I did my research online and found that the Sole F63 is a Consumer Reports Best Buy... which means it's one of the top-rated machines but also a good value. I was kind of ready to just buy it based on that, but I thought it would be nice to actually see one in person. First, it's pretty hard to find Sole machines in person - Dick's Sporting Goods is the only place that carries them in-store.
The Fitness staff guy answered all my questions (how is the Sole brand, is there a reason I should buy the more expensive model, do they ever go on sale - good brand, he's never had one returned and his customers all praise them; for most people, the F63 works great but if you have a long stride or run really fast you might want one with a longer running area; he's never seen them go on sale like the cheaper machine sometimes do) and then trucked the boxed treadmill to the front of the store. We planned to take it home in the back of the Prius (with the hatch tied down). No one believed us when we said it would fit (it totally fit). So, if you can find one in-store and want to take it home, it will fit in the back of a Prius, but you have to tie the hatch door down.
The thing is heavy - like 240 lbs heavy - but when we got home, we loaded it onto a dolly and wheeled it to the patio so we could bring it inside in pieces and then assemble it. It's actually really easy to put together; way easier than our elliptical was. You bring in the base, with the side rails and belt and whatnot all in one piece. You attach the front "legs", then the console. And you're pretty much done! You probably need two people to get the base part in, but the rest can be done with one person.
The F63 is a folding treadmill, but I don't foresee us folding it up on a regular basis. Maybe when we have people over and want more space. But, it's really easy to fold up and put back down. There's some sort of hydraulic lift, so it doesn't feel so heavy when you lift it up. I can do it easily (and that's not the case with a lot of treadmills I tried). Then, you just pull a lever to release it and the hydraulic thing slowly lowers it to the ground for you. Some of the other machines, I would have been smushed if I tried to lower the platform. And, once it's folded up and locked, it's actually pretty easy to roll around and position. It's a pretty nice feature to have, I think.
We've had it for less than a week, so I can't comment on long-term use, but I've taken it to the maximum incline of 15% (the buttons only show 12%, but you can push the "up" button a few more times to get to 15%) and both walked (2 mph) and run (6 mph) on it. I spent about an hour on it the first day, mainly seeing how the installed programs work and how you can adjust it. One thing I like is that even if you start with a set program, you can manually adjust it after it starts. So, if you find that it's too easy (or too hard) you can fiddle with it so you're comfortable. With our elliptical, once you've set the difficulty level, you're pretty much stuck with it. The programs are also set to different patterns so for each program it will vary based on incline only, speed only, or a combination of speed and incline. There's a 2.5 minute warm up and cool down period on either end of a programmed workout, but you can skip either of them by hitting the Start button. I really like the incline and speed adjustment button on the side handles. They're easy to find, so I can adjust what I'm doing without ever looking down.
The F63 also comes with a wireless heart rate monitor, but it's compatible with our Polar monitors, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably compatible with most heart rate monitors. The wireless heart rate monitoring and the 15% maximum incline are two features that aren't mentioned in any of the specifications but definitely exist in the machine.
When you start the treadmill, it's a little slow to get going, but once it reached 1.5-2.0 mph it's nice and smooth. Ramping up speed and the incline is also smooth - I hardly notice it's happening until it's done and I notice I'm working harder to keep up. The F63 has a blue back-lit display screen, while the higher models have a red LED display (I like the blue one better). There's a 1/4 mile track on the display, but I barely pay attention to it. I just keep running until my time is up and then I see how I did. I can say that running on a treadmill seems harder than being on the elliptical machine. I used to be able to log 5.5 miles on the elliptical in 45 minutes (maybe the measurements aren't really compatible) but an hour of running (jogging) only gets me 4.9 miles on the treadmill (and I feel it more). Running seems pretty smooth, though. Maybe it's the fancy cushioning or whatever, but it doesn't feel like my feet are just slapping onto a hard surface with each step. There's a little bouncy give when I run.
I'm optimistic that it will keep performing well in the long run. We did our research on an elliptical machine three years ago and paid a comparable price (not a bargain sale type of machine) and it's still going strong and hasn't needed any adjustments. Get more detail about Sole F63 Treadmill.
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