Sole Fitness treadmills are known for their general reliability and the warranty that comes with them is one of the best in the market. The F85 which is one of Sole’s folding treadmills is their best seller but for those lucky enough to have the space to accommodate a non-folding treadmill, the S73 is not a bad choice at all.

The S73 has a 3.0 horsepower continuous duty motor which is powerful enough to ensure both performance and endurance over time. In fact, Sole are so confident in the quality of the motors used in their treadmills that they come with a lifetime guarantee.

The running surface is 20 inches wide and 60 inches long. That is more than adequate for all but the tallest of people and the excellent shock absorption qualities of the Cushion Flex Deck means that the runner will be experiencing up to 40% less impact stress than if he or she was running on asphalt.

The American Heart Association recommends exercising within 50 to 85% of your target heart rate which is worked out depending on your age. For example the target heart rate zone for a 45 year old is 88-149 beats per minute. Both the heart monitor chest strap which comes with the machine and the handgrip pulse monitor make this very easy to do as they send heart rate information back to the console which then automatically adjusts speed and incline to keep the user in his or her optimum zone.

All very clever stuff and to make this even more effective the ten possible programs include two heart rate controlled workouts. There are also six preset programs and two use defined workouts so plenty of variety to keep the user from getting bored.

Neither the built-in speakers nor the cooling fan are worth writing home about although these are fairly standard ‘extras’ in fitness machines of this price range and you would be right to expect better performance from both.

Thankfully Sole Fitness’s rock solid warranty which covers the frame, deck and motor for life, the electronics, rollers and belt for 5 years and in-house labor for two years makes up for its wishy-washy speakers and airy-fairy fan.

There are no shipping costs associated with the S73 (unless you live in Hawaii or Alaska in which case you will pay $250) if delivered to the kerbside at your address. To have the machine delivered in its box into a specific room in your house, called ‘Ground Inside Delivery’, will cost $99 and to have it delivered to a specific room, deboxed and put together will cost $239 over the sale price.

These are weighty machines so if you live alone and there are no neighbours nearby to help you heave it indoors then it may be worth at least paying to get the beast parked in the room you intend it to stay. Installation is not difficult so unless you are all fingers and thumbs you can probably handle that bit yourself without forking out the extra cash.

Sole Fitness is a well respected company which has a generally good reputation amongst its customers. It is possible to dig up some negative feedback (as it is with anything on the internet these days) but in general gripes are minor and mainly focussed on the disappointing fan and speakers rather than complaints about the S73’s ability to give the user a good workout.

There’s no question that in this price range, the S73 is a fine machine, backed by a reputable company.