Sole Fitness E98 Light Commercial Elliptical Machine (New 2013 Model) Review
| Product Code | B0090X0ALC |
| Product Rating |  |
| Price | $1,999.99 |
| Where To Buy | See More Details |
| Customer Review | See More Reviews |
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #323058 in Sports & Outdoors
- Size: 27 x 83-Inch
- Brand: Sole
- Model: E98-2013
- Released on: 2012-08-21
Features
- Light Commercial E98 Elliptical built for commercial environment, with articulating foot pedals and heavy-duty 34-pound flywheel
- Adjustable pedals and console and power adjustable stride and incline; 20-inch maximum stride length; six standard programs, two custom programs, and two heart rate programs
- Pulse grip and chest strap heart rate monitoring; LCD console with nine-inch display; front drive system with bBuilt-in fan and 15-inch pedals; includes sound system and water bottle holder
- Measures 27 by 67 by 82 inches (W x H x D), with 249-pound weight and 400-pound weight limit
- Includes the following manufacturer's warranties against defects in materials and workmanship: lifetime on frame; five years on electronics and parts; and two years on labor
- Light Commercial E98 Elliptical built for commercial environment, with articulating foot pedals and heavy-duty 34-pound flywheel
- Adjustable pedals and console and power adjustable stride and incline; 20-inch maximum stride length; six standard programs, two custom programs, and two heart rate programs
- Pulse grip and chest strap heart rate monitoring; LCD console with nine-inch display; front drive system with bBuilt-in fan and 15-inch pedals; includes sound system and water bottle holder
- Measures 27 by 67 by 82 inches (W x H x D), with 249-pound weight and 400-pound weight limit
- Includes the following manufacturer's warranties against defects in materials and workmanship: lifetime on frame; five years on electronics and parts; and two years on labor
Product Description
The Sole Light Commercial E98 Elliptical was built for the commercial environment. From its articulating foot pedals to its heavy 30 lbs flywheel the E98 is quickly becoming the popular model in Light Commercial settings and is rapidly replacing its overpriced high end counterparts. The E98 has a 20"stride length, precision balanced flywheel and a 9" commercial grade display screen,that feartures 10 challenging programs including heart rate control.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
A Great, Metaphor-Free Workout
By P. Glass
When I started looking for an exercise machine for cardio, I wasn't wed to an elliptical machine but I was pretty sure I didn't want a treadmill. When I use a treadmill, I am treading: running and running but never getting anywhere, no matter how fast I run. Why would I purchase an expensive machine to do what I do for free in my nightmares? And really, my life is already jam-packed with more than enough metaphors. I'm not going to buy another one and stick it in my exercise room.To make a long story not quite so long, I bought an elliptical because I want to throw on the same stinky shorts and tattered t-shirt I wore yesterday and just work out every morning without feeling compelled to check the weather. Elliptical machines were plainly devised by mad scientists seeking the least efficient, most torturous way to churn butter. The motion is unlike anything one encounters in the real world unless you have, perhaps, gone running in tall platform shoes with foam soles that compress and expand with each step. You don't expect to get anywhere and can enjoy a metaphor-free workout.I chose the Sole Fitness E98 Light Commercial Elliptical Machine because it did everything an elliptical machine should do. It has a big display with way too much information. It's got incline for added variety and resistance. It keeps track of your distance even when you "ellipt" backwards. It looks like something George Lucas might strap a laser cannon to and have people fly in a movie. And it hurts you mercilessly. Meanwhile, it's as tough as a tank and, thanks to the super-heavy flywheel, as smooth as an Italian tour guide.ORDERING AND DELIVERYI ordered directly from the manufacturer in spite of the fact that Amazon would have delivered the machine sooner. At the time I ordered, the price from the manufacturer was the same as Amazon's price and the purchase was tax-free without any shipping costs. Ordering online was easy even if my credit card groaned audibly as I completed the transaction. I ordered on a Saturday and Sole Fitness shipped the elliptical that Monday. But they shipped it to a local trucking company. I'm not really sure why this was preferable to shipping it directly to me, but that's how it works. It took a week for the trucking company to receive it and then I had to arrange a delivery date with them. The trucking company was great, though, and, after calling them to schedule delivery, it was on the sidewalk outside my apartment the next day, exactly ten days after I placed my online order.And I do mean on the sidewalk outside my apartment. It's called "sidewalk delivery." They don't bring it inside.The parts to the elliptical came in a single box weighing about 250 pounds. If you can move this box intact at all after they drop it off, you don't need an elliptical machine; you need an agent to book you on your freak-show tour. Your first workout will be opening the box and carrying 250 pounds of elliptical inside, piece-by-heavy-piece. And the elliptical comes in a lot of pieces.ASSEMBLING THE E98I didn't count all the parts but let's say that, not counting nuts, bolts, and screws, the elliptical machine is comprised of somewhere around sixty pieces. Assembly is divided in the manual into four steps, with each step entailing multiple sub-steps and a diagram using lines to indicate where each piece fits. The most hilarious of these steps is the fourth, where over twenty plastic parts are attached to the almost-completed elliptical in one diagram that looks like a picture of what will happen if your elliptical machine ever explodes. In the written instructions, this one diagram is accompanied by nine fairly complicated sub-steps.It took me two days to assemble the unit. I took my sweet time, spending a few hours assembling on the first day and barely an hour the second. Here are some hints for you when you are assembling yours so that you can avoid my missteps.1. Look at the diagrams and make sure everything looks right as you assemble the unit. Over the flywheel, for instance, is a hood-like cover through which the mast that holds the console is threaded. This kind of snaps into place. Its placement is not described in the instructions and, in the diagram, it is shown already in place. If, as I did, you don't put this hood on the flywheel during assembly, you will need to take the whole console off -- removing all the wires you so carefully threaded -- so you can put this plastic hood over the flywheel. This will be a good time to practice your profanity.2. Use a straightened wire coat-hanger to thread the wires through the console tube, crimping one end of the hanger around the wires before threading. This will make threading those wires take exactly ten seconds. Otherwise, you will feel like threading the wires is an hour-long intelligence test in which you show up on the bell curve just to the left of "moron." I only discovered the wire coat-hanger shortcut after taking the console unit apart to complete the step mentioned in Hint 1.3. Don't remove the foam cover from the flywheel hole until you are ready to snap the hood in Hint 1, above, into place. Removing it leaves a gaping hole directly into the flywheel housing. I removed it prematurely and then dropped a screw into the main flywheel housing after the machine was half assembled. I then had to fish the screw out with a magnet, which worked, luckily enough, proving yet again that reading comic books is a life-saving exercise. The alternative was to take the entire machine apart so I could lift the flywheel and turn it upside down. Mind you, the foam cover has a prominent sticker on it that says, "NOTICE: The white foam insert is there to prevent any hardware being dropped inside the unit during assembly...." See the intelligence test in Hint 2.After I assembled the whole unit, the flywheel made a strange clicking noise when I first tried it out. I unsnapped the hood over the main housing and noticed that one red wire was brushing against the flywheel. I used my trusty coat-hanger to move that wire away from the flywheel. After that, the unit worked perfectly.Sole Fitness includes extra screws with each unit so don't worry if you have a handful left. At least, I hope those were extra screws.The package comes with a white tube labeled, in black block letters, "LUBE," for greasing the tracks of the elliptical machine. Before your first use, it's a good idea to clean the rails the pedal arms slide on and then lube them lightly. When you're done, don't leave the opened tube labeled "LUBE" on the weight bench in your exercise room, as I did, where it will be the very first thing any houseguest will notice.FEATURESLet's get something straight: I cannot drink water while ellipting. I also cannot read or eat or do crossword puzzles or play guitar while I ellipt. I can adequately multitask in the following way: I can keep the pedals going with body movements while sucking in enough air to keep me from fainting. So all the information I provide here about putting a book on the elliptical or keeping a water bottle handy is through experimentation performed for you, the potential Amazon purchaser.You can plug your MP3 player or television or X-Box or whatever into the elliptical through a standard stereo jack. It has speakers over the console display so, if you want to listen to something in tinny stereo, you can. It also has a headphone jack so you can plug your headphones into the machine. I'm not sure why someone would choose to plug their MP3 player into the console and then plug their headphones into the console instead of just using their MP3 player as they normally would, but you can do this if you're so inclined. If you choose to pipe your music through the console, either by using the crappy speakers or the headphone jack, it does not interact at all with the machine. It will not come up with some fabulous program so that you are suddenly ellipting to the oldies or hip-hop-ellipting. So, again, I'm not sure why anyone would bother.The E98 has no water-bottle holder. It has a space in the console that is probably best described as a slanted cubby hole. If you decide to put your water bottle into the cubby hole, it will need to be capped so the water doesn't spill all over the place. If you can remove your water bottle from the cubby hole, unscrew its cap, and take a drink without spilling water all over the place while continuing to ellipt and to breathe enough to remain conscious, congratulations. You have far greater multitasking skills and much more coordination than I do.The E98 has a fan just above the console display that turns on with the push of a button. I don't know who uses this fan. Maybe someone spends a few thousand dollars on a Light Commercial elliptical machine and then counts on the two-dollar fan in its console to cool the room. Not me. Buy a real fan or an air conditioner, you cheapskate. Your chances of not dying from heatstroke will increase dramatically.The E98 does have a ledge on the console just over its panel buttons where one could conceivably place a book, but this will cover up the display entirely. A normal-sized paperback will cover the fan and speakers above the console display as well. Again, I don't read while I ellipt. I am fighting for my life. If you can read while you ellipt, you may not care that your book covers the display panel. Like a talking dragon, you are unfathomable to me, so I have no idea where your priorities lie. I am busy just trying to breathe.The E98 has a heart-rate monitor that is activated by tightly grasping the center handlebars. You can also buy an optional heart rate monitor you strap across your chest. I bought one on eBay deeply discounted and it works great. Either the maximum heart rate the machine can measure is about 182 beats per minute or that is where my heart is on the verge of cardiac arrest and refuses to beat any faster.WORKING OUT WITH THE E98This machine has a 34-pound flywheel, so its operation is smooth and quiet, with only a whooshing sound as you use it. The stride is adjustable and comfortable, thanks to the articulating foot pedals. Unlike other elliptical machines I have used, my toes rarely get tingly or numb even during very long workouts. I did my very first workout on the machine barefoot. I do not recommend this since, as you sweat, the pedals become wet and slippery if you're not wearing athletic footwear. Those of you with foresight might have guessed that this would happen. I not only lack foresight, but convinced myself that my feet sliding around the fifteen inches of pedals made the workout more challenging. It did, but I have worn sneakers since.Before your first workout, the machine asks for your age and weight. These are used for some of the programs and for the calorie count the machine displays. You can lie to the machine and it will never know, and the calories burned it displays is just a crazy guess anyway. Foolish machine.The E98 console display is a bright, big, bluish monochrome. It displays where you are in your program graphically, how much time is left to complete your program, how many calories you've burned so far, and your pace. Your pace is displayed as how long it will take you to complete a mile, so 20:00 is slower than 15:00. It took me a while to figure this out, and the whole time I thought I was some kind of speed demon. The display also shows how many laps you've completed, with each lap equal to a quarter mile, complete with a visual oval that shows where you are in a particular lap. It also shows how many miles you have ellipted along with your heart rate if your are wearing the strap or holding the handlebars. Finally, it shows the current resistance and incline. That's a lot of information to process while you are trying to stay alive. Mostly, your eyes will stay focused on the time.The E98 has five normal programs: Hill (just up then down), Fat Burn (which is sort of a flat-topped hill), Cardio, Strength (a tall, flat-topped hill that is steep on the downside), and Interval (four steep, tall hills). For all of these programs except Cardio, slope more or less mirrors resistance when you have incline turned on. Cardio is the most interesting, with three hills on resistance but four steep hills on incline. My body -- admittedly not the smartest body on the planet -- can never figure out what's coming next. It just struggles to stay conscious.The E98 also has a fitness-test program that will tell you how ridiculously out-of-shape you are and two heart-rate programs -- one for cardio and one for weight loss. These programs use the heart-rate monitor as part of the routine. You can also set up two manual programs. The maximum resistance and incline for any of the programs can be adjusted on-the-fly, though the fitness-test and heart-rate programs will adjust automatically according to your heart rate. If you don't buy the optional heart-rate strap, you will need to hold onto the handlebars throughout your workout to use these programs. If you let go for even a second, the machine thinks you are dead, laughs heartily, and then waits patiently for its next victim.The power incline feature is kind of strange. It does not raise the front of the machine as you might expect. Instead, some magic happens inside the flywheel housing and your knees are raised higher with each step, so it takes more work to pedal as your range of motion increases. I guess this is what happens when a person runs up a hill. I don't know because, in the real world, I don't run up hills. That would take a bear chasing me or something. Even then, I would probably just drop my ice cream cone and play dead. After all, I can ellipt forever but I will still never be able to outrun even the laziest bear.You can adjust the duration of your workout for as long or short as you like. I usually do an hour. The E98 has twenty levels of resistance and twenty independent levels of incline. I've tried the Cardio program at the highest settings and it's a humbling experience. After twenty minutes, my legs stopped bending and I stopped the program, walked it off and caught my breath, and started again at lower resistance and incline levels. If you can finish an hour-long program with the resistance and incline at their highest levels while reading your book and drinking your water, well, good day to you, sir. I said, good day! Go outrun a bear or something next.THAT'S ALLI think I've covered just about everything. If you have any burning questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will try to respond if I can catch my breath. I haven't had to contact Sole Fitness customer support, but I will update this review if I ever have that need.All in all, I really love my E98. It's sturdy, quiet, and comfortable, will remain challenging for years to come, and has a big, pretty display. I wish it had been easier to assemble, had come with the heart-rate strap, and included a coupon for a free steak dinner, but I would recommend this machine for anyone like myself who wants to get fit, never wants to deal with weather, and doesn't like the gym experience.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.Sole Fitness Eliptical E98 Model
By Mary Lee Ramassini
It is commercial strength yet easy to use. Best of all I can roll out of bed in the morning and do my workout without the lights even being turned on. It took a little more time than expected when assembling the unit, about 9 hours. The instructions were fairly easy to follow. You just have to make certain you understand them so read them a few times before each step. If I can do it,than truly anybody can. It is awesome.
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