Sole Ellipticals Compared: E25 vs E35 vs E95 (Used Buying Guide)

A new Sole elliptical runs roughly $1,300 for an E25 and north of $2,500 for an E95. Two years later, the same machines change hands for $400 to $900. That’s the whole reason this post exists. Sole builds heavy, plain, over-engineered cardio equipment with no subscription attached, which makes a used Sole elliptical one of the better dollar-per-year buys in home fitness, as long as you pick the right model and check the right five things.

I move used fitness equipment for a living. Ellipticals are a steady part of that, and Sole shows up constantly, usually from someone who bought it during a burst of motivation and now wants the basement back. I’ve watched a lot of these get loaded onto trucks, which means I’ve seen which parts are worn out at year six and which ones still look new. Here’s how the E25, E35, and E95 actually differ, which one to buy secondhand, and what to inspect before you pay.

What a Sole Elliptical Actually Is

Sole is a value brand that spends its money on the frame instead of the screen. That single sentence explains most of what you need to know.

Where a NordicTrack or a ProForm puts a large touchscreen up front and ties it to a monthly subscription, Sole builds a heavier steel frame, a bigger flywheel, and a console that mostly just shows numbers. Nothing about a Sole is exciting. Everything about it is durable. The machines are rear-drive, which means the flywheel sits behind you and the pedal arms ride on a long rail, and rear-drive ellipticals tend to have a longer, flatter, more natural stride than the front-drive machines you see at big-box stores.

The upside for a used buyer is enormous. There is no subscription to inherit, no account to transfer, no screen that gets orphaned when the manufacturer sunsets an app. A ten year old Sole works exactly the same as it did on day one. Try that with a connected machine whose software stopped shipping updates in 2021.

Sole E25 vs E35 vs E95: The Real Differences

All three share the same 20 inch stride length across most model years, so the difference is not how the machine feels underfoot. The difference is flywheel weight, incline, console, and how much machine is bolted together.

	Sole E25	Sole E35	Sole E95
Position	Entry	Mid, the volume seller	Top of the standard line
Stride	20 in	20 in	20 in
Flywheel	Lightest of the three	Heavier	Heaviest
Power incline ramp	Historically no	Yes	Yes
Console	Small, basic readout	Larger, more programs	Largest, most features
Machine weight	~190 lb	~215 lb	~235 lb
User weight capacity	~375 lb	~375 lb	~400 lb
New price, recent years	$1,200 to $1,500	$1,700 to $2,200	$2,300 to $3,000

Specs drift between model years, so confirm the incline and console on the specific unit rather than trusting a spec sheet you found online. The pattern holds though: heavier flywheel and heavier frame as you go up the line.

What that means in practice. The heavier flywheel on the E35 and E95 produces a smoother, less choppy pedal feel at low resistance, and the difference is genuinely noticeable if you’re a taller or heavier rider. The power incline on the E35 and E95 is the feature I’d actually pay for, because changing the ramp angle changes which muscles do the work and is the main way an elliptical workout stays interesting past month three. The console difference matters least of all, since most people end up watching their own tablet anyway.

Which Sole Elliptical Is Worth Buying Used?

Buy the E35. It is the correct answer for probably 80 percent of buyers, and it isn’t close.

The E35 gives you the power incline and the heavier flywheel, which are the two things that separate a machine you use from a machine you hang laundry on. It sells used for a fraction of what the E95 does, and the gap in real-world experience between the two is small. There are also more E35s in circulation than either sibling, so you have more listings to choose from and more room to negotiate.

Buy the E95 if you find one under $900 and you’re a heavier user, or if two people of very different sizes will share the machine. The extra frame mass and higher weight capacity earn their keep there.

Buy the E25 only if it’s genuinely cheap, meaning $250 to $400. It’s a perfectly honest machine and better built than most entry-level ellipticals, but without a powered incline you’re getting flat pedaling at varying resistance, and that gets old. At $600 an E25 makes no sense when a used E35 sits at $700.

Skip any Sole where the seller can’t power it on. More on that below.

Are Sole Ellipticals Reliable Long Term?

Sole ellipticals are among the most durable home cardio machines you can buy used, and the reason is that there’s very little on them to fail.

The drive system is a belt over a weighted flywheel with magnetic resistance. Magnetic resistance has no pads, no friction surfaces, and nothing that wears against anything. The frame is heavy welded steel that does not flex or fatigue in a home setting. There’s no motor doing the hard work like there is on a treadmill, which is why ellipticals in general outlive treadmills by a wide margin. If you’re weighing the two, our treadmill vs elliptical breakdown covers where a treadmill still wins.

What does fail, in order:

Pedal arm and roller bearings. The rollers that ride the rear rail wear flat spots over thousands of hours, and worn bearings in the pedal arm pivots produce a rhythmic click or a side-to-side wobble in the pedals. This is the most common complaint on high-mileage units. Parts are available and the repair is mechanical, not electronic.

The console. Displays go dim, segments drop out, and the heart rate grips stop reading. Consoles are the most likely part to be dead on an old unit and the most annoying to source once a model is a decade out of production.

The incline motor. On the E35 and E95, the ramp adjustment is a small motor. When it goes, you’re stuck at whatever angle it died at. Test every incline level, not just one.

The resistance cable or servo. If resistance doesn’t change when you press the buttons, the servo motor that moves the magnets has usually failed. Fixable, but negotiate hard.

Notice that the frame, the flywheel, and the drive belt basically never appear on that list. That’s the whole argument for buying one of these secondhand.

What to Check on a Used Sole Elliptical

Never buy an elliptical you haven’t pedaled for five straight minutes. Photos tell you nothing about the two failures that matter, which are bearing wear and a dead resistance servo.

Run this list:

1. Power it on and cycle the full resistance range. Go from level 1 to the top and back down. You should feel a clear, progressive change. If resistance doesn’t move, walk away or expect a repair.
2. Run the incline through every level. Listen for grinding from the ramp motor and confirm it stops cleanly at both ends of travel.
3. Pedal hard for five minutes and listen. A rhythmic click, clunk, or squeak that keeps time with your stride means bearings. A faint whir is normal.
4. Grab the pedals and push them side to side. Some play is normal. Noticeable lateral wobble means worn pivot bushings.
5. Inspect the rear rail and rollers. The rail should be smooth and evenly worn. Flat spots on the rollers or a gouged rail mean a real repair, not a cleanup.
6. Check every console function. Backlight, all display segments, program buttons, fan, heart rate grips. Dim or missing segments are your best clue that the machine is older than the seller says.
7. Look at the pedal decking and the sweat zone. Corrosion on the frame directly under the console tells you it lived somewhere humid and was never wiped down. That’s the machine whose bearings went early.

One more note. Sole’s factory warranty is generous, often lifetime on the frame with multi-year coverage on parts, but like nearly all fitness warranties it’s written for the original purchaser. Assume it doesn’t come with the machine.

What Used Sole Ellipticals Sell For

A used Sole elliptical typically sells for 25 to 45 percent of its original price, and condition matters more than age past the five year mark.

• Sole E25: $250 to $500 used. Under $300 is a good buy, over $600 is not.
• Sole E35: $450 to $900 used. The band to know. A clean three year old E35 at $700 is a genuinely good purchase.
• Sole E95: $600 to $1,200 used. Worth stretching for only if it’s recent and clean.
• Any model with a dead console or dead resistance: $150 or less, and only if you’re comfortable ordering parts.

Price drops fast in the first three years and then flattens out hard, which is exactly the depreciation shape we see across cardio equipment generally. It’s the same curve documented in our look at how used treadmills hold their value. The practical takeaway is that a five year old machine and an eight year old machine of the same model are often worth the same money, so buy on condition, not on the year.

Compared to a NordicTrack or a ProForm of the same vintage, a Sole usually holds a little more value, because there’s no dead subscription hanging off it. If you’re cross-shopping, our NordicTrack listings are a useful reality check on what the connected machines actually go for once the free trial is long gone.

Moving a Sole Elliptical Is the Hard Part

A Sole elliptical weighs 190 to 240 pounds assembled and does not come apart easily. This is the step that ruins otherwise good deals.

The weight sits low and rearward around the flywheel housing, so the machine is awkward rather than merely heavy. It does not roll well on carpet, the transport wheels are small, and the pedal arms swing while you carry it. Two strong people and a set of stairs is where things go wrong, either for the machine or for the drywall. Partial disassembly is possible on most models, but you’re pulling shrouds and disconnecting console wiring, and that reassembly is where people crack plastic.

This is the part of the used market most buyers underestimate. The listing says $600 and the actual cost is $600 plus a rented van plus a friend who owes you a favor plus a Saturday.

It’s the reason we built the delivery side of Commonplace the way we did. Our drivers handle the pickup and the de-install at the seller’s house, run a 30 to 50 point inspection on the spot, and text the buyer photos and a working video before the machine ever leaves. Then they deliver it to your room of choice. Buyers and sellers never meet, sellers get paid the moment the machine is loaded, and everything carries a free 60 day warranty. Delivery typically runs about a fifth of what a moving company charges for the same job. The full walkthrough is on our how it works page.

Sole Elliptical FAQ

What’s the difference between the Sole E25, E35, and E95?

Frame weight, flywheel weight, incline, and console. All three use the same 20 inch stride, so they feel similar underfoot. The E35 and E95 add a powered incline ramp and a heavier flywheel, which is what makes the pedal motion smoother and the workouts more varied.

Is a used Sole elliptical worth buying?

Usually yes, and it’s one of the safer used fitness buys out there. Magnetic resistance and a welded steel frame mean there’s very little to wear out, and there’s no subscription attached that can expire on you. Just confirm the resistance and incline both respond before you pay.

How long do Sole ellipticals last?

Fifteen years or more of home use is normal, and the frame will outlast everything bolted to it. Bearings and consoles are the parts that age. Neither one totals the machine.

Which Sole elliptical is best for a home gym?

The E35. It has the features that keep you using it and it costs meaningfully less than an E95 secondhand. Step up to the E95 only if you’re over about 250 pounds or you want the biggest frame you can get. Both fit comfortably alongside the rest of a used home gym setup.

Are Sole ellipticals better than NordicTrack?

Better built, worse entertainment. Sole wins on frame quality, ride feel, and long-term durability. NordicTrack wins on screens, trainer-led classes, and interactive programming, which you pay for monthly. On the used market that tradeoff swings hard toward Sole.

How much does it cost to move an elliptical?

A moving company will quote a few hundred dollars for a single machine and will usually want it disassembled first. Platform delivery is typically far cheaper because the route is shared and the crew does this every day.

If you have a Sole sitting unused, it’s worth real money and it takes about five minutes to list. We handle the pickup, the inspection, and the delivery, and you get paid when the machine is loaded, not after a stranger’s payment app clears. The process is identical to selling a treadmill, which is the closest cousin to an elliptical in both weight and hassle.

Buying instead? Look for a clean E35, insist on seeing it run, and let someone else carry it down the stairs.