I read review after review before finally pulling the trigger on this purchase. My wife wanted this machine and I was concerned about the size, the complexity, and the weight. First...the size. It is tall, wide, and long. You will also need to consider that you need about 2 feet on the three, non ben
ch, sides to move weights. So when deciding where it will go, don't forget that fact. On the bench side...you will need even more. You will be moving the bench in and out and up and down and need some room to maneuver. We have about 6 feet in front of the machine and that seems to work well. We ended up with about a foot on one side and the back and while it works...it is not ideal. The last thing on this point...this is not a knock on the machine...it is just something to consider when purchasing. Next was the complexity of the machine. Using it is a breeze. My only complaint is that the two latches on the bench (for the seat back, and the curl pad) must be unscrewed and screwed back in. I saw this in other reviews and was willing to accept the annoyance. But know... it is not a 2 second operation...more like 30 seconds. Now...the real complexity with this machine is the assembly. I saw lots and lots of negative comments about it. But also lots and lots of helpful hints. I will condense several of those and few of my own here. First...this thing comes in three, big, boxes. They are heavy. You will need to inspect them when they arrive for damage and don't accept them if you notice any or if any of the boxes are heavily damaged or have been ripped open. Once you have ownership of the boxes...carefully unpack them and sort the pieces. In my case, I matched each part with the picture in the construction manual and put a small round sticker with the part number on each. ***If you have one take away from my construction story...this should be it...take the time to organize and label your parts. It will pay off in spades as you work. The hardware was packaged well and labeled on cardboard packages and was very easy to work with. Take your time. Understand what you plan to do...get all the parts ready...ensure you understand your goal and then proceed with each step. You will do much better if you have someone to help you. Sometimes, just someone holding a large bar in place will save you a ton of time. Start by assembling the bench. It is fairly straight forward and you will learn a lot before you get into the bigger pieces. The super structure is straight forward and is just bulky...this is where the second person really comes in handy. Make sure you have everything lined up and bolts in before you tighten the bolts. In some cases you simply need the "wiggle" room to get thing to fit. In any case...the most complex and confusing part is the cables. Three hints here. 1. Take all the time you need to logically work out what they are trying to do. It is complicated and involves multiple fly wheels in one, very complex, mechanism. It was not until I was finished that I understood how it was going to work. The part that can get very confusing is the long cable that goes through the part with two wheels side by side. Really study the picture and understand the direction of the cable as it goes through. This is the part you will get backwards if not very careful. 2. In the Owners guide, they give you the same pictures as the construction guide, but they add words for the cabling. Read this. It helps a little. 3. Do not tighten everything up, for a step, until you are 100% sure you have it right. This will save you a lot of heartache later! In the end, it took my wife and I about 90 minutes to label everything and about 7 hours, spread over 3 days, to finish construction. I used a pair of pliers, a rubber mallet, and a socket set. Those were the only tools I needed to provide...the allen wrenches were included with the hardware. The last area to consider is the weight of this machine. I live in a house that was built in the early 60's with wood construction. This would not fit in our basement so it had to go on the first level. I was concerned. About 400lbs of machine...say...another 200lbs of weights...and then me ~300lbs and possibly my wife...(no weight here...I am not a rookie husband)! But we are easily pushing 1000lbs. Hmmm...should I be worried? Yes. So I called a friend of mine who was a contractor in my neighborhood (so knew our houses). He told me it was not a problem. He said...think about a bedroom set with a water bed. Four contact points and well over 1000lbs. Fair enough. This machine has the footprint of a small bed...and the feet are actually wider than that of a water bed. There is also a fifth foot under the rear weight assembly. So that concern was negated. We installed it...have about 150lbs of weights and not a creak can be heard from the floor. So no problems there. In the end...we love our machine. We use WD40 on back post and on the posts for the bar bearings. We also make sure the cables are not kinked. We adjusted the tension on the cables after the first week (see the owners maual for how), and have added some padding to keep from banging heads and legs on things. The quality is good and machine is sturdy and works as advertised. I highly recommend this machine and look forward to updating my review after we have used it for a year (to give you an idea on wear).
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