Power Cage Advice Please

[c0ne]

Hi Guys,
 
Just looking for some advice from anyone who has experience.
 
I'm a relative beginner and looking to set up some gear for lifting at home and I have been looking into different options for a power cage /rack.
 
A lot of the standard cages won’t fit into the workout room as the ceiling is only 2.3m tall (lower than the normal).  This is further complicated by the fact that one of reasons I want a power cage is to mount some pullup handles on it (saving putting big holes in my walls). If I mount the pullup handles at the top of the rack (the usual placement) then I won’t have space above them to do a proper pullup!  This means that an adjustable height pullup attachment is a big plus.

I’m also trying to convince my wife that she would potentially be able to quit her gym membership and use this equipment too. One of the requirements for her is to have cables (lat pull down at least, but preferably something like a cable cross-over), she has a weak wrist and finds cables cause less stress on her wrist.

The options so far: 
 
1)    Trade Me - Various
•    Probably the best value for money as auctions are normally a combo of rack/cage and a bench, and sometimes even weights & bars too.
•    Most of these are outside of Wellington and standard shipping is fairly expensive. (I can pick up from North Island if it’s cheaper to drive and pickup than ship).
•    Most of the racks/cages seem to be the cheaper kind. I’m guessing this is beginners who buy equipment and then sell because they never use it.
•    My biggest issue with Trade Me is just that I will have to wait for the right deal to come along. I would rather just pay a bit more and have the equipment sooner to be honest.

2)    No. 1 Fitness - G3 Monster Functional Trainer
•    $1,799
•    Has adjustable height cable cross-over built in
•    I don't really need a smith machine though
•    Doesn't have as many holes for choosing where to put attachments/accessories like safety bars or dip handles

 

3)   No.1 Fitness - Force USA Power Rack
•    $949
•    Has several accessories that bolt/pin on.  eg cable cross-over attachment, lat pull-down attachment, dip handles, pins for adding bands to your lifts, weight plate storage pins, etc
•    Rated for approx. 400kg
•    Has lots of holes for attachments/accessories like safety bars or dip handles
 
4)    No.1 Fitness - Iron Power Heavy Duty Power Cage
•    $499
•    Has limited accessories.  eg a lat pull-down attachment
•    Rated for approx. 350kg
•    Has very limited number of holes for attachments/accessories like safety bars or dip handles
 
5)   Fitness Imports - Jetstream Heavy Duty Power Cage MC-300
•    $399
•    Just a very cheap price rack. However, currently out of stock
•    Rated for approx. 400kg
 
6)    Solid Strength Equipment - Wall Mounted Fold Back Squat Rack + Pull Up Bar
•    $499
•    Has adjustable height pull up bar
•    Folds away against the wall, which saves space
•    Rated for approx. 300kg
 
7)    Home Made - Wooden Power Rack
•    Approx. $200-$300
•    Can customise size requirements to fit room
•    Can probably custom make some attachments like pullup bars and dip handles, etc
•    Would not be officially rated for a max weight

 

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. Even if it’s just general advice about things that have caught you out with your own purchases, things you wish you had thought about before buying, etc. 

 

Obviously, if anyone knows anyone who is selling their equipment, please put us in touch! Or if anyone knows of other companies that make/sell power cages, please send me their info.

 

Apologies for writing a novel, I appreciate you guys taking the time to read and respond. Have a happy easter everyone!

 

 

Cheers
Paul 
 

 

 

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

not1fitness heavy duty power rack looks pretty decent. i have the non-heavy duty one which is almost the same, does the job all good but then again im not a massive lifter. about the pullup bars, same issue for me. standard house roof didn't allow me to pput the pullup bar on that rack the usual way or i'd be hitting my head on the top of the movement. i got around this by mounting the pullup bar upside down, so there is adequate clearance for my head at the top of the pullup, no muscleups on this tho! also just to add, i'm not even that tall and still i can't do proper dead hang pullups unless i fold my knees or something. if you're like 6ft + that might still not work, probs knees touching floor or something.

 

i wish my rack had the option to easily store weights on to it too, like the ones in gyms. no space for weight tree as such, so the bumpers live on the floor. you looking at getting just the rack or full home gym type thing? what type of budget you got? i'm contemplating selling most or all my home gym so get in touch if interested in getting bunch of things at once. it's awesome having the freedom to just do whatever you want when you want, but the novelty wore off real quick for me - i don't work near as hard training at home and have since rejoined local commercial gym.

 

wooden rack looks a lot of a novelty, honestly the money you'll save from cancelling 1 or 2 gym memberships in half a year will have paid for an average purpose built rack better than the wooden one.

[PETN]

 The wooden rack looks stronger than any of those other ones assuming its made from a decent wood. 300-400kg rating is pretty shitty i think, as i believe thats just a static rating. Depends how much youre planning on lifting though.

[Skeletor]

I've got the heavy duty cage from number one fitness. I've had 250kg on the hooks a few times and it's never given me a problem. Things I would have liked are arms to store the plates on the side and band attachments.  My advice though is sit down and really think what you want to be doing in this rack. Spending a little bit more at the beginning on a good rack will save you upgrading later on. 

[Skeletor]

Also I think it's powerfit nz on Facebook have some ok racks 

[c0ne]

Hi, thanks for the replies so far guys.

 

FellowshipOfTheRon - I think the Iron Power standard power cage doesn't have the strength I'm looking for long term. I may still need an adjustable bench and weights and bar though.  Maybe PM me with a list of what you are looking to sell? 

 

The idea of putting the pullup bar on upside down hadn't occurred to me actually. That's not a bad idea if I don't get something adjustable. I'm just over 6 foot tall, but I don't mind having to bend my legs a bit.

 

PETN - I have read comments about the frame twisting and warping over time with a wooden rack.  I really only had this option on here as a cheap short-term solution. I have the tools to make something like that out of wood fairly easily. Wish I had the tools and skills to just make one out of metal, surely you could do it for much cheaper than most of the above options and probably make it more sturdy as well.

 

Skellator - My thoughts exactly, much better to think things through and explore options before diving in. Don't want to waste money on something that isn't going to suit my purposes. In a perfect world, I'd be able to get a power cage with adjustable height cross-over cables (see the Force USA Monster G3 above), dip handles, adjustable height pull up bar (see the Wall Mounted Squat Rack above), adjustable power-band pegs (which means power cage needs holes on the horizontal bars as well as the vertical bars of the frame itself) and weight plate holders, all in one cage. But I don't see that option anywhere.

 

The  power cage that Powerfit sells is almost exactly the same as the standard Force USA power cage, except cheaper.  This cage comes the closest to filling all of the requirements except the cross over cables. The lat pull down attachment  would help compensate for this loss and it is also cheaper through powerfit too.  Only issue is he appears to have run out of stock for the full cage and only has half racks left.  From what I can see, he imports strength equipment as a side thing rather than his main business, so I might be waiting a while for him to get more.  Ill definitely send him an email this weekend though. Obviously won't expect an answer until after easter though.

 

 

Thanks again for the comments so far guys. Keep it up, any advice or lessons learnt appreciated.

 

 

 

[PETN]

Yeah bro bought some steel yesterday and it is ridiculously cheap compared to what i was expecting. 

 

No idea of the cost but if you made it from hardwood rather than douglas fir, or pine (which is what im assuming lots of people who made it used), then i highly doubt it will warp as hardwood is strong as f*ck. Be interesting drilling those big holes in it for the safety bars though.

[maccaz]

iv had abit of force usa gear over time and found it performed lower than what it was rated for.

also no use them rating a rack to 400 (like my one was) when they are acutally just referring to the j hooks and a few  rack pulls at 150ish compeltely bend the pins.

[Bigken1985]

I have the iron power hd rack from no1. It's shit. It's too light so every time u rack a weight it slides around. So I bolted it too the floor. Because I did that the frame twisted over time. So I welded it together lol

[Skeletor]

4 hours ago, Bigken1985 said:

I have the iron power hd rack from no1. It's shit. It's too light so every time u rack a weight it slides around. So I bolted it too the floor. Because I did that the frame twisted over time. So I welded it together lol

Do you have the rubber feet on yours mate? Mines never moved an inch or twisted or anything.  I'm fairly gentle in my re-racking though. 

[c0ne]

Unfortunately we have a  very limited range of brands available in NZ.   The only brands I've seen are Macy, Iron Power, Body Solid, Hammer Strength (would love one of these but the cost is too prohibitive) and Force USA. 

 

I'm not surprised about the Iron Power HD rack twisting with heavy use. They definitely come across as the budget brand.  Hence why I'd rather find something a little more reputable, with a few more of the bells and whistles that I will want long term (holes on the horizontals for band pegs, accessories for weight plate storage, etc)

 

 

Thanks for the feedback on Force USA gear Maccaz. Its interesting that you comment on the rating on the Force USA rack in particular. They are the only ones who claim to have their cages independently tested to the AS/NZS 1170 structural standards (what ever they are.. hey it sounds impressive tho, right? haha).

 

Do you have any recommendations for brand instead of Force USA? 

 

 

By the way, I heard back from Powerfit on Trademe. He is expecting more cages in July, but that might be a bit too long to wait.  I don't have any gear at the moment and don't fancy paying the rates for a short term gym membership. Would rather just get gear for home sorted sooner. Sigh.... I got my hopes up.

[Pseudonym]

5 hours ago, c0ne said:

 I don't have any gear at the moment and don't fancy paying the rates for a short term gym membership.

Not all gyms lock you into a contract. City Fitness has a no-contract membership from $12/week.

 

Better to join a gym short term while you wait for the gear you really want, than to get gear you don't want and be stuck with it.

[maccaz]

9 hours ago, c0ne said:

 

 

Thanks for the feedback on Force USA gear Maccaz. Its interesting that you comment on the rating on the Force USA rack in particular. They are the only ones who claim to have their cages independently tested to the AS/NZS 1170 structural standards (what ever they are.. hey it sounds impressive tho, right? haha).

 

 

 

 

yeah mate this is how they stung me. the pin holes and j hooks are certainly rated to that standard. specifically the safetys aren't.

 

i hit them up told them iv been doing 200kg rack pulls and the pins are bent to shit, they told me of course they're bent the safety pins are limited to 150kg.

 

so technically the rack is rated to 400,  but not the safetys.

 

pissed me right off.

[Realtalk]

How are they "safe" if they are rated to less than the rack that holds the weight. They should be rated to the same at least or more to be classed as safe. That's what I would have said.

[maccaz]

1 hour ago, Realtalk said:

How are they "safe" if they are rated to less than the rack that holds the weight. They should be rated to the same at least or more to be classed as safe. That's what I would have said.

 

yeah so they got me in the small print which i didnt read (so my fault)

salesman was in my face going on bla bla "you wont squat 400kg so itll be fine they're rated to 400kg"

 

i threatened to lawyer them if they don't replace the rack, they came back and said it clearly states that the j hooks and rack construction are rated to 400kg, the safety pins are an "attachment" or something along those lines.

in any case it was flimsy and shit, rerack too fast forward and its tipping over if not bolted down. cheap rubbish.

 

[Bigken1985]

On 25/03/2016 at 8:27 AM, Skeletor said:

Do you have the rubber feet on yours mate? Mines never moved an inch or twisted or anything.  I'm fairly gentle in my re-racking though. 

I have the iron power hd rack from no1. It's shit. It's too light so every time u rack a weight it slides around. So I bolted it too the floor. Because I did that the frame twisted over time. So I welded it together lol

Yeah got feet. I just ram the bar in pretty harsh

[Veng]

On 3/25/2016 at 3:56 AM, Bigken1985 said:

I have the iron power hd rack from no1. It's shit. It's too light so every time u rack a weight it slides around. So I bolted it too the floor. Because I did that the frame twisted over time. So I welded it together lol

Yup and IP light-com half rack is quite similar. Would presume it's even lighter than the hd rack. The half rack sort of vibrate when unracking. Maybe i'm not lifting heavy enough to mal-use it, price/quality ratio-wise it sorta make sense.

 

My garage doesn't have high ceilings either, which was the reason why I went for the IP half rack since I wanted pull-up bar too. chucked in some dip attachment + resistance bands and it works out fine so far. probably adding Spud Inc. Lat & Tricep Pulley for cable system would go a long way.

 

c0ne you're quite right, generally speaking (i'm in search of bumper plate sets at the moment too) garage gym equipment is quite limited in NZ. really need to do EXTENSIVE research unlike say if we're in Aus, just go Rogue and most problems solved.

 

i convinced my wife successfully with a dose of swiss ball, yoga mat, resistance bands, ropes ... (she goes pilates every now and then)

 

good luck and i'll be keen to see what you end up getting