I worked on a ton of Sole products when I was still servicing equipment. You will not tell a difference running on the two, motor horsepower is just a number, quality of the motor means everything. I think the F85 might have a few more preset programs, but generally, similar treadmill.

For the price you can not beat Sole, plus their customer service is amazing.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I didn't see this before pulling the trigger on the F80. The F65 was on sale but once the sale ended it was only $200 less than the F80, so I figured it was safer to go with the one everyone is familiar with. Lots of great reviews on the F80.

I would stick to the F80. Get as much horsepower as you can, especially if you are doing 20 or more miles per week and if you are doing speed intervals. The minimum I would go with is 3.5 HP. I bought a F80 six years ago and it finally died (front roller and drive belt went out). I am totally happy with it as I put thousands of miles on it and it worked perfectly for most of that time. However, I am very light (under 160 pounds). I would say if you are over 180 and are putting in serious training you should definitely not go anywhere under 3.5hp for your motor.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

Did you fix your roller & drive belt? Both are VERY easy to fix, and cost <$300 total, I think.

I just got the F63 (started a thread on it a few weeks back). It's solid and I'm happy I didn't hold out for the F80.

Having said that, I only run on it for short runs and/ or horribly bad weather runs. If I was dedicating a majority of my running to the treadmill, I'd consider (but not require) and upgraded version. (I'd also consider allowing the Wife to commit me somewhere, but that's a different story)

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I was between the two for some time last year. I should have bought the F65.


Treadmill horsepower ratings are misleading. There's no regulation on it so it's just a marketing word. You are not going to see 3.5 HP if you are using a standard 15 amp outlet for your treadmill. If you have a dedicated 20 amp circuit, you still won't. Maybe closer to 2.5 on a dedicated 20 amp. It doesn't mean that that the motor isn't 'better' on the F80, it just means that HP shouldn't be the metric to be used. Feel free to correct me where I'm wrong. My electrician neighbor gave me quite the explanation when we were talking about running some new lines to the garage for tools.

The screens between the two are equally lame. You just have a bit more bezel for the F65.

There's an additional warranty for parts, electronics and labor on the F80. 5 years vs. 3 for parts and electronics. 1 vs 2 for labor.

This is actually what I was going to do but I found a brand new Pro Form 5000 for $800 (from an overstock-type seller). I really don't give a crap about the built-in workouts or the iFit or whatever and I know I'm rolling the dice with Icon Fitness quality but for that price it was worth it to give it a shot. It has incline/decline, 3.75CHP, a 22" wide belt and the rollers are 2.5" so assuming the controls hold up it should be perfect for what I need.

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Sounds reasonable what you did.

Although next time around, or for anyone interested needing similar maintenance, removing the front roller is actually very easy with no tricks required (although I vaguely remember still having to remove the deck to get access to it, which is mildly annoying but not hard to do), and replacing the drive belt (not running surface belt) is a cakewalk, literally seconds on-off with no tools required once the lid is off the TM.

So you went with the F80? Are you unhappy with it or just think there was no reason to spend the extra $$?

I do agree that treadmill 'horsepower' ratings are not regulated and thus likely all over the place. I definitely wouldn't say a 3.0hp TM from some random Chinese no-name company equals 3.0HP on a Sole nor a 3.0HP on a $10k Woodway.

Still, I suspect for a solid company like Sole, the higher HP number on the engine will indicate stronger capacity, and likely longer lifespan if you're running it hard. I've never killed my TM motor, but Lionel Sanders burns through multiples of his Nordictrac treadmill per year (at least he did in the past per his youtube videos), so it is definitely possible to 'kill' your TM motor by wearing it down.

I'll also add though that nowadays it seems that almost all the 'good' TM brands, including Sole, have LIFETIME warrantees on their motors. Meaning they do NOT expect the motor to fail for the vast majority of people. So if you get the F65 with the lesser motor, it has a lifetime warrantee on it.

Replacing the motor isn't hard as well, although you will need to purchase the correct sized socket wrenches to remove the big bolts that hold it down. I found replacing my motor (they sent me a new one for free during my TM overhaul even though mine was running fine, 'just in case!") easier than replacing the deck (by a lot).

The F80 has been pretty good. I would have rather kept some money in my pocket and had an equally good treadmill. Sole was my only option because of how short my basement ceilings are. Their deck height is by far the lowest of most of the mentioned brands around here.

Now that I think about it, I don't believe the F65 was available online last year and the one locally was priced the same as the F80 once tax and delivery were factored in.

Sole isn't making their own motors. There's not even a standard RPM for where they are taking their HP measurement at either. The higher the HP given *seems* like it should better or that the load we are operating at is much lower within the capacity and thus easier on the engine. I don't know, it could be true. It seems like home treadmills use basic DC motors and most of the other parts are more important. I just wanted my saws to stop overloading the circuit and was confused why my "3.5 HP treadmill" never even flickered the lights when none of my tools were rated anywhere remotely close to that. I received much more information than I asked for.

Lionel is a special case. One his videos that I watched had him heat the room pretty high and add in a bunch of humidity. Definitely beyond what the treadmill electronics were designed for. Probably much cheaper to keep replacing motors for the 0.01% than to make 100% more of the treadmills more expensive to make. As you said, it seems like a lot of units have lifetime motor warranties and is likely a non-issue for us mortals.

Crap, another thread that has become a Lionel thread!

Sole is the Xterra Wetsuits of the treadmill market. Good product - but no one pays retail/msrp (lots of treadmills companies do the same). Their fall sale becomes their Black Friday sale which then becomes their Cyber Monday sale which then becomes their Christmas sale which then becomes their New Year sale, etc. If for some reason it's not on sale today, check back tomorrow - they just were in the middle of changing the heading.

That said, the F80 is currently only $200 more, not $300 more, if that makes any difference to you.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

I still think you're being TOO skeptical about TM motors within Sole. I'd be honestly shocked if they were charging that much extra for the stronger motor in the F80 vs F65 if there literally was no practical difference in them.

But yes, there's almost no way for us consumers to tell up front. Unless you're very experienced with F80 vs F65, I suspect you'd never know the difference. I personally would HOPE that the higher rated-HP (whatever spec they use) motor in the F80 vs the F65 has greater longevity, and is less noisy than the F65, but given that I only use the F65, your guess is as good as mine.

I my nerd-dom, I did just look up the warrantees on Sole F63 vs F80, and I found an important (I'm sure mostly overlooked) detail that is absolutely worth knowing if you choose the F63.

The deck (a big wooden board that is the actual running weight surface under the moving belt) has a 3 year warrantee for the F63 and a LIFETIME warrantee for the F80. Decks in $1500 class TMs are definitely a real failure point piece since it absorbs heat from friction and weight from pounding.

Also, the electronics (which DO fail) are 3 year warrantee for F63 vs 5 yr for F80.

Also, the 'parts' warrantee (rollers, etc.) are 3 year for F63 vs 5 yr for F80.

I had to change my deck at the 5 year mark due to rippling in the surface from heat and load (it still ran ok, but the service guy told me to replace it.) So keep that in mind if you go with the cheaper one but intend to run the heck out of it.

I'm really happy with my F80 despite the total overhaul I had to do on it (my TM is in a high-condensation garage, which is hard on the parts, and I sweat a ton) but if it dies on me again, I will replace it with a TM in the $2.5k+ range just to have it be my 'last' treadmill. (My arthritis ankles will probably give me only 10-15 more years of serious running!)

Agreed 100% on all points.

I ended up going with the F80 but duly noted - the F65 and F63 have the same warranty while the F80 steps up to the lifetime deck, etc. So that's a significant difference between the F65 and F80 along with the slightly smaller motor (for whatever that's worth) and the smaller screen.

As a sidenote, I wonder if the deck is actually any different between the two, or if they're just willing to replace it more when you pay up for the more expensive model...

Almost certainly the same exact deck for the two. These decks sell for about $200 + shipping.

HP is a sales tactic, it’s how a salesman would get you to upgrade an otherwise similar unit. Plus it is a max output of the motor anyway, it will pop the breaker before you need that much output.

Pretty sure deck and belt are same on the two.

I have said this before, if you want the longest life out of your treadmill, keep it clean, vacuum the inside of the motor compartment and lubricate the belt (if required). Some treadmills are notoriously prone to having issues when proper lubrication is not being done.

As I recall when I bought my F85 years ago, a big technical advantage of the F85 (and F80) was the size of the rollers. Larger rollers help ease the strain on the motors. And for me, also the length of the belt