitoring, heavy fly wheel
for smoothest operation and variable incline
to exercise different muscles, but after some
research and testing, it seems wise for us to
spend more to get the Sole E35.
Next we checked several other online sites to
see what they recommend, paying particular
attention to what they said about the units we
were interested in. A few sites and
customer reviews said the Sole
E55 and Sole
E95 were nice units with added features,
but you really didn't need to spend the extra
money to get any extra quality.
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New 2013 Model
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That is
the features are worth the extra money if they
are what you are looking for but we will be
happy enough with the E35. CostCo has
the Xterra brand made by Dyaco which makes
Sole. The models look similar but with
slightly different flywheel weights and
features at the price points. We would
consider these if we could test them in a
store to see if they fit our stride and CR
tested one of the higher models. CR
ranked the $600 Schwinn
420 higher than the $900 Xterra
FS220e in Feb. 2011.
Some sites, like the "Treadmill Doctor"
accused others of making recommendations for
brands that give them large commissions to
sell directly. They seem to only sell
their "Treadmill
Doctor Elliptical Installation and Assembly " as we couldn't find
direct links to buy the treadmills they
recommend other than links to Amazon.com
similar to ours where you can buy anything
Amazon offers. In the $1,000 to $1299
category, the Treadmill Doctor rated the Sole
E35 as a "Best Buy runner up" behind Livestrong
LS13.0E "by virtue of customer
praise." In the $1300 to $1400 category,
they gave the Sole E55 (not available in 2013) their best buy
award.
Next we visited several stores including SEARS
and Sports Authority to try the machines and
get a feel of "getting what you pay for." We
are used to working out with top notch Precor
machines at our health club so anything
feeling cheap probably would not be used as
much as the 10-year old, worn out treadmill
this is replacing. We want something
strong that we will use often and last.
We liked all the units recommended by CR but
found you certainly get what you pay
for. For someone weighing 220 pounds, If
you want a stable machine similar to what you
get at a health club, the Sole E35 seems to be
a minimum. The Sole E55 and E95 offered
some nice features but the slightly heavier
fly wheels didn't seem to add much to an
already very good Sole E35 feel.
The E35 stride length was great for us at 20"
but if you need something different, then we'd
get the E95.
So, now we are down to the Sole
E95 and LiveStrong
LS13.0E. Amazon offered
an extra special $100 off for Sole's while
LiveStrong was offering a free exercise mat
and an added year to the warranty. The
LS13.0 has a bit heavier flywheel and some
features to use on the LiveStrong web site
while the Sole machines are widely available
so finding parts, if needed in years down the
road, shouldn't be an issue. We're still
leaning towards buying the E95 but have not
made the decision yet. Also, we
checked Consumerreports.org to see updated
reviews and the Livestrong LS13.0E didn't get
a "best buy" or "recommended" rating with a
score of 62 compared to the Smooth CE3.6 score
of 72. (For reference, The Sole
E35 scored 78 in the Feb. 2011 issue.)
What is nice about Amazon.com (note 1) is FREE
delivery. Some of these weigh well over
200 lbs so this saves money and your
back! Some places will deliver to the
curb for free, charge $50 to put it inside
your house and up to $200 to bring it up
stairs. Make sure you get this figured
out BEFORE you order! If you have
stairs to climb, consider "Treadmill
Doctor Elliptical Installation and Assembly" for $199. It
sounds like they will haul it up the stairs
and assemble it for you for the same price
some places charge to carry the box of parts
up the stairs without assembly.
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Best Elliptical
Trainer for 2012 by category:
Category: Money is No Object
From the
inventors
- Precor
EFX 5.37 Premium
 $5,799
All the latest bells &
whistles with top quality and
warranty.
- Precor
EFX 5.33 Premium
 $4,795
*Professional-quality elliptical
trainer with variable stride
length and adjustable ramp
- Both offer: *Manufacturer's
Warranty: Frame and welds -
lifetime, parts and wear items -
ten years, labor - one year.
Category: Best Value
- Smooth
Fitness CE-3.6 -
$2,097
- Sole
E25
 - $2,000,
well built (3yrs parts), 20"
stride
- Sole
E35 - $2,300
(now only $1299!) Adds power incline & heart
rate telemetry plus 5yr warranty
on parts & electronics.
So far, this is what we'll
probably buy.
- Sole
E95
 All the
bells and whistles at a good
price.
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Best for $1,500
to $2,000 budget
- Smooth
Fitness CE-7.4 Elliptical
Trainer
ellipticaltrainers.com
writes: "The CE 7.4 by Smooth
Fitness is one of the best
ellipticals we've ever used. It's
extremely well built, carries an
unbelievable warranty, is smooth,
quiet, and has a great, natural
motion. The CE 7.4 is an
elliptical you simply can't go
wrong with. This unit used to be
well over $2000, and was STILL a
great buy at that price. Now, at
around $1600, it's a steal!
- Sole
E95 All the
bells and whistles at a good
price.
Costco:
- XTERRA®
FS5.5e, FS5.25e, & FS5.7e,
- Epic®
EL 1710 Elliptical
- Reebok
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Best Under $1,000:
Sears
- AFG 3.1AE ,NordicTrack E5.5,E5.7;
NordicTrack AudioStrider 990 Pro,
A.C.T, Pro-Form 395E
- Sole E35, Sole E55, Sole
E95
Sports Authority
- Healthrider H50E ($650) & Pro-form 10.0 OCE ($550)
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