Best known for producing quality treadmills, Sole Fitness also offers a line of four elliptical trainers. NordicTrack offers a larger lineup of ellipticals to choose from and phases models in and out relatively quickly compared to Sole. Elliptical trainers from both manufacturers have been chosen for "best buy" or "best elliptical" listings on exercise equipment review sites such as Treadmill Doctor, Fitness Equipment Reviews and Elliptical Trainer Review.
Resistance
Sole elliptical trainers offer eddy current braking, based on electromagnetic principals rather than friction, one of the highest-end resistance systems you'll find on any elliptical trainer. All Sole machines offer 16 to 20 levels of resistance, enough to challenge anyone. Some NordicTrack models offer as few as 10 resistance levels, although most offer 15 or more. The NordicTrack machines also offer magnetic resistance, although they use the ICON Health & Fitness trademarked Silent Magnetic Resistance system instead of eddy current braking.
Features
Both Sole and NordicTrack elliptical trainers -- and indeed, mid-range elliptical trainers from other manufacturers -- offer a similar range of features. These include built-in speakers with MP3-player ports, in-console cooling fans, handgrip heart rate monitors, wireless telemetry and plentiful preprogrammed workouts. The biggest difference between these two lines is that NordicTrack elliptical trainers are iFit compatible, but Sole machines are not. With iFit, you either download new workouts directly from the Internet or purchase a memory card you slide into the elliptical's console, which in turn provides multiple workouts to choose from.
Specs
All Sole elliptical trainers have front-drive resistance and a fixed, 20-inch stride length. Almost every NordicTrack elliptical offers at least an 18-inch stride, and some NordicTrack machines have adjustable stride lengths. The NordicTrack machines range the gamut from front- and rear-drive machines to unusual center-drive models. Maximum user weight capacities range from 325 lbs. to 400 lbs. for Sole elliptical trainers, and 250 to 375 lbs. for NordicTrack models.
Price and Warranty
As of December 2010, Sole elliptical trainers range from about $1,000 to $1,700. This is a steep, constant discount off the MSRP, which ranges from about $2,000 to $2,700. Although at least a few NordicTrack elliptical trainers are discounted at any given time, the discounts aren't as steep. NordicTrack prices range from about $950 to about $2,600 as of December 2010.
All Sole ellipticals have a lifetime frame warranty. The E25 comes with three years of parts and electronics coverage, and one year of labor coverage. The other models have five years of parts-electronics coverage and two years of labor coverage.
Most NordicTrack elliptical trainers come with a lifetime frame warranty and at least one year of labor coverage, but a few have a brief 90-day warranty period on everything but the frame.
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