My thoughts on the Powertec Workbench/Rack System WB-BRS

[thisgsx]

It took less than 2 hours to put the whole system together with the help of my nephew.

Pros:
1. Rack and Bench are very well built.
2. Rack and Bench doesn't wobble.
3. The color - yellow =).

Cons:
1. The height of the bench is to high, I have to tip toe while benchpressing.
2. The handles to manuveure the bench around are under the back rest, a better placement of the handles would be where the leg curl/extension should be so removing and moving the bench around can be a lot easier. Or if these handles are not for manuvering the bench around, someone please tell me what the hell it is for.
3. Seat adjustment. You have to manually adjust the seat after adjusting the back rest for incline/flat/decline. The seat doesnt adjust coincidentally as you adjust the bench to an incline position. Which is a pain in the ass for me because it kills time inbetween workouts. Plus my friend with a cheaper setup, his seat adjusts coincidentally to his incline/flat/decline position.
4. Decline is impossible, because of the two support beams! I will probably take it off.
5. When bench pressing, I have to be careful because sometimes the bar will hit the support beams from going to low, or if Im not sitting high enough from the bench.
6. The design on the two beams where the barbell sits on are stupid, imo. Powertec should remove that hook part. Usually when I benchpress I like to slide the barbell from it, rather than having to lift it up. This also applies when finishing a set, instead of sliding it back onto the rack in a smooth motion, you have to lock your elbows and lift up higher and be a little more cautious to ensure the barbell goes over that hook part. Or I have to set those two beams lower.
7. I had two missing bolts.
8. For $500, the plastic caps at the end of the racks are pretty damn cheap. One of them keep popping off.
9. Powertec should include spec sheets on the bench as well because short guys like myself need to know this.
10. Dumbbell benchpresses suck because the bench isnt low enough for me to grab them. I have to grab one at a time or I have to get off the bench, grab both dumbbells and then I have to sit back down on the bench. This sucks because it kills time and wasted energy.




Overall, the bench is of very high quality, but if I had to do it all over again, I wouldnt, simply because of the cons I stated above. Who know's, maybe it takes time to get used to. Pics to come.

Oh, and I'm 5'6". And even though I learned this lesson a long time ago, always test the bench/equipment out before you buy it. I should've listen to my gut before making this purchase, but the reviews were to good so I jumped on it. Bad idea.

This review is based solely on my own personal opinion.

[Accutron]

Too bad youre not happy with it. I breifly considered it, as it costs about the same as the ptec rack, but decided on the rack instead.

Can you return it ? Some places have a 15% restocking fee (+return freight)but its still better than having something you dont like.

[thisgsx]

Returning it is out of the question because of my lazy ass, I bought it a few months ago and I just put the system together last weekend.

[KSA]

I prefer a unit like the multi press rack from bodysolid, with a gun rack system.