Gymnastic Ring Round-Up

[Zensuji]

Gymnastic Ring round up

Hey guys, I've seen a few posts recently in regards to gymnastic rings. They are pretty much all I do for upper body work these days and me being me I've had a good look and owned most of the top rings out there so I thought I'd do a small write up to help guide you if you're thinking of getting a pair.


Elite Rings: http://www.ringtraining.com/

These were the first I got. Billed as being light weight and portable and made from two halves of resin sonically welded together. The texture on them is light and the webbing loops through a slot on the rings to hold them in position. For me they feel a little too light weight, and although rated like most rings at over 1000lbs I thought they felt cheap. My concerns were compounded when one day they started making a cracking sound while I was using them. Granted they showed no sights of breaking but it was enough to move on.

3/10

Rogue Rings: http://www.roguefitness.com/store/rogue_rings.php

When these showed up they were something special, very heavy duty made from a solid steel tube looped round seamlessly, with thick broad webbing. No question about the build quality here and a nice rough powder coat finish and texture. The coating will fail over time which is a slight issue but it's as good a powder coat job as you can get. A solid product although I feel steel isn't quite the optimum material to make rings from as the sheer weight of them means they'll hurt if you get hit by them. They do feel pretty sexy though

8/10

Xtreme Rings: http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/

What we have here is the real deal, made from a Lexan like material the same as professional gymnastic rings, meaning they'll last a life time. Solid all the way through, a rough textured surface for supreme grip. These really are the right tool for the job, even better is the fact they are the cheapest in the line up, yet if I had to pay the extra to obtain the best set these would be my choice for best rings.

9/10

EXF Rings: http://www.ringtraining.com/

From the makers of the Elite rings comes the EXF rings. A bit of a reinvention of the wheel. Some great concepts in here, like measure-marked webbing for quick adjustments and a triple grip - fine, rough and rubber. But unfortunately again suffer from being made of two halves. Again I had an unpleasant cracking sound when I hung from a single ring and I just wouldn't feel comfortable hanging upside down on them.

4/10

So that was short and sweet I know but hopefully will help a few people. Both the Rogue and Xtreme rings are awesome. My pick are the Xtremes for being the most authentic and durable but don't write off the Rogues they are very well made and if you prefer the feel of steel in the hand they could be your top pick.

[buffbrown21]

Glad that you did this. You are right, they have been a hot topic lately. I have the Xtreme Rings also and am perfectly satisfied with them, but they certainly dont get as much attention as the Elites or Rogues.

[jshpark]

Nice review. I have both the elite and rogue rings and I agree with your review. The elite's will do the job but the rogue's are just better in every way, from easy of set up to durability. I'm interested in seeing how the xtreme rings are different

[buffbrown21]

If you dont mind OP, I could do a detailed review on the Xtreme Rings with pics and/or video.
I need to add something new to my own website anyway.

[Zensuji]

If you dont mind OP, I could do a detailed review on the Xtreme Rings with pics and/or video.
I need to add something new to my own website anyway.

Please do mate.

I'll add it to the original post with credit to you or you could make a new thread. Its up to you!

[buffbrown21]

Please do mate.

I'll add it to the original post with credit to you or you could make a new thread. Its up to you!

Cool. I will try to get it done this weekend.

[Zensuji]

Originally gave the Rogue a 7.5 but they are truly worth an 8 for raw quality. *UPDATED*

[buffbrown21]

Ok guys, I promised a review with pics of the Xtreme Rings, so here it is. Let me first say that I have not personally tried any of the other rings listed in this thread, so this will not be a comparison type of review. There are reviews of those other products floating around and Im sure you can use my information and theirs if you want a product vs product comparison.


Xtreme Rings are available at www.gymnasticbodies.com and currently cost $59.00 plus shipping.

Here is a detailed description of the rings, including what they are made of and such.

http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/store...q8eardle00otk5

The quotes below are taken directly from the website.

According to this, they are "made of a high impact polycarbonate resin, the same material that competitive gymnastics rings are made out of." They are rated to 1,000 lbs each, so you should have confidence in the strength of the material.

The straps are "black high tensile strength nylon and extra long (18') to accommodate handstand work." The straps are "black high tensile strength nylon and extra long (18') to accommodate handstand work."

Here are my ratings for the various categories (again, this is a stand alone review and not in comparison to other brands available).

Rings: 10/10. These things are very light (about 1 pound each), but are very very sturdy and strong. I think the material used is dead on perfect for something like this. The rough texture helps ensure a good grip without being abrasive or distracting. I cant really find any flaws in the design, strength, texture or weight. These would be very easily thrown in a backpack/gym bag and taken to a park or outside for use.

Texture pic:


Size of ring:


Name on ring:




More on next post.....

[buffbrown21]

Straps: 10/10. No issues here either. They feel strong and are supposedly rated at 1,000 lbs each. There has been no fraying on the edges thus far, although I dont use them everyday.
Some people have made the comment about wanting straps with marks showing an inch by inch markings, but I have a simpler (and imo better) solution.

If you hang the straps up in the same place everytime and are the primary user, then just set the rings up for the major moves and mark those spots with a metallic Sharpie. As you can see in the pic posted below, you can easily see the line drawn with the marker. You could even Put a P next to it for pushups, R for Rows, M for muscle ups, C for chinups, etc etc etc.

Doing this would take you from about a 5 second transition to about a 1.5 second one!

Strap marked with Sharpie:


Buckles: 10/10. These things are surprisingly beefy and strong. I wouldnt be afraid to pull a car using these things.

Buckle size:




Shipping: 10/10. I think it took 3 days to get these from the time I ordered. The only faster shipping I ever got was from bodybuilding.com (2 days).

Cost: 10/10. $59.99 for something that you can use for SOOOO much (no matter what your goals are) is quite the value in my opinion.

Customer Service: 10/10 . Coach Sommer has answered my emails directly within 48 hours and was very helpful with the questions that I had. You can't ask for better than that.

Extras: Coach Sommer doesnt just offer the rings and let you go at it alone. He offers various books and dvds to help you progress your ring training, which is great. I do NOT have any of them myself, so I cant judge them, but assuming they are good instructional materials, I think it is great that they are even offered from a professional perspective.

The website isn't very active, but the regular members seem pretty friendly and helpful to each other.

As you can see, I think these are a very valuable tool and a great value at $59.99. I really dont know how these or my experience w/ Coach Sommer's service could have been any better. If you have any questions that I didn't cover, please let me know.

[jkinney5]

Thanks for the review. I also have the Xtreme rings and think they're great (light, strong, well-made). But like you, I've never used any other brand and can't compare.

[Bluerain]

Nice review BB too bad I moved on..

I was going to get these but have changed my mind .

I registered / joined gymnasticbodies forum 6 days ago and still waiting to be activated.I joined like 4 other forums the same day and all have activated me. I can't post or ask any questions . I was also going to buy his book /ring package deal.

"Your account is currently inactive, the administrator of the board will
need to activate it before you can log in. You will receive another e-mail
when this has occurred."

Still waiting...

Ok guys, I promised a review with pics of the Xtreme Rings, so here it is. Let me first say that I have not personally tried any of the other rings listed in this thread, so this will not be a comparison type of review. There are reviews of those other products floating around and Im sure you can use my information and theirs if you want a product vs product comparison.


Xtreme Rings are available at www.gymnasticbodies.com and currently cost $59.00 plus shipping.

Here is a detailed description of the rings, including what they are made of and such.

http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/store...q8eardle00otk5

The quotes below are taken directly from the website.

According to this, they are "made of a high impact polycarbonate resin, the same material that competitive gymnastics rings are made out of." They are rated to 1,000 lbs each, so you should have confidence in the strength of the material.

The straps are "black high tensile strength nylon and extra long (18') to accommodate handstand work." The straps are "black high tensile strength nylon and extra long (18') to accommodate handstand work."

Here are my ratings for the various categories (again, this is a stand alone review and not in comparison to other brands available).

Rings: 10/10. These things are very light (about 1 pound each), but are very very sturdy and strong. I think the material used is dead on perfect for something like this. The rough texture helps ensure a good grip without being abrasive or distracting. I cant really find any flaws in the design, strength, texture or weight. These would be very easily thrown in a backpack/gym bag and taken to a park or outside for use.

Texture pic:


Size of ring:


Name on ring:




More on next post.....

[buffbrown21]

Nice review BB too bad I moved on..

I was going to get these but have changed my mind .

I registered / joined gymnasticbodies forum 6 days ago and still waiting to be activated.I joined like 4 other forums the same day and all have activated me. I can't post or ask any questions . I was also going to buy his book /ring package deal.

"Your account is currently inactive, the administrator of the board will
need to activate it before you can log in. You will receive another e-mail
when this has occurred."

Still waiting...

Hmm...that's strange. I can't remember if there was a wait when I joined (it was a while ago). But Coach Sommer will answer any emails that you have directly and can probably take care of the website issue for you as well, he was very helpful with me. Were you joining to ask some questions before you purchased or something? I guess I dont understand why the joining issue would be a dealbreaker for purchasing.

[one.lifter]

How much do the two rings, straps and buckles weigh? The reason I'm asking is that they want another $17.80 to ship these to me. I have sold and shipped over 500 items on eBay, so I know what something should cost to ship....$59 sounds good, but they are really gouging you on the shipping.

[buffbrown21]

How much do the two rings, straps and buckles weigh? The reason I'm asking is that they want another $17.80 to ship these to me. I have sold and shipped over 500 items on eBay, so I know what something should cost to ship....$59 sounds good, but they are really gouging you on the shipping.

Is that the price @ gymnasticbodies.com? Thats surprising...let me check it out....

Hmmm. I just entered my zip and its like $18 for me also. Im almost 100% sure that it cost me $10 or $11 to get them shipped when I bought them.

The total weight is 4 lbs according to my scale just now. Even if my scale is off, Im sure its not more than 5 lbs.

Hmmm, if that would have been the case for me, I might have changed one of my rating scores.

[lemieux66c]

How much do the two rings, straps and buckles weigh? The reason I'm asking is that they want another $17.80 to ship these to me. I have sold and shipped over 500 items on eBay, so I know what something should cost to ship....$59 sounds good, but they are really gouging you on the shipping.

I've been looking at these and I was going to say the same thing. They wanted $19+ to ship to my house.

[Zensuji]

Great review BB. Fantastic work!

For those having trouble buying from gymnastic bodies I know you coach also sells on eBay.

Just the rings though by the looks of it

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/christopherso...&_trksid=p4340

Although at least you could contact him via that and get a quote to include the book.

[daniel327]

For the benefit of any Australian members interested in some ring work outs, I just purchased a set of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Gym-Gymnastic...item439b3c343c

They are identical to the Xtreme Rings reviewed by BB above.

Delivered in 2 days.

[cyde]

Thanks for the reviews, guys. This thread saved me a bit of time researching. I just ordered a pair of Xtreme Rings as a Christmas present for my brother.

[irishmickk]

I sell an Irish version of the extreme rings but the length of the straps are only 12'. They are great but what is peoples opinion of rings with the holes through the ring for the straps vrs rings that are completely free to spin?

I have used both and it is much easier to do muscle ups on the ones with holes through the rings. You can sort of leverage up the side of the ring so when you drop into the bottom of the dip you are higher. I need to know what type to order next time.

[kbdub]

The extreme rings look nearly identical to the rings coming from China that are going for as low as $40 from other places. At $60 you may be paying too much.

I get emails weekly from this place in China:

http://www.kettlebellsports.com/eopen.asp?product=336

FYI, the cost of the rings in the link is less than $14 (so these companies are marking their product up 200-400%???). It is the same ring as the others who are selling imported equipment are branding as their own. It looks like they have changed to a black cam instead from the silver one.

[Wildtim]

Sounds about right. That markup pays for the fact that they have to import them, pay taxes and duties plus the shipping cost and bulk buying (you usually have to fill a shipping container to keep costs low) and wharehouseing, then they have to market them to you and wait until you buy them before they get any of those upfront costs back.

[mensagitatmolem]

The extreme rings look nearly identical to the rings coming from China that are going for as low as $40 from other places. At $60 you may be paying too much.

I get emails weekly from this place in China:

http://www.kettlebellsports.com/eopen.asp?product=336

FYI, the cost of the rings in the link is less than $14 (so these companies are marking their product up 200-400%???). It is the same ring as the others who are selling imported equipment are branding as their own. It looks like they have changed to a black cam instead from the silver one.

Now if we could somehow get in at the beginning of the chain, with respect to prices, as I would like to buy a few items on that website........

[Wildtim]

No kidding, grippers, rings, sleds, prowlers landmines, bumper plates, shrug bars, revolver plates, Indian clubs even nice kettlebells.

[BobisMighty]

The extreme rings look nearly identical to the rings coming from China that are going for as low as $40 from other places. At $60 you may be paying too much.

I get emails weekly from this place in China:

http://www.kettlebellsports.com/eopen.asp?product=336

FYI, the cost of the rings in the link is less than $14 (so these companies are marking their product up 200-400%???). It is the same ring as the others who are selling imported equipment are branding as their own. It looks like they have changed to a black cam instead from the silver one.

so how do we order from that place??

[buffbrown21]

Sounds about right. That markup pays for the fact that they have to import them, pay taxes and duties plus the shipping cost and bulk buying (you usually have to fill a shipping container to keep costs low) and wharehouseing, then they have to market them to you and wait until you buy them before they get any of those upfront costs back.

That's right. Also Coach Sommer (Xtreme Rings) emailed me and said that the reason the shipping cost is so high is because of him paying to store the rings and then the shipping and handling costs.

[kbdub]

so how do we order from that place??

Everything on that site is 100% junk.

[BobisMighty]

Everything on that site is 100% junk.

it's also probably toxic haha. eh who knows.

[Wildtim]

Everything on that site is 100% junk.

How many of their items do you have?

[one.lifter]

Now if we could somehow get in at the beginning of the chain, with respect to prices, as I would like to buy a few items on that website........

The extreme rings look nearly identical to the rings coming from China that are going for as low as $40 from other places. At $60 you may be paying too much.

I get emails weekly from this place in China:

http://www.kettlebellsports.com/eopen.asp?product=336

FYI, the cost of the rings in the link is less than $14 (so these companies are marking their product up 200-400%???). It is the same ring as the others who are selling imported equipment are branding as their own. It looks like they have changed to a black cam instead from the silver one.

$14 each....probably a 100 pc minimum order. These are the type of companies eBayers get their product from. You guys think the quality is there? (I know it's just a photo)

[kbdub]

How many of their items do you have?

bumpers, kettlebells, rings, a few of their med balls. If anyone is in the Columbus Ohio area feel free to stop by Rogue sometime to have a look and see the difference in quality and durability. We would never carry any of their products, but we do like to test them to see what the competition is selling.