Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsSturdy, but can be unstable if not careful, but a great value and exactly as described
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2019
After receiving the rack and using this product a few times I have some comments. My comments are relative to the price, as this is a very low-priced item, and I bought it knowing this was not going to be commercial gym quality and not be able to handle extremely heavy weights.
The assembly took me about 20 minutes. A wrench and a socket were the only tools needed.
The construction is not heavy duty, but it does feel really solid. For me, the small footprint was what I needed for my garage, but that is also part of its limitations. I am mainly using this for bench press and my first couple of sets with light weight felt really good. I had 100 lbs + a 15 lb bar on the rack and it felt very stable. I worked up to a few sets with $170 + bar and that also felt stable. The rack holds the weight with no perceived issues. The only tricky thing is that when I put the weight back on the rack after a set, the rack is a little unstable. This is because they are not very heavy, and the base is not very large, so it can easily be bumped out of position when re-racking. Obviously the heavier the weight, the more easily the rack can get bumped out of position. If the rack was going to be in a permanent position in your home gym, you might figure out a way to attach the racks to the floor. This would really help with stability. That is not an option for me.
My fear is that after a hard set with heavy weights, when your arms are shaking and don’t have much strength left, you go to set the weight back on the rack and you bump and move the rack, making it hard to set the weight back on the rack. This could be disastrous. I say this as a warning to be aware of this and try and be controlled and deliberate when re-racking the weight.
For me the compromise of being light weight and having a small footprint works great for my purposes. I don’t have much room, and I have to move them around a lot. Those two things work against you for the reasons I pointed out.
My comments are not about flaws in the design or a comment on the quality of the rack. The rack is exactly what it is described as, and a great value. I am very happy with the product.
