Treadmill - Sole vs. Xterra

Triathlon Forum
1

We’re looking for one, and I have narrowed it down to these two brands. I do not need it to be folding, and cant justify a “commercial” model. Both the Soles and “costco” treadmills get good write-ups here on ST (I’ve read nearly all of the treadmill threads). Based on the specs they seem pretty equivalent. And Costo’s customer service is as good as any. Both are rated fairly highly on Treadmill Doctor). Thoughts? And if there’s something else in the same price range let me know. I’m leaning towards the cheaper one, as I dont really see any major differentiators.

Sole S77 - $1800 delivered
Xterra TR550 - $1300 delivered

2

I bought the Sole F80 last year after doing tons of research and really really like it. I am a big guy (6’4", 245 #'s) and have had zero issues with the treadmill. I opted for the folding model even though I don’t currently need it but because I never know if I will in the future.

Would buy it again in a heartbeat.

http://www.soletreadmills.com/details.php?name=F80

3

Last winter I bought a nordic track comercial treadmill. It came with the ifit live module and I have really enjoyed it. I really like that I can connect it to my computer and run the IMWI course (or any course-it wroks with google maps). It has kept the running more interesting. They have one (an upgrade of the one I run on now) in your price range. The one I have is very solid. It does “fold” up, but not very well. That isn’t a big deal for me since I have enough room for the treadmill. Check out this link: http://www.nordictrack.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product2_12401_10301_129703_-1_59002

Jon

4

I work for Nordictrack, send me a PM and I can sell you wholesale. I have sold many fellow ST’rs.

Like the above post, our ifitlive with google map feature makes those other treads seem like 1990 product. Any Tri or race do, I plug in the route and the tread will elevate and lower to the topography. You can also see what you are doing with steetview.

5

Well of course they get great reviews, they are sponsors of the treadmill doctor site :slight_smile: It’s kind of like asking Bicycling mag if I should buy a Madone!

That being said, it’s too bad the company I work for doesn’t have a store in your state or I would take care of you. The Xterra’s 2 year parts warranty is a major red flag- I sell a $1000 tread with a better warranty than that, and mine it backed up with a in-house service department!

Also, many lower-end treadmills exclude wear parts from their “parts” warranties, which negates it for the most part anyway.

I realize as a triathlete, this probably isn’t a year-round piece of equipment for you, but these treads are really meant for people to walk on for 5-10 miles per week, most everyone on this site will put a “year’s worth” of use on a Sole in a couple winter months.

I realize these treads say they have “commercial grade” frames, “3 horsepower” motors, etc, but if that were the truth, gyms wouldn’t be buying Life Fitness treads anymore- if they could get a “commercial” one for a grand!

Please do yourself a favor, check out Vision treadmills at the very least. Pacemaster are ok too for an entry level tread. My company runs a trade-in promotion every year, and we see many Nordic-tracks, Soles, etc that were used for 1-2 years and broke, many times under warranty but the parts are unavailable because they change between models so quick.

-Physiojoe

6

What brand are you affiliated with?

I’m certainly not delusional enough to think that either of these will be the equivalent of a Life Fitness model. And I’ve also looked at the vision models; but if I was stepping into that price range, I would be looking at a refurb/reconditioned LF… Based upon expected use (prefer to be outside + gym membership) I really cant justify the $ hit of a vision. My experience with Costco is, if it doesn’t work, you put it in your car and bring it back for a refund.

My basic thought, is that if it gets any significant use, and breaks down, I would look at something good, LF, True, etc. as a replacement. But I’m not convinced that it would get the use that would justify the “good” models…

7

I got the Sole S85 from amazon for $1999 delivered and it definitely has impressed me. Im a bigger guy too, started out at 240 and the larger platform and motor I think are well worth it, and it takes a great deal of abuse from me. The warranty seems strong as well, but not having used it it is still hypothetical at this point.

8

What brand are you affiliated with?

I’m certainly not delusional enough to think that either of these will be the equivalent of a Life Fitness model. And I’ve also looked at the vision models; but if I was stepping into that price range, I would be looking at a refurb/reconditioned LF… Based upon expected use (prefer to be outside + gym membership) I really cant justify the $ hit of a vision. My experience with Costco is, if it doesn’t work, you put it in your car and bring it back for a refund.

My basic thought, is that if it gets any significant use, and breaks down, I would look at something good, LF, True, etc. as a replacement. But I’m not convinced that it would get the use that would justify the “good” models…

I’m the store manager of a dealer that does Vision, Landice and Life Fitness treads (plus a ton of other stuff).

You should be able to score a Vision 9500 Simple for less than 2k. You’d get a lifetime warranty on the frame and motor, 5 year parts. The deck also has softer cushion in the front, with a firmer elastomer in the rear- it helps your stride transfer more directly to outdoors vs. the trampoline effect you get on some other ones. If you train with heart rate at all, you probably already have a monitor- so the heart rate programs are maybe less of a concern.

Something that isn’t talked about much online is the fact that a treadmill belt slows down with each footstrike- it can throw your pace way off because the motor thinks you’re going a certain speed and in reality you aren’t. With Vision, they use similar technology to Landice and Precor, that actually compensates for this effect and creates a true running feel and a realistic pace based on your miles per hour.

If you aren’t in a hurry (like maybe 2 months), there may also be something coming from Life Fitness that may interest you, given your price range- I just got back from their headquarters/factory. That’s all I can say about that :slight_smile:

-Physiojoe

9

Hey Screamin,

I’m interested in your discount. I PMd you. Feel free to email me at alex(at)buyathlon.com.

Thanks,

Alex

10

We’re looking for one, and I have narrowed it down to these two brands. I do not need it to be folding, and cant justify a “commercial” model. Both the Soles and “costco” treadmills get good write-ups here on ST (I’ve read nearly all of the treadmill threads). Based on the specs they seem pretty equivalent. And Costo’s customer service is as good as any. Both are rated fairly highly on Treadmill Doctor). Thoughts? And if there’s something else in the same price range let me know. I’m leaning towards the cheaper one, as I dont really see any major differentiators.

Sole S77 - $1800 delivered
Xterra TR550 - $1300 delivered

I’ve owned the Sole F-85 (which actually is one of their folding ones) for 3 years now. I can’t speak to how it compares to the S77 but it’s plenty of treadmill for me and I really beat it up too. I would imagine that the S77, being a non-folding would be tougher but you should compare the specs to be sure. Either way, they make a tough treadmill. Good strong motor, great warranty and big rollers (which is very helpful to ease the load on the roller) In the winter I’ll do speed workouts on it with most pacing being between 5:00/mile and 5:40/mile. It has no trouble handling that. I’m 6’ tall and weigh anywhere between 157 and 167

The F-85 is $1999 delivered same price as when I bought it.

11

Well of course they get great reviews, they are sponsors of the treadmill doctor site :slight_smile:

No they’re not
.

12

Well of course they get great reviews, they are sponsors of the treadmill doctor site :slight_smile:

No they’re not

Sorry, I got my websites mixed up. Treadmill doctor gives inferior products good reviews not because of sponsorship, but because they sell the parts for those inferior products.

Every Nordic trac/Sole/Livestrong/Bowflex/etc sale generates a parts customer for them a couple years down the road.

-Physiojoe

13

Well of course they get great reviews, they are sponsors of the treadmill doctor site :slight_smile:

No they’re not

Sorry, I got my websites mixed up. Treadmill doctor gives inferior products good reviews not because of sponsorship, but because they sell the parts for those inferior products.

Every Nordic trac/Sole/Livestrong/Bowflex/etc sale generates a parts customer for them a couple years down the road.

-Physiojoe

Treadmill Doctor has – for a very long time – been known for having the most reliable treadmill reviews out there. I’ve been reading it since the first year. They don’t sugar coat anything. They give inferior treadmills inferior reviews and they pull no punches. In fact they’re pretty vicious when a treadmill sucks. And they know better than most because they do service them.

Seriously, did you even bother to read any of the website at all?

14

Well of course they get great reviews, they are sponsors of the treadmill doctor site :slight_smile:

No they’re not

Sorry, I got my websites mixed up. Treadmill doctor gives inferior products good reviews not because of sponsorship, but because they sell the parts for those inferior products.

Every Nordic trac/Sole/Livestrong/Bowflex/etc sale generates a parts customer for them a couple years down the road.

-Physiojoe

Treadmill Doctor has – for a very long time – been known for having the most reliable treadmill reviews out there. I’ve been reading it since the first year. They don’t sugar coat anything. They give inferior treadmills inferior reviews and they pull no punches. In fact they’re pretty vicious when a treadmill sucks. And they know better than most because they do service them.

Seriously, did you even bother to read any of the website at all?

Of course I have checked out their website. I work in the industry. Think about it- a company makes money from SERVICING treadmills.

Now tell me, what benefit is it to them if someone buys a tread that doesn’t need their service?

I’m beginning to doubt if you read the website, since you said Sole doesn’t sponsor it. I clicked on their section for Sole treadmills, and there ya go, a blatant “Sponsored Link” to Sole’s website. I’m not sure how you could think they aren’t getting advertising money when they tell us they do.

If you’ve seen as many broken treadmills from Sporting Goods stores as I have, you’d understand. We’re talking broken decks, worn out belts, loud motors, electronics that simply don’t work- on models only a few years old that haven’t seen speeds above 5mph.

-Physiojoe

15

Physiojoe is talking out of his ass and just trying to push his treads out of a store in a business that is dying, the specialty store fitness business.

Funny he rags the Livestrong brand but says he loves Vision. Same company makes both and they come out of the same factory in China.

Many people rag Nordictrack, but that is because we sell $500 million in treads a year, so of course we will have broken treads and problems.

Vision does about $30 mil a year, and the other company, pace master, just went through chapter 7 and are barely hanging on, and they are only a $12 mil a year company.

FYI, Nordictrack products are made in Logan,Ut, even the cheapest ones. And we also sell treads to clubs under the Freemotion brand. Every other company in the US, for treads under $3000k, are all made in China.

My 22 years in the business 2 cents!

16

Of course I have checked out their website. I work in the industry. Think about it- a company makes money from SERVICING treadmills.

Now tell me, what benefit is it to them if someone buys a tread that doesn’t need their service?

I’m beginning to doubt if you read the website, since you said Sole doesn’t sponsor it. I clicked on their section for Sole treadmills, and there ya go, a blatant “Sponsored Link” to Sole’s website. I’m not sure how you could think they aren’t getting advertising money when they tell us they do.

-Physiojoe

Now I’m certain you don’t read it. Yes of course they have sponsored links to every single manufacturers websites. But not just from the companies they give good reviews to (as you originally implied) but from EVERY company.

Here’s some of their “sugarcoating” of bad treadmills (all of whom have sponsored links)

Star Trac

“Unless you just must have an integrated personal TV screen, buy a big screen LCD TV for the wall.”

Nautilus

“Since we have no idea where this company is headed, we expected them to be shut down already, we would be careful about buying their products since we are uncertain about product support.”

Livestrong

“Too many corners have to be cut to get this to $799, unless you are just a walker and plan on babying it.”

Cateye

“A Johnson treadmill for the price of a True, Precor, Landice, or Lifefitness…what’s wrong with this picture? What’s wrong is someone thought the public was foolish enough to overpay for a Cateye treadmill.”

AFG

“Don’t pay $2500 for an AFG. I don’t know how much more blunt I can get than that.”

Weslo

*“If you can keep this working for more than a workout or two at the 6 MPH top speed, contact us because we’ll try to get your machine in the Smithsonian.” *

(what – a bad review to something that would break down and that they could fix? How can that be)

SteelFlex

“Keep looking over your shoulder if you put this in light institutional use because someone is going to hire the mob to repay you for your help. Don’t even consider it for home use… there are too many other good treadmills out there for $2500”

And all of these are relatively tame for them. Back about a decade ago they used to be far more brutal and entertaining. Many of the brands they used to savage don’t even exist anymore.

17

Thanks Joe,

I had come across your posts re the Sole in my searches. The S77 appears to be the same thing as the F85, except its fixed not folding. From what I have read, the Sole and the Xterra are made in the same factory, to similar specs. The CS on Sole appears to be good, the Xterra benefits from Costcos warranty.

18

Physiojoe is talking out of his ass and just trying to push his treads out of a store in a business that is dying, the specialty store fitness business.

Funny he rags the Livestrong brand but says he loves Vision. Same company makes both and they come out of the same factory in China.

Many people rag Nordictrack, but that is because we sell $500 million in treads a year, so of course we will have broken treads and problems.

Vision does about $30 mil a year, and the other company, pace master, just went through chapter 7 and are barely hanging on, and they are only a $12 mil a year company.

FYI, Nordictrack products are made in Logan,Ut, even the cheapest ones. And we also sell treads to clubs under the Freemotion brand. Every other company in the US, for treads under $3000k, are all made in China.

My 22 years in the business 2 cents!

I would be able to see your point if you were speaking the truth. -pause-

30 mins later…sorry, I just sold another Life Fitness elliptical after a great demo. What was I saying…oh yeah, without giving away too many details, many of our stores are up during a recession.

I don’t have a problem with Nordictrack, if someone decides against my product for theirs, that’s another Landice or Life Fitness, etc, that I’ll sell during our trade-in promo in a couple years.

I realize Livestrong is Johnson Health tech. But earlier this year their elliptical pedals were falling off (recall), Vision’s weren’t. I like Vision for their treads more anyway.

-Physiojoe

19

screamin,

Not sure you still work for Nordic Track, if so, would like to get in touch with you – how do I send PM to you? I don’t see your email id on profile

20

screamin,

Not sure you still work for Nordic Track, if so, would like to get in touch with you – how do I send PM to you? I don’t see your email id on profile

You can’t PM yet. See the FAQ.

John