Killed my Sole F80 after 8 years. Sucks, but customer service is great

Triathlon Forum
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My trusty SoleF80 died on me after 8 years of solid use. Don’t worry though, I’m not throwing it away, but I called customer service, which was super helpful, walked me through the troubleshooting quickly over the phone, and I had to buy a new controller board (electronics), new front roller, new belt, and they’re sending me a new motor. Pretty much all new motor-related hardware, but the console is ok (I actually replaced that one 2 years ago, that was pricey!)

The cost for all the parts is a good $360, but they’re throwing in a new motor for free ‘just in case’, as they have lifetime warrantees on their motors. Made me happy about that. All in all I still have good vibes on my Sole f80 - I’ve really used it a lot over the past 8 years, so it’s been through a lot!

I’m also mentioning this so for all you treadmill owners out there, be wary if your treadmill starts to ‘run hot.’ Mine was getting hotter and hotter despite a new deck, and ample lube - what the tech thinks happened is that maybe a combo of my old belt + an older front roller, added friction to the whole system, and thus when I ran, heat would build up all around the electronics to the point it killed the motor controller (the motor won’t even turn on anymore.) My treadmill was running so hot that it felt really hot if you put your hand on it after running on it at anything faster than 8:00/mile for more than 15 minutes and then stopped it. Yes, I lubed the crap out of it, too, so that wasn’t the problem.

(I’ve actually had plenty of YMCA treadmills feel this hot, so it was hard for me to tell, but I’ve also had the occasional YMCA treadmill that must have been set up correctly and didn’t run this hot, which I liked. I also really notice the heat, as I’m a minimalist footwear runner or even barefoot on the treadmill deck at home, so I REALLY feel the heat, although this problem even happened before I made the switch last year - I was noticing that my feet would get so sweaty from deck heat transmitted that they would literally squish on each step after about an hour of running, and this was with motion controlled shoes.)

Just a heads up to stay on top of maintenance or part replacement if your treadmill is ‘running hot’ like mine, and to call customer service for help!

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Thanks for the heads up. Ive got a F85 that I really enjoy. I’ll keep a eye on it.

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Thanks for the heads up. Ive got a F85 that I really enjoy. I’ll keep a eye on it.

Good to hear about longevity and customer service. I also went with an F85 this year and I love it… but the software on the thing is awful. I just don’t understand why their didn’t invest just a tad bit more in their software solution. It can track “laps” if you hit the “display” button which shows how many laps for about 10 seconds, then reverts back…but you can’t actually see a real time lap (1/4 mile) lap counter on the screen (Which is helpful as I am often assigned 400/800yard sets. And the distance readout is only in tenths of a mile… every other treadmill I have seen is to the hundredths which is just helpful when doing intervals. I also wish the elapse time could go past 99 mins without looping back to 0. My F85 had Bluetooth but it is useless… if you connect a phone/tablet to the treadmill then you must control the treadmill from that connected device which is just crazy. Not a huge deal and none of those things stop me from getting what I wanted out of the F85 but this also isn’t a cheap consumer treadmill… it is advertised as sort of being in the middle ground… not a Woodway, but not junk. Still love my treadmill… just surprised someone at Sole didn’t spend just a few extra hours to make their software a little better. I keep thinking their had to be a software update out there for it… but seems there isn’t :-/

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Mine runs crazy hot as well like you explained replaced the rear roller last year but nothing else yet it is about 5 years old. I do lube it a ton as well the belt is probably close to the end of its life maybe that will be the next thing to replace and see if it helps the heat.

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1899 at full retail, not much for a good treadmill. I’d call it upper lower class. Not a bad treadmill, but definitely not one that is going to be super sophisticated.

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My F80 is about 10 years old now, but I only run maybe 20 miles a month on it. About 2k total. Good to hear about their service. Will look out for overheating issues.

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My F80 is about 10 years old now, but I only run maybe 20 miles a month on it. About 2k total. Good to hear about their service. Will look out for overheating issues.

I probably averaged 15mpw on mine for the long haul as I do half my running outside, but I did go through several near-pure running blocks for 12-16 weeks where I dropped 50mpw on my TM. Mine also lives in a garage where condensation/rust is a problem, and may have affected the rollers.