- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,367
Definitely it's a solid rack and I have it so can testify to how good it is
Official Home Gym Building Thread
- Thread starter Psycho Sonny
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 24 Apr 2012
- Posts
- 1,317
Think it's roughly £200
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,367
remember the dip bars to buy seperately cost like £80
so it's like £100 in it if you look at it that way.
although gumtree and ebay may have deals the majority of equipment on there is cheap crap.
so it's like £100 in it if you look at it that way.
although gumtree and ebay may have deals the majority of equipment on there is cheap crap.
Dip bars for the CF475 are or at least were £25? so it's £175 difference.
Surely if it's the Powertec or CF475 rack in question then it's not 'cheap crap'?
I wasn't suggesting he buy alternative equipment, simply look second hand to make his cash go further.
Surely if it's the Powertec or CF475 rack in question then it's not 'cheap crap'?
I wasn't suggesting he buy alternative equipment, simply look second hand to make his cash go further.
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,367
Dip bars for the CF475 are or at least were £25? so it's £175 difference.
Surely if it's the Powertec or CF475 rack in question then it's not 'cheap crap'?
yeah obviously if he buys those second hand it will be cheaper.
but the majority of gym equipment being sold on ebay and gumtree as a whole is cheap crap is the point i was making.
you need to sift through all of that crap and know what your looking for as in the powertec rack in order to get to the good stuff, you won't necessarily find the exact thing your looking for second hand but something similar like a gymratz bench for example instead of a body solid one.
i tried checking for stuff for a couple of months once and never found anything decent, in the end i decided i had to buy brand new and just pay more and have the equipment now rather than waiting any longer. it depends on the area you live in as well and the population, etc.
buying from a store can be a lot easier and less hassle.
i have said in the OP not to be afraid of buying second hand but you do need to know what is good and what isn't.
Hi guys,
Stumbled accross this thread googling for reviews of the racks I'm interested in, have to say I've found it most useful and read it all.
Anyway, if possible I'd like some views on which rack to invest in for my home gym set up. At present I have a powertec half rack with a bench and leg curl / extension attachment. It's fine for the main part but I'd like to upgrade to a full rack including a lat tower / low row option to increase the amount of exercises available to me and for safety.
So I've narrowed it down to the following:
1. Strength Shop Power Cage with lat pulldown / low row.
It's rated to 400kg static load, has small pin spacing, multigrip chin bar, band pegs and 4 J-Hooks. My only reservations are that it's a chinese import and that it doesn't appear to have an option to bolt to the floor, plus the dips bars look average. I'm sure I can overcome the latter with my power drill however.
Comes in at £700 delivered without a bench.
2. Powertec Powerack Package.
Highest rating of the shortlist (1000lb), seems good build quality and I like the look of the lat / row tower. My reservations are that I do not like the chin bars (same set on my half rack) and it only has one set of J-hooks. Looks to have the best quality dip bars.
£999 and with a finance option to spread the cost. Plus I can save my leg curl / ex for the bench.
3. Bodygrip Ebay Powercage.
This is a late runner to the mix. It seems well built and is rated to 350kg, although it's narrower than the strength shop version. It has a traditional pin spacing and can be bolted to the floor for extra stability, however dip bars are out of stock atm, variable chin grip again. The J-hooks look rubbish, so I could order a new pair along with a dip horn attachment for around £90 from strength shop.
The rack along with lat tower / low row is the cheapest of the three choices at around £400 delivered so appears very good value. With the aforementioned extra's would still only be ~£500.
Presntly I'm leaning towards either 1. or 3. But both are a little "unknown" with the SS version also being circa £200 more expensive. I'm wary of the ebay rack as it sounds too good to be true.
Anyway, enough of the rambling! Any input would be most welcome.
Stumbled accross this thread googling for reviews of the racks I'm interested in, have to say I've found it most useful and read it all.
Anyway, if possible I'd like some views on which rack to invest in for my home gym set up. At present I have a powertec half rack with a bench and leg curl / extension attachment. It's fine for the main part but I'd like to upgrade to a full rack including a lat tower / low row option to increase the amount of exercises available to me and for safety.
So I've narrowed it down to the following:
1. Strength Shop Power Cage with lat pulldown / low row.
It's rated to 400kg static load, has small pin spacing, multigrip chin bar, band pegs and 4 J-Hooks. My only reservations are that it's a chinese import and that it doesn't appear to have an option to bolt to the floor, plus the dips bars look average. I'm sure I can overcome the latter with my power drill however.
Comes in at £700 delivered without a bench.
2. Powertec Powerack Package.
Highest rating of the shortlist (1000lb), seems good build quality and I like the look of the lat / row tower. My reservations are that I do not like the chin bars (same set on my half rack) and it only has one set of J-hooks. Looks to have the best quality dip bars.
£999 and with a finance option to spread the cost. Plus I can save my leg curl / ex for the bench.
3. Bodygrip Ebay Powercage.
This is a late runner to the mix. It seems well built and is rated to 350kg, although it's narrower than the strength shop version. It has a traditional pin spacing and can be bolted to the floor for extra stability, however dip bars are out of stock atm, variable chin grip again. The J-hooks look rubbish, so I could order a new pair along with a dip horn attachment for around £90 from strength shop.
The rack along with lat tower / low row is the cheapest of the three choices at around £400 delivered so appears very good value. With the aforementioned extra's would still only be ~£500.
Presntly I'm leaning towards either 1. or 3. But both are a little "unknown" with the SS version also being circa £200 more expensive. I'm wary of the ebay rack as it sounds too good to be true.
Anyway, enough of the rambling! Any input would be most welcome.
Last edited:
Bayman I have the powertec and can't fault it, the catchers are extremely robust which is important. I'm not a fan of the catchers like on the strength shop cage. The dip bars are indeed fantastic and I've not had any problems with the pull up bar.
Thanks for the feedback. Powertec do make good kit, I can tell this from the half rack I have from them. However I'm not a fan of the pull up / chin bars at all. I much prefer the multi grips or neutral / supinated.
The sabre catcher rods are solid steel on both cages. So whilst not indestructable should be plenty strong and safe enough.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Jun 2013
- Posts
- 2,632
This might be against the rules (so please be gentle mods!) but where would you guys suggest selling some used adjustable dumbells? I don't really want to give the Bay their 12% unless I really have to.
I'm shocked at the cost of gym equipment for what it actually is. The one that gets me is power racks. Various links in this thread to power racks for hundreds of pounds, some for a 1K. It's just some metal you bolt together. If I could weld, I could make something similar for much less I'm sure, although I know metal costs are high these days so I guess this is why.
Back in 2011 I posted in this thread and was interested in building a home gym. Never happened, but I am back now and quite excited about sorting something out for home this year if possible. However, I have a hard time with the cost of power racks. I asked previously about websites where people have built their own and the OP I think kindly linked me to THIS SITE where various people have followed the plans of making one out of wood. Yes...wood.
At first some alarms bells tend to ring in your head... wood!? What the... surely not strong enough etc. But in fact, it appears many people have built the above linked power rack and been running them ok for years. I am interested to hear of why so little people (it appears none in this thread?) have opted to build their own at home? I can't help but think some of it is snobbery of wanting to own equipment that looks good and is the latest (epeen approved) and greatest. I also think people have a hard time psychologically getting over the strength of the material not being metal.
Safety. That word. The power racks you can buy will be rated to XXXkg I know, and your home made DIY job will be rated to whatever you deem it can cope with. But I cannot see - so long as it is built properly - strength being an issue.
Price difference, we are talking apparently a couple of hundred dollars on that site to built the supplied PDF instructional power rack out of wood. I have not checked how much this costs in the UK. It could very well be that it ends up costing more and in which case I would then understand if you did not have the tools etc. But it's not like you need anything specialist.
Thoughts?
Back in 2011 I posted in this thread and was interested in building a home gym. Never happened, but I am back now and quite excited about sorting something out for home this year if possible. However, I have a hard time with the cost of power racks. I asked previously about websites where people have built their own and the OP I think kindly linked me to THIS SITE where various people have followed the plans of making one out of wood. Yes...wood.
At first some alarms bells tend to ring in your head... wood!? What the... surely not strong enough etc. But in fact, it appears many people have built the above linked power rack and been running them ok for years. I am interested to hear of why so little people (it appears none in this thread?) have opted to build their own at home? I can't help but think some of it is snobbery of wanting to own equipment that looks good and is the latest (epeen approved) and greatest. I also think people have a hard time psychologically getting over the strength of the material not being metal.
Safety. That word. The power racks you can buy will be rated to XXXkg I know, and your home made DIY job will be rated to whatever you deem it can cope with. But I cannot see - so long as it is built properly - strength being an issue.
Price difference, we are talking apparently a couple of hundred dollars on that site to built the supplied PDF instructional power rack out of wood. I have not checked how much this costs in the UK. It could very well be that it ends up costing more and in which case I would then understand if you did not have the tools etc. But it's not like you need anything specialist.
Thoughts?
If you're good with wood (?), have a lot of time and/or need a hobby, go for it.
Otherwise, just buy a power rack: they don't have to be THAT expensive.
Think of it like Linux: it's only free if your time is worth nothing.
Yes, it is this, definitely this. Massive epeens all up in this place.
If you're good with wood (?), have a lot of time and/or need a hobby, go for it.
Otherwise, just buy a power rack: they don't have to be THAT expensive.
Think of it like Linux: it's only free if your time is worth nothing.
I don't consider myself someone who works with wood a lot at all, but I find it relatively easy and comes fairly naturally. It's not rocket science. I have seen a basic power rack design someone uploaded to that site I linked earlier and it looks like it could be knocked up fairly easily within a day. A pro could probably do it in a couple of hours.