Cost No Object Machines and Free Weights, the Best of the Best

[HealthNutMD]

For pushing activities like bench, I'd have to believe the weight rating on those bars is less than the smaller solid bars. I may be wrong, but logic would say you could run into issues benching 500+, it'd be worth asking blackiron weight ratings of each bar before ordering.

I'm about average height and build at 6'0" and the 2" grip attachments I use are about everything I could handle. Deadlifts with a 2" bar would be tough with any kind of weight. I'd say the bars greater than 2" would be for the 6'4" + guys with huge hands.

I'm waiting for a call back on that. I called yesterday but no return call. I guess it is a one man company.

That's why I went with the 1.75" option--seems like a cool choice, especially cause it is a 7' bar and weighs 45 lbs. I'll see how it goes. Besides, I have all those otherbars, so maybe I'll get a fat grip attachment for other bars to use on occasion. Which pair of fat grips are the best (to put over other bars)?

[HealthNutMD]

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a "Cost no object . . ." or "Best of the Best" purchase, but I had a Wayfair 20% off coupon and decided to buy a Pendlay bearing bar today. It should arrive sometime next week.

I'm still considering a T-Grip bar (as soon as someone does a review) and a Powerlift Hex/Trap bar.

http://www.power-lift.com/power-bar.htm

Also considering one of the commercial Glute Ham benches, just haven't decided which one yet (need to demo some).

A good deal on a great product is always something to talk about.

For instance, although the Eleiko Plates or Ivanko competiton plates might be considered the best, I might have to go with something more cost effective, although I do want competition and colored. I'll consider the Pendlay elite, and other options...

I'll have more time in late Nov to review the bars... I just got word my PENDULUM order is shipping today, which leads to next post.

[dumb.bell]

A good deal on a great product is always something to talk about.

For instance, although the Eleiko Plates or Ivanko competiton plates might be considered the best, I might have to go with something more cost effective, although I do want competition and colored. I'll consider the Pendlay elite, and other options...

I'll have more time in late Nov to review the bars... I just got word my PENDULUM order is shipping today, which leads to next post.

I bought a set of the Pendlay Elites a few weeks ago and really like them. If you decide to purchase some, Wayfair seems to be the cheapest and you get 10% of the price they have listed.

[HealthNutMD]

John Green just went to the warehouse and took some pics of my order going out today. I'm hoping to have it Wednesday. Not sure how long it will take but I'll track it tomorrow since I need to line up the guys. We are going to have to take the rear sliding doors apart again which is a pain, but the lesser of the evils.








You can see the Pendulum Weight Tree, it is the one RPARK took pictures of earlier. What a Freakin Awesome Weight Tree!!!

[HealthNutMD]

I bought a set of the Pendlay Elites a few weeks ago and really like them. If you decide to purchase some, Wayfair seems to be the cheapest and you get 10% of the price they have listed.

Thanks for the info... I'll have to work on Bumpers next. I ended up getting 3 more attchments for the Cable row and lat pulldown from Elite FTS last night: Back Bar (from the football bar group), fat tricep, and double stirrup.

[HealthNutMD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=xamfHhy7Ko0

This piece looks good

[PassinThrough]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=xamfHhy7Ko0

This piece looks good

What piece? All I saw was the babe in the short shorts.

[dumb.bell]

What piece? All I saw was the babe in the short shorts.

I think that was the piece he was talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!


I have one of those machines (Power Runner). It is pretty good, works the quads while giving you a cardio workout.

[rpark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=xamfHhy7Ko0

This piece looks good

This one's not bad either... check out the Flex Fitness kneeling leg curl around 3:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTi4ONNcn-A

[dumb.bell]

This one's not bad either... check out the Flex Fitness kneeling leg curl around 3:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTi4ONNcn-A

I saw that one too. Unfortunately I don't have one of those.

[HealthNutMD]

Good bye black bars:


ALL his bars now come with Military Chrome. Just got off the phone with him. He said he and his partners found the right company and invested a lot of money to make all of his bars military chrome finish.


He also is going to send me pics of the Kettlebells at Penn State. Apparently he just did a big install at PSU and is going to send me pics. I did my first undergrad degree at PSU and he said he got his masters there.

I asked him about bar failure, he said he has not had a single bar failure to this day. I asked him the rating and he said the bars are rated differently than solid bars but even the strongman competition people and other people who drop them with heavy weight have never bent or broken a bar.

Looks like a nice addition.

[HealthNutMD]

I saw that one too. Unfortunately I don't have one of those.

Yea, that Flex/Star Trac Kneeling leg curl is looking awesome ;-)

[jormone]

Just got off the phone with him.

What was the Handling Fee for?

[HealthNutMD]

What was the Handling Fee for?

That is like something shady from the 80's... can't believe people pull that crap this day and age. I have no idea. I'll see if he responds to the comments. He didn't say anything.

[grumpytude]

just pulled the trigger on these hammer pieces, hopefylly they should be in by the end of the year. I got the Platinum finish- which kinda matches alot of the stuff I already have.

[harrisg83]

As you know I have both of those pieces and I really like them. I know Chris prefers his Strive bicep curl over his Hammer bicep piece but every time I get a quote for a strive piece their pricing is astronomical. Even their shipping quotes are double what Hammer charges me. The Strive stuff is shipping from Pittsburgh to New Jersey so the shipping should be less than Hammer but like I said it's double what Hammer charges me. I just received a quote from Strive for a Chest Flye/Rear Delt and it was almost 5 g's. They must be nuts! Even Atlantis fitness, from Canada quoted me $1,200 less on the same piece, which is still high. BTW, I'm about to pull the trigger on a Hammer Strength plate loaded front lat pulldown if they come down a couple of hundred off their quote. Mike the sales guy said he's going to get back to me but it looks good..

just pulled the trigger on these hammer pieces, hopefylly they should be in by the end of the year. I got the Platinum finish- which kinda matches alot of the stuff I already have.

[grumpytude]

I thought the shipping & installation that hammer charges was very reasonable-sucked paying state tax though (i don't think legend charged me for that- I could be wrong though-I'd have to double check). Yes, from what I gathered in this forum (which of course is cost no object) strive and other stuff is more than what I am willing to pay ( I can dream though). I think Legend and hammer is about the limit for me as far as cost goes, besides I've got a ton of landscaping to do this spring and trees ain't cheap!

[harrisg83]

Yeah, I really never got a straight answer on why some out of state companies charge tax on fitness equipment and some don't. Maybe Chris knows why?

I thought the shipping & installation that hammer charges was very reasonable-sucked paying state tax though (i don't think legend charged me for that- I could be wrong though-I'd have to double check). Yes, from what I gathered in this forum (which of course is cost no object) strive and other stuff is more than what I am willing to pay ( I can dream though). I think Legend and hammer is about the limit for me as far as cost goes, besides I've got a ton of landscaping to do this spring and trees ain't cheap!

[RBLOCK]

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a "Cost no object . . ." or "Best of the Best" purchase, but I had a Wayfair 20% off coupon and decided to buy a Pendlay bearing bar today. It should arrive sometime next week.

I'm still considering a T-Grip bar (as soon as a certain someone does a review) and a Powerlift Hex/Trap bar.

http://www.power-lift.com/power-bar.htm

Also considering one of the commercial Glute Ham benches, just haven't decided which one yet (need to demo some).

Check out the Elite rickshaw instead of a diamond bar. It does everything a trap bar does but also has variable height settings and is great for farmer walks.

[rpark]

Yeah, I really never got a straight answer on why some out of state companies charge tax on fitness equipment and some don't. Maybe Chris knows why?

It's all based on whether or not they have a physical presence in the state... A warehouse, sales rep, anything that smells within a state... All states are putting pressure on vendors to collect sales tax so they can increase their "revenue collections"... Even some big ones like CDW (computer stuff) cave in and collect regardless of physical presence in the states.

Rpark, the retired CPA type person

[HealthNutMD]

As you know I have both of those pieces and I really like them. I know Chris prefers his Strive bicep curl over his Hammer bicep piece but every time I get a quote for a strive piece their pricing is astronomical. Even their shipping quotes are double what Hammer charges me. The Strive stuff is shipping from Pittsburgh to New Jersey so the shipping should be less than Hammer but like I said it's double what Hammer charges me. I just received a quote from Strive for a Chest Flye/Rear Delt and it was almost 5 g's. They must be nuts! Even Atlantis fitness, from Canada quoted me $1,200 less on the same piece, which is still high. BTW, I'm about to pull the trigger on a Hammer Strength plate loaded front lat pulldown if they come down a couple of hundred off their quote. Mike the sales guy said he's going to get back to me but it looks good..

ndmike99 posted on here about his thoughts on the STRIVE vs the HAMMER Bicep. He had both and his comments reflect mine. There is no real comparison between the Strive and the Hammer. ndmike says the Strive blew it away and he was going to sell his Hammer bicep. Golds Gym in Mountain View has both side by side, and I got to use both for a few years when I used to go there. If I could only have one of those types of machines, it would be the Strive: it is in another league up in every way. Better handles, thicker steel, better is every aspect... direct drive without use or need of cable/kevlar belt... just smoot as butter and just sheer quality. On the other hand, I am going to keep both since they take up little space. I really enjoy supersets between them. having the hammer ready to go after doing the Strive is very nice to superset. The Strive does walk all over the hammer. The 3 weight horns, being able to places weights on all 3 horns and mix up the strength curve to a crazy degree: Try 25-35 on all 3 horns, and then throwing 5's and 10's on various combos. the direct drive is sweet. Its not a contest if you had to pick between them. I am happy to have both however. You can find ndmike's quote on here about 10 pages back I think.


The steel is twice as thick on the Strive plate loaded vs the hammer stuff. The quality on this Strive stuff is amazing. There are 8 roller bearings on the guide rods. It blows the crap out of that Cybex felt pad/Guide Rod/motor oil lube GARBAGE. I can tell you nobody is building stuff like STRIVE these days. Its really amazing quality. Life Fitness is not building stuff to the quality standards at Strive, not on the plate loaded or selectorized. I have 5 Strive pieces and I think 7-8 Hammer? I have to count again. Of course, biomechanics are what counts. You could build the highest quality machine on the market, but if the biomechanics are mediocre, then who cares!

I simply found these 5 Strive pieces to be better than any other piece for the type of machine it is ( I will review them when I get a chance mid-late November to say why I feel the way that I do).

Strive Plate Loaded Leg EXT A/A+ (meaning in that 95%-100%, near perfect/perfect range)

Strive Plate Loaded Bicep A/A+

Strive Deltoid Lateral Raise A/A+ will get closer to A+ after my removal of the range limiter.

Strive Rotary torso with 225 weight stack mod A/A+

Strive Abductor/Adductor A/A+


Ron Noreman really likes that Lat Pulldown: he literally just got that in last week. So I'll have to go demo it in a few weeks.


At the moment, those are the pieces in that best of best category, I felt were better than any counterpart. I do not feel that any other Strive pieces, at the moment, are in that 95-100% range. I will continue to demo and to use other Strive pieces to make certain. To be fair, there are a few selectorized pieces I did not spend enough time on. I can however guarantee you that the quality is phenomenal and they feel like 2-3 times the quality of the Cybex an Hammer machines. Similar to perhaps slightly higher in quality than Atlantis. Strive really does go all out: and the cams really do add sophistication. Sophistication that will LAST. But again, you have to like the biomechanics, or it is all for nothing.

I can tell you, that STRIVE is one of the last makers of quality machines. I really hope they survive. Quality is scarce for machines and afraid the trend will be to continue to replace stainless steel with plastic, or simply cheapen them as much as possible. Any doubt just demo a nautilus one machine, a Matrix Fitness machine, or a Cybex V3 machine and compare it to a strive. I'll take some close up pics of the guide rods on the strive stuff... just love the 8 wheels going up and down the guide rode. Reaks of quality.

[HealthNutMD]

Check out the Elite rickshaw instead of a diamond bar. It does everything a trap bar does but also has variable height settings and is great for farmer walks.

The Elite Pro Rickshaw is a major convenience. It has its own legs. Like RBLOCK says, not only for farmer walk, but the convenience alone is awesome... just walk over grab you choice of 2 or 2.5" fat grip and do shrugs. I wish it had a 1.5" grip also though. It only has two handle choices, both fat. I'd like 1.5" on occasion. To be able to walk over and just pick it up and do shrugs is great. I always leave some 45s on it. cant beat that.

[HealthNutMD]

It's all based on whether or not they have a physical presence in the state... A warehouse, sales rep, anything that smells within a state... All states are putting pressure on vendors to collect sales tax so they can increase their "revenue collections"... Even some big ones like CDW (computer stuff) cave in and collect regardless of physical presence in the states.

Rpark, the retired CPA type person

Yea, that sucks... I think somebody from Rogers lives in California, a sales rep or something. Damn that guy cost me some money... I wish they would keep their presence in Michigan or states with no sales tax.

I didn't realize CDW collects tax from people out of state, even without any presence in other states? Well, gladly NewEgg and others don't do that... CDW not have to cave in if they don't have any presence in a state. I'm sick of these politicians... cut the FN spending, even if it cost you your job and re-election. Sick of these career politicians that give away the country for a vote.

[HealthNutMD]

just pulled the trigger on these hammer pieces, hopefully they should be in by the end of the year. I got the Platinum finish- which kinda matches alot of the stuff I already have.

By the way, congrats! I'd say 6 weeks, although you did order at the busy season! Maybe 7-8 weeks worst case. I was thinking of the tricep pushdown as well at some point. Flexhead really likes his Precor pushdown since it goes up and down on guide rods instead of a pivot point. If you look at that MEDX avenger pushdown, it really doesn't look special at all.

I've been waiting 13 weeks on that Free Motion calf machine, it is getting annoying.

[grumpytude]

The strive curl plate loaded does looks pretty nice- and judging form the pictures- it seems it can be partially dissembled to fit through a doorway too. I just assumed it would be much more than the hammer ( I could be wrong). I have no experience with strive equipment- only what has been shown & discussed in this forum. I've used most of the hammer stuff before and like it alot. Basically its just another addition to my workouts- I am pretty much just a free weight guy-pretty basic lifts, hitting it hard and its been a pretty successful workout path for me so far. But once in a while it nice to mix it up or maybe finish up a workout with some sort of machine. There are a few other machine pieces I would like to get though, like a side lateral and shoulder press. The star-trac single leg curl looks pretty tempting too. I know its way out of its league in this thread, but currently I am using a powertec multi-press for different variations of press movements for chest and its pretty decent for shoulder presses and shrugs. I just don't have the space now to replace it with several different individual hammer pieces. maybe in the near future when I add an addition on.

[HealthNutMD]

The strive curl plate loaded does looks pretty nice- and judging form the pictures- it seems it can be partially dissembled to fit through a doorway too.

1) The plate loaded versions are much less expensive than the selectorized as you would expect. I only have 2 plate loaded Strive: Leg Ext and Bicep. The other 3 are selectorized.

2) Shipping: To be fair, nobody is offering shipping rates as low as life fitness (which even includes inside delivery) for 220-250.00. Strive shipping is on par with Rogers athletic, Sorinex, and others.... Strive also packages there stuff awesome. Did you see the pics I posted when they arrived? Completely mummified.

3) Strive will NOT charge you tax unless in Pennsylvania I believe.

4) The tax I got charged by Life Fitness more than offset the lower shipping charge.

I just assumed it would be much more than the hammer ( I could be wrong).

Here you can see that I got a great deal. Look at the shipping for 4 big pieces. Also, look at the discount. The Strive bicep with discount was less than $2,000... Of course I visited them in person and bought a total of 5 pieces, so that may help. If you look at the shipping costs, I essentially got them for 250.00 each.

If you look at the discount, that was very good!! The discount was much more than the bicep machine itself!!








That being said, you can find the plate loaded bicep used online and sometimes the other pieces... A trusted refurbished or excellent conditioned used is a good deal.



5) As far as disassembly: OMG, easy as cake! I did it myself, walked it upstairs. It only has to be partially disassembled. Cake!

[grumpytude]

Are you trying to get me to have buyer's remorse? Only kidding- i think your right about the discount you received- going in person and buying the amount of stuff you did had to definitely help ( how could it not?). Funny I found this today. This place is an easy drive for me. They seem to have alot of decent brands used. First thing that came up was the strive curl..go figure.
http://www.fitnessbrokersusa.com/use...pment_s/46.htm

[HealthNutMD]

Are you trying to get me to have buyer's remorse? Only kidding- i think your right about the discount you received- going in person and buying the amount of stuff you did had to definitely help ( how could it not?). Funny I found this today. This place is an easy drive for me. They seem to have alot of decent brands used. First thing that came up was the strive curl..go figure.
http://www.fitnessbrokersusa.com/use...pment_s/46.htm

Well, you could cancel you order for the bicep and keep the tricep pushdown. I don't think it is a big deal. Its not like you are cancelling the entire order, only one of the pieces. You'd save some money and get a better piece... Its just a thought.

Looks like it is white with green pads. Certainly, you could get new premium pads (with your color choice) for not much money and it would be like new. You can't hurt that Strive bicep (direct drive, no belt). Remember, Charlie will SERVICE you. He services EVERY FREAKIN BODY!

[HealthNutMD]

I know this was brought up a couple of times... if you could attach this to your current rack(other than Sorinex), would you get it?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhteNmX5Xu0



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_wRhsJJTQg



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GALP...layer_embedded

[KBKB]

(I fixed the embedding of the video.)

That thing looks cool.