Best for Home Use
Best for Serious Runners
Best for Walkers
Best for Seniors
Sole ST300 Review
Sole Fitness is a leading brand of durable yet affordable treadmills, elliptical machines and other cardio trainers for residential and light commercial fitness rooms. The ST300 Strider builds upon Sole’s success with standard elliptical machines by offering expanded stride settings… thus creating a sort of elliptical-treadmill hybrid for a variety of low-impact exercises. It has pedal path options from 18 to 26 inches, so adults of all heights get comfortable choices for target-toning different muscle groups. Exercise possibilities range from stair-stepping to walking and jogging, all with very low impact on the knees and other sensitive joints.
Besides sculpting the lower body, the Sole ST300 tends to the upper body with moving handlebars. The extra exercise helps make Sole Striders even better calorie burners than treadmills.
In terms of power the ST300 can provide just about anyone with an ideal challenge. It has a 25-pound flywheel and offers 16 resistance levels. The ride should feel “club-quality smooth” at least for people weighing up to 250 pounds or so, and the machine has a user weight capacity of 325 pounds. It weighs nearly 250 pounds itself and remains sturdy even when used at high speeds.
The Sole ST300 Strider has a list price of $2,699 but sells for $1,699 online at the time of this review publication. Sole Fitness’ factory-direct online offer includes free delivery and a great warranty for residential use as described below. Sales tax is only charged in California and Utah.
What We Like:
- High Quality: The ST300 Strider has high quality components such as cushioned pedals, a 25-pound flywheel and durable eddy current braking or magnetic resistance. Compared with many other $1,600 cardio trainers it carries longer warranties for the parts and electronics.
- Fits Everybody: Standard elliptical trainers of average to luxury quality have fixed strides of about 18 or 20 inches. They can comfortably accommodate a large percentage of users, but the Sole ST300 Strider can meet an even wider audience with its settings of 18″ to 26″.
- Versatile: Adjusting the stride length changes the workout effect. Shorter stride lengths let the machine mimic a stepper and target the thighs and calves. Longer stride lengths let you take jogging or sprinting motions to target the glutes and hamstrings.
- Total Body Training: The Sole ST300 comes with moving handlebars to stimulate upper body muscle groups, letting you get a complete body workout.
- Preset Workouts: Twelve workout programs help trainees exercise for distance, calorie goals, constant heart rate and more. The data screen is backlit for easy reading.
- High Capacity: This Strider has a maximum user weight capacity of 325 pounds.
- Warranty: The ST300 Strider is sold with lifetime protection on the frame, three years on parts and electronics, and a year of in-home labor.
Sole ST300 Treadmill - Key Specs:
| Star Rating: | 4.15-stars |
|---|---|
| Motor: | N/A HP |
| Incline: | N/A |
| Running Area: | N/A |
| Folding: | No |
| Top Speed: | N/A MPH |
| Weight Capacity: | 325 LBS |
| Dimensions: | 73" L x 34" W x 64" H |
| Built-In Programs: | 12 |
- Manual Adjustment: Compared with the power-adjustable ST600, the ST300 is less dynamic.
- Simple Console: The console has a traditional LCD window for data. Options from some other brands have touch-screens. The console has a water bottle holder but lacks some extras that are found on other cardio trainers, such as a workout fan, music speakers, web browsers and Bluetooth compatibility for data tracking.
- Large Footprint: The manual stride adjustment lever extends the size of an otherwise compact fitness machine. The ST300’s dimensions are 73″ L x 33.5″ W x 64″ H.
Our Verdict:
The Sole ST300 Strider is a high quality fitness machine that can easily pay for itself in efficient, low-impact total body training. It’s well suited as a tool for weight loss, weight management, strengthening and toning. It’s also durable enough to serve a whole family for several years without requiring significant maintenance. It fits an exceptionally wide range of user heights and can hold up to 325 pounds according to Sole engineers. The ST600 might be preferable for its power-adjustable stride but both Sole Striders are great values at their different price points.