Official Home Gym Building Thread

hambo1974 said:
Out of those I like the Strength shop one. I almost actually went for that one, but the dimensions of it would make the space that I have available for a rack a little too tight. Check it for the space you require, and if it fits, that would be my pick.

If your interested in the CF475, this guy does a decent review on it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUFDrc8iJgk
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I like it too, even though I know it's a generic Chinese one as I've seen it lots of places. Only thing I don't like is the round sabres, seems like they should have solid safety bars.

Tempted due to the versatility.
 
npinn001 said:
What did you upgrade the cf475 to?
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I actually downgraded to a CF415

I've been out of action with a hernia since last spring, under Dr's orders no weight training so sold all my gear so I wouldn't be tempted and had an operation late sept.

Decided to get back at it slowly this year but didn't wan't to take up my only spare room with another rack so now train in garage but no room for full rack:(
 
I've done a comparison matrix between the eBay racks and the ones from strength shop etc just to sense out what seperates them all. Compared height, width, depth,weight, number of holes for adjustment, weight capacity, tubing size etc.

What I have found is that the mirafit rack, ryno rack, bodygrip rack and the strength shop rack are almost identical in features. All 60x60mm 2mm tubing, all the same dimensions and approx weight of 80 to 90kg. The strength shop one is 10kg more than the rest, but it's £200 more expensive.

It does have better j hooks and more hole adjustments and band pegs but £200 seems a lot to pay for that.

Am I missing something?
 
Begbie said:
Are they not welded anywhere?

Quality and marketing demand a higher product value.
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I agree on the quality front, if one is higher quality I totally get why it costs more. Marketing, its expensive but I always prefer to buy from the little guy for that reason.

I guess I don't want to buy something that's junk, but am looking for that niche.
Seen the amstaff one which looks better than the others, 75x75mm steel, and solid bars. What do you think?
 
Darryl_1983 said:
I've been thinking about selling my CF415 and buying a full cage. I'm finding the CF415 a little limiting due to the cross member linking the uprights clashing with my bench. So can't do shoulder presses or incline presses very easily along over things. It'd also be good to be able to bolt a cage down and utilise bands a little more in my workouts.

I've got roughly 2050-2070 from floor to the steel angles that the roof is bolted down to (these are around 40-50 deep and at roughly 1.2m centres). So most power cages will not fit without modification, which is why i went for the CF415 originally.

I've found a couple that look like they will fit:
The strength shop power cage with the pull up bar turned upside down is 2050 high (confirmed by strength shop), this is however a little over £400 with delivery.

I've also found a cage by MiraFit, this is sold as a Heavy Duty Power Cage rated at 400kg, it has solid steel spotter bars and 2mm thick 60x60 framing, so should be plenty strong enough. I've emailed Mirafit about the dimensions so hopefully they'll get back to me quickly. it's 2170 (hopefully from the top of the pullup bar), with a similar pullup bar arrangment to the Strength shop cage, so hoping with this flipped it'll fit, also the rear tie member that would be the problem height wise due to clashing with the steel roof supports in my garage is dropped 60mm down from the top members giving me a bit more room to get it in there.

This cage is £200 delivered, so a big saving.

My question is has anyone used MiraFit equipment or heard of them? only found a couple of reviews, both good, but would like more to go from really.

I'd like the strength shop cage, but i don't really want to pay double for it to be honest.

Edit:
Link: http://www.mirafit.co.uk/strength/power-cages-racks/mirafit-hd-350kg-power-cage.html

looks like it's rated for 350kg
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Did you buy the Mirafit one, and if so how do you rate it? Thx
 
npinn001 said:
Did you buy the Mirafit one, and if so how do you rate it? Thx
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Nope, I couldn't find much information, and at the time i didn't have enough head room, so needed to maybe cut it down and modify it to fit.

I went with the Strength Shop rack in the end. Which is pretty good, not sure where it's worth anymore than the bodymax rage with the same weight rating. But it was short enough, so that i didn't need to modify it to fit, and was pretty much the only option for a full rage which is what i wanted.

With something like a squat rack, you really don't want to skimp out and buy an untested product. But at the same time, i don't think there is much point in buying something excessive. Anything from a reliable company with a few good review rated at say 300kg, should last 99% of home gym uses a life time of training.
 
Darryl_1983 said:
Nope, I couldn't find much information, and at the time i didn't have enough head room, so needed to maybe cut it down and modify it to fit.

I went with the Strength Shop rack in the end. Which is pretty good, not sure where it's worth anymore than the bodymax rage with the same weight rating. But it was short enough, so that i didn't need to modify it to fit, and was pretty much the only option for a full rage which is what i wanted.

With something like a squat rack, you really don't want to skimp out and buy an untested product. But at the same time, i don't think there is much point in buying something excessive. Anything from a reliable company with a few good review rated at say 300kg, should last 99% of home gym uses a life time of training.
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Magic, thanks. The strength shop one is the other one I've been looking at. I do like it, but can't work out iif its worth £230 more than the ryno one, or £100 more than the cf475. If you had your time again, would you buy the same one?
 
npinn001 said:
Magic, thanks. The strength shop one is the other one I've been looking at. I do like it, but can't work out iif its worth £230 more than the ryno one, or £100 more than the cf475. If you had your time again, would you buy the same one?
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I'm more than happy with what i've got, but i've used racks very similar (may have been the same) to the CF475 at gyms in the past. To be honest, i'd have probaby go with the CF475 now, as i've got a bigger garage with more head room. It's rated at 360kg too, so more than enough capacity. And the extra £100 could have been put towards more equipment.

One thing to bear in mind though is that the customer service at powerhouse fitness is rubbish, if you do have any issues it can take days to get a response from them sometimes. Strength shop are much better, and I've generally had response within a couple of hours at most during normal working hours.

I've got the strength shop budget bar and a few other bits and they are much better than the stuff similarly priced from powerhouse and fitness superstore. They also send everything out via UPS, whereas the others send via the cheapest possible service, normally turns up in an old plain white van.
 
Just got the premium strength package from power house fitness

My experience is that the customer service from the Nottingham branch was very good. Threw in some extras and beat the website price. Also were able to arrange delivery for when I am in and checked that all the parts are in stock.

I'll update when I get it delivered if my opinion stays the same!
 
npinn001 said:
It does have better j hooks and more hole adjustments and band pegs but £200 seems a lot to pay for that.

Am I missing something?
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£200 is nothing when it comes to your health.

Would you be willing to risk serious physical damage possibly even death for £200?

Personally I would buy the best you can within reason. I wouldn't touch ebay unless buying second hand premium stuff.

gymratz, strengthshop and fitness superstore all the way. I wouldn't trust a cheap no name rack unless tons of positive reviews on reputable bodybuilding sites/forums.
 
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice, ended up torn between the strength shop rack and the bodycraft f430, but went with the bodycraft as I like the look of it, looks solid.

I have a strength shop Olympic bar and a bench all sorted, plus matting on the way so now I just need some weight! If anyone has any recommendations on that front, would love to hear where! Thanks
 
npinn001 said:
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice, ended up torn between the strength shop rack and the bodycraft f430, but went with the bodycraft as I like the look of it, looks solid.

I have a strength shop Olympic bar and a bench all sorted, plus matting on the way so now I just need some weight! If anyone has any recommendations on that front, would love to hear where! Thanks
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From what's out there including ebay, I think Fitness Superstore has the best prices currently (well on rubber encased tri grip olympic weights).
 
Hi,

Following up after my purchase from power house fitness their premium strength package (CF475 rack, 430 bench, 145kg and pull down).

The parcels all arrived today when they said and everything was there including the extra attachments they put in for free. After reading lots of stories on bad customer service I was a bit dubious, however I am happy with the service provided and the delivery man even took the pallet from the road all the way up my drive way and into the garage.

I only had time to put the rack together today which took about an hour and a bit by myself, two people would have been easier to put the top sections on but I built one of these a couple of weeks ago so knew what I was doing.

From a design point of view the welds could go all the way around the triangular lateral supports for the uprights and a better grade bolt would be nice but for what I will use it for (can only bench 100kg at the moment) it meets all these requirements and It doesnt wobble when I do pull ups on it and I weigh just under 100kg myself.

TLDR: Happy with purchase.
 
theNude said:
Any thoughts on this flooring to put under my rack?


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Dut...313055?hash=item4d15911b5f:g:DnAAAOSwPYZVAFFx

I will be doing deadlifts also, but I think I will put down some plyboard under another one of these to protect my garage floor from cracking.

Dude
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Rubber->ply/OSB->rubber from a shock perspective. Or, depending on how thick the ply is, just ply on top and rubber underneath.

But those mats look fine for that purpose... Expensive, but fine. :)
 
Here is my set up as of 5min ago after i finished putting the cables in.

20160412_172331.jpg


It's looking a bit drab so I've ordered a large mirror and a la large thick rubber pad to protect the floor. I will paint the walls when I have some time off . Garage is about 7m X 5m so I can still fit my car in and a static bike.

P's thanks for the heads up about the dead lift deadner looks decent and easily removed so i have some floor space to make things on.
 
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