Sole E35
Sole E35 Elliptical Trainer Review
Welcome to the BestAbdominalExercises.com review of the Sole E35! Sole has established itself as one of the most popular elliptical trainer brands available right now, and the Sole E35 is arguably their most popular model. It strikes the perfect value/features/quality balance between the different Sole models (25, 35, 55 & 95) and may well be the unit you end up settling on. Let’s take a look and point out all the good and all the bad of this elliptical trainer.
Sole E35 Features
The Sole E35 is a well-thought out machine, that much is clear from the start. A blue back-lit LCD lets you know exactly what’s going on during your workout. There’s a water bottle holder built into the machine, so forget about using those sneaky “water breaks” as an excuse to get off the machine 
The unit features a cooling fan, which is always nice. If you’re like me, you love to have music while exercising. The E35 accommodates us with a set of built-in speakers to which you can hook up pretty much any MP3 player.
Sole machines promise to be whisper quiet, and this one is no exception. You can happily use it while watching TV and you won’t end up being a disturbance to anyone else in the room. The flywheel weighs a decent 25lbs, ensuring smooth 
operation and plenty of resistance across the 16 different levels offered by the machine.
The product weights 200lbs and can handle a weight of up to 375lbs. The unit comes with a chest strap, which is a great little bonus. We feel this is the most accurate way to monitor your pulse/heart rate. Kudos to Sole for this nice touch.
Footpads aren’t cushioned, but still comfortable and oversized to accommodate those of us who have trouble finding shoes. The foot beds are adjustable so you can fiddle with them to fit your natural gait perfectly, and sloped slightly inward to reduce knee and ankle stress.
The machine works both your upper and lower body. It comes with a 5 year parts/electronics warranty, a lifetime frame/brake warranty and 2 years labor warranty. So, you are well covered.
Assembly
Assembling the E35 will take some time. You should allow about 3 hours for this process, and you’ll definitely need an assistant. One man assembly is difficult if not impossible as there are parts that will swing and move on you. Fortunately, instructions are very clear and you won’t need experience in assembling these type of machines to get the job done. You will need patience though, so be aware of that.
Sole E35 Performance
Let’s give the machine a run. The first thing we look out for when testing an elliptical is whether it buckles or gets noisy when we really give it hell. The Sole E35 passes this test, remaining quiet and rock steady with a 212lbs guy giving it hell on various resistance settings.
Nothing is more annoying either than an elliptical that doesn’t provide smooth motion, but hiccups during every stride. Again, the E35 is smooth as you can hope for, and that 25lbs flywheel really feels the business. The 20″ stride length won’t make taller people feel short changed, and strikes a very pleasing middle ground for all sizes.
Many people use these machines in their basements, so roof clearance is important. For a 6 foot person, a ceiling height of around 90 inches is the minimum you should have to remove the constant worry of bumping the ceiling.
You can adjust the ramp angle up to 30 degrees, which helps you to target different lower body muscle groups.
So, in basic mechanics and movement, which is what matter most on an elliptical, this unit is rock solid and can’t be faulted. Most of the other stuff that comes with an elliptical are gimmicks that sounds great on paper, but have little value in reality.
For example, the speakers. They’re pretty crappy, and I wouldn’t exchange them for headphones. Again, this is a gimmick which has no influence on whether the E35 is a good elliptical or not. It’s an exercise machine, not a sound system. We also thought the fan was too weak, which is unfortunate.
Verdict & Summary
The Sole E35 Elliptical Machine is a great buy. It has all the features you’d want in an elliptical machine, a good mid-range price point and it is solidly constructed. It’s easy to see why Sole is becoming the brand of choice in elliptical machines, often edging out Nordic, Schwinn and other well known brands in comparison reviews.
On Amazon.com, the 2011 version of the machine has received 47 reviews, of which 44 are favorable, giving the machine a 93% customer satisfaction rating. Can’t argue with that.
Pros:
+ Lengthy but relatively simple assembly
+ Smooth and quiet operation
+ Great construction quality
+ Acceptable pricing
+ Good warranty
+ Telemetry belt
Cons:
- Negligible speakers
- Weak fan
