Switching from smith machine to power rack: anyone have this rack...general questions

[MantisShrimp]

The left one:
http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/92552.html

Price seems good. Couple of questions.

1. Do the pins really hold all that extra weight? Can you just bench right off them?
2. Can you just randomly affix plateholder attachments to the rack, and do they take up holes you might otherwise need?

http://newyorkbarbells.com/1010.html <-Plateholders
or should the plateholders be balanced in a certain way to make the rack stable enough for pullups etc? Are racks typically sturdy enough for pullups even without weight on them?

3. How hard is it to rack a barbell back onto the barbell holder rack when you are done a set? Or do you just leave it sitting on the pins and take the weight off from there?

4. I noticed these handles for sale as an accessory: http://newyorkbarbells.com/1020.html and I guess they are for dips, but they seem like they'd be kinda *far* apart for dips?

5. Are holes 2" apart close enough, or is that considered good?

Thanks, I'm a rackn00b

[Dinotrainer]

The left one:
http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/92552.html

Price seems good. Couple of questions.

1. Do the pins really hold all that extra weight? Can you just bench right off them?
2. Can you just randomly affix plateholder attachments to the rack, and do they take up holes you might otherwise need?

http://newyorkbarbells.com/1010.html <-Plateholders
or should the plateholders be balanced in a certain way to make the rack stable enough for pullups etc? Are racks typically sturdy enough for pullups even without weight on them?

3. How hard is it to rack a barbell back onto the barbell holder rack when you are done a set? Or do you just leave it sitting on the pins and take the weight off from there?

4. I noticed these handles for sale as an accessory: http://newyorkbarbells.com/1020.html and I guess they are for dips, but they seem like they'd be kinda *far* apart for dips?

5. Are holes 2" apart close enough, or is that considered good?

Thanks, I'm a rackn00b
Get this rack http://www.newyorkbarbells.tv/8510.html You can't do dips with the 33" distance between the uprights on the rack you gave the link to. With the 26" distance you can plus I have never felt that I needed a wider rack and I weigh 260. With the smaller rack the distance between the dip bars is 24" and that's about perfect. The rack that I gave you the link to has the plate holders and dip handles already. The plate holders come in handy while using the rack.I Use weight trees for plate storage otherwise. This rack also has a parallel grip chin bar, and until I started doing them,I didn't know what I was missing. as for the other questions-yes racks are sturdy enough for pullups without extra weight. No,it is not hard to rack the bar onto the j-hooks (you called them a barbell holder rack). 2" distance for the holes is about as close as you can get. Listen,don't sweat the small stuff. Get the rack and use the hell out of it. Good Luck

[MantisShrimp]

Thanks for the tips Dino, I think that will really help. I'm probably gonna go with the one you recommended. Hammer chins would be nice...

[MantisShrimp]

Anyone recommend a good sturdy bench to go with this? My current Body-Solid bench is wobbly and off center after a few years, I want something pretty rugged, with the ability to incline all the way to vertical. Also, does anyone make a bench which is fitted for both preacher curl and a spider curl attachment? I'm searching the archive as well...

[Dinotrainer]

Anyone recommend a good sturdy bench to go with this? My current Body-Solid bench is wobbly and off center after a few years, I want something pretty rugged, with the ability to incline all the way to vertical. Also, does anyone make a bench which is fitted for both preacher curl and a spider curl attachment? I'm searching the archive as well...
http://www.fitnessfactory.com/Item.aspx?ItemID=315&Action=105&ItemLabel=Body-Solid+Heavy-Duty+Flat+%2f+Incline+%2f+Decline+Bench%3a+Body-Solid+Heavy-Duty+Flat+%2f+Incline+%2f+Decline+Bench OR http://www.ironmaster.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=3&cat=2&page=1