We bought a Sole treadmill earlier this year, after reading the reviews like you are and comparing the features. We bought the Sole F83. We are very happy with it so far. I don't know how they compare to other brands; I believe the most important comparisons are the motor, the size of the deck, the warranty, and the features each one offers. The Sole is an excellent treadmill and the models we considered offered everything we were looking for after reading articles about what a good treadmill should include. Of course, you should first set a budget, and then purchase the best one you can afford within that budget.

Do you have a warranty? We bought ours at Sears and had free maintaince on it for two years.Perhaps you could try contacting the company that manufactor and see if it is known for this problem? I'm not very mechanical,so sorry I dont have better advice.

I have a gym quality Trimline fold up treadmill that I use daily. It was expensive when I bought it seven years ago but I've never regretted going with a professionally constructed model. It's much heavier than most "at home" models and much more stable...which is very important if you anticipate working up to jogging on it. Mine has built-in exercise programs which I rarely use. I can manually set the speed and incline level...which is what I do on a daily basis depending on how energetic I'm feeling. I walk at least a mile a day....but if I do it at the end of a long, busy day...I'm less apt to want to set the speed any higher that 2.8. The display panel tells me the distance that I've gone...the time it took to go that distance and the # of calories burned. The treadmill has a safety pull pin which I, personally, think is very important. If I fell and the pin pulled from the slot...the machine would shut down immediately. I've never had it happen...but I'm glad to know it's available. At the time that I purchased this Trimline...the retailer who sold me the model couldn't get the next model up that had a heart rate display. If I ever replace this treadmill...that's an option I want and would suggest it to others. Otherwise...I'm more than satisfied with just the basic options noted above. It was far more important to me to buy a sturdy piece of equipment than something with a lot of toots and whistles. I don't use it for weight loss. I was diagnosed with diabetes seven years ago and I use it to help control my glucose levels. It's been so helpful to me that I was recently told by my Dr that I'm no longer considered a diabetic. Between a low carb, low fat diet and my treadmill...I've conquered diabetes...and extended my life span. I find that pretty amazing considering that it only takes perhaps 20 minutes out of my day to walk that mile on my treadmill. Anne

Thanks everyone for all your help and suggestions. We decided to go ahead with the proform and it will be delivered before xmas so on xmas day, we'll have several strong bodies around if we need to move it or need help with assembly...or disassembling the old one. I talked to DH about the elliptical and we decided in the future we will probably trash the old nordic trak (from the 80s!) and replace it with an elliptical. But for now, we'll stick with the treadmill.