EFS Collegiate Rack Review

[Calikid93]

COLLEGIATE RACK REVIEW

Hey guys, I just got my EliteFTS collegiate power rack as well as a couple of other pieces of equipment from them. Having noticed that there are very few reviews for any EliteFTS racks, I figured that I would post one up with as much detail as possible including everything I wish the other reviews would have told me. Hopefully, this will help make the decision process a little easier for anyone out there in the market for a rack.

The Decision: After looking at racks for nearly 2 years, I finally decided to splurge on the collegiate. My training consists of the basics (bench, squat, deadlift, pull-ups, dips, etc.) and I currently train using the Westside Method. I needed something that could take a pounding, not wobble when doing chins, and keep all my plates organized. After comparing all of the racks from EliteFTS, Rogue fitness, sorinex, Hammer Strength, and just about every other company I can think of, I felt the collegiate was the best of the best. All of the other racks were either too tall, too expensive, or had other specs that I didn’t like (ex. 3 inch hole spacing, extremely deep J-cups, not a big enough squatting area etc.). Obviously, this rack will hold more weight and do more things than I will ever need, but I figured I’d get the best.

The ordering process: As I was getting ready to buy, Matt Goodwin helped answer any questions that I had regarding the rack and the delivery process. He responded very fast to all of my emails and was very helpful. When I finally committed to buying, I sent an email to Matt with my order and he sent me a quote as a PDF file. He then told me to call his number listed on the EFS website when I was ready to pay and confirm the order. The following Friday I called and placed my order. A few hours later, I received an email outlining the terms and conditions for the delivery which stated that the parcel would be delivered by a UPS freight truck and that the truck drivers were not held responsible for taking the equipment off of the truck for me. So basically, it outlined how the rest of this process was going to work. Instead of signing it and faxing it back to them, I just replied to the email that the word doc was attached to stating: “I agree to the attached terms of shipment “.

The Shipping Process: This wasn’t as fast as I had hoped, but I can’t say it was slow either. I placed my order with Matt on May 28, and received my order on June 21. When my order shipped out, I received a call from a UPS freight customer service person that gave me my tracking number, and said that the package would first go to a shipping center in my area and then go out for delivery on the 21st between 12 and 5. This kind of surprised me since I was told that I would get to make an appointment for delivery instead of just being told when it will show up. Not a big deal though considering I would be home for most of the day all week.

Delivery/Arrival: As every other review I’ve ever read regarding the collegiate rack has stated, this was the WORST part of the whole experience. What was kind of upsetting to me was that I had asked Matt if I could get it shipped disassembled and he had told me that the rack would come in various pieces which could “easily be maneuvered around the truck” and off of it. This just wasn’t the case. The thing was so bulky and assembled that it wasn’t able to be rotated inside the truck let alone onto the lift-gate. I was lucky enough to have 2 crafty UPS drivers who got the whole thing off the truck and into my driveway for me, but still it was a pain the rear for them to move it to the edge of the truck let alone to get it down even with their equipment considering that the whole package weighed 864 pounds! After that came the disassembly to get it in the house. Maybe I’m just not very handy, but between unwrapping it, unscrewing it from the pallet, taking off all the bolts and carrying the pieces to the room I needed it in, this took FOREVER. My point is, don’t take this part lightly; have 1 or 2 people to help you get this thing where you need and to put it together. This is to be expected though I suppose, and I would do it again if I had to!

The GOOD: Now onto the more interesting stuff. This thing is built like an F-ing tank! To say it is a presence in the room is an understatement. I love the stability of it and how compact yet menacing it is! Given that I have a 10’x 11’ room to work with, the 64”x 69” footprint takes up a good amount of room but still leaves a deadlift area out in front of it. As soon as I started taking the pieces inside I could just feel that this thing was pure quality. Everything from the J-cups to even the dip attachment handles are heavy, beefy, and feel indestructible. While I love the whole thing, here are some particular aspects that I really appreciate.

Big Squatting area- I can finally go wide on my box squats without worrying banging my shins and ankles on something. This is also great for doing sumo style rack pulls or sumo stiff leg deadlifts inside the rack. This is something that tends to get overlooked in a rack. If you're a powerlifter or follow louie simmons advice on squatting wide, you will definitely appreciate this feature.

The Monkey chin bar- No, rubber coating or slick handles here! The black texture coating is a dream to do just about any type of chin up on. Add chalk to it and you’ll never have to worry about your grip again on weighted exercises. Given that I have hands the size of a 10 year old asian kid, the size of the bar is perfect for me and the cambered ends really add a new element to my training.

J-Cups- These are perfect: heavy duty all the way around and easy to move around the rack. What I really like though is the UHMW inserts that protect it from scratching or ruining the knurl on your bar. They also make it easy to unrack the bar without a lift off given their shallow depth. As you can see below, the bottom support of the cup is very heavy duty so even if you're doing some bar bending squats, you don't have to worry about the cups snapping on you or anything like that.

Dip Attachments- Very sturdy, texture coated and easily adjustable. This thing can really work your chest and triceps nicely depending on where you grip it. The handles are also nice and thick (at least for me anyway) which is a really nice touch given that every other dipping station I’ve used has thin handles that really dig into my hands. For those of you who are familiar with fat grips, the pic below will give you an idea of how thick the handles are (1.5" diameter or 5 1/4" circumfrence). Even without any plates on the storage pins, the rack will not move when doing any sort of dip or leg raise. I only weigh around 180, but still, I thought that was cool! Just in case anyone was wondering, the handles are 13" long and the space between the handles at the narrowest point is 14" and 24" at the widest point.

Weight Storage- Elite did a nice job with this. The pegs are slightly angled upward in order to keep the plates from sliding off and are covered in a pretty slippery plastic coating to make putting plates on and taking them off very easy! Obviously, as you use it, the slickness of the pegs will wear down, but I haven't noticed anything that's worth complaining about.

The BAD: As I expected, not too much to put here. Actually I can honestly say I don’t feel anything about the rack can be described as “bad”, so I’m just going to be REALLY unnecessarily anal and pick on a few little things. First, I don’t like that the UHMW inserts on the J-cups get scratched so easily. Given that they are black, you can’t really see it, but after a few training sessions you’ll notice a fine black dust dropping from the J-cups which results from the knurling of your bar shaving the inserts. Second, I wish that chalk was easier to dust off of the black texture coated portions of the rack. because of the texture, getting the chalk off of it can be a bit of a pain. Lastly, I wish the thing was shorter! Being 5'7", I have to stand on top of my box squat box or bench to get up to the bar or else jump up to it for every set. Seeing as I'm not that tall, I don't really need all the extra height for overhead pressing or anything else for that matter.

OVERALL: I am honestly in love with this thing. I can’t imagine using a better rack than this and look forward to using it every time I train. Hopefully this review helped some of you out there who are looking at racks for your home gym. It will set you back a few a grand, but it definitely is a real treasure. Any problems you may have had with another rack will be gone. If you do decide to make the splurge, just remember my warning to make sure that you have friends to help you set the thing up as well as means of getting the thing off the truck; your UPS drivers might not be as nice or handy as mine were. If you don't have anyone that can help you, make sure to be adamant when ordering the rack that you want it to arrive disassembled. You may even want to ask if you can get it in writing on your quote or something. All whining aside though, this rack is easily an 11/10. Looks like a show piece, works like a tank. Enough said.

P.S. Feel free to post any questions you may have about the rack below.

[BIgOrange865]

Thanks for the very thorough review. I will be purchasing a new rack down the road when my gym goes from my garage into a new storage building being built I am currently doing research on several racks and will probably go with legend due to them being in Knoxville (no shipping) but the EliteFTS looks exactly like what I want to get

[jtaliani]

Gorgeous rack! Thanks for the pics and review. Repped

[-aesop-]

Nice man. I really love these racks compared to others.


For everyone else, here's some of the other Collegiate Power Rack reviews:
"Review: EliteFTS Collegiate Power Rack" by DrForce
"My new/used Elite Collegiate Cage" by keetman
"EliteFTS Collegiate Rack Impressions" by sh4mike

[Accutron]

...It will set you back a few a grand, but it definitely is a real treasure. ....

Youre right, that rack really is a treasure and show-piece. Enjoy!!!

[DamonB82]

Searching for 2 years and you're only 19! Great choice on your rack!

[Calikid93]

Thanks guys!

[judgecrandall]

Really nice review, thanks. Smart move starting with a high-end rack, you'll never "need" to upgrade. Looks like I'll have to add this to the list of racks I want but can't afford .

[DrForce]

Great Review. Your experience with the delivery is exactly what mine was - definitely the worst part of the whole experience. But once it's set up, it's the best!

[SuperBison]

Great review!
Thanks for your time!

[blindedge]

I wish I could get something like this, im shopping for a power rack but wont be able to drop more than 1.5k

sweet rack tho man

[deadwoodgregg]

I wish I could get something like this, im shopping for a power rack but wont be able to drop more than 1.5k

sweet rack tho man

Make this dude an offer. It has been listed for a while now. Dude has two of these so he may be more likely to deal. Sorry to thread hijack op. Nice rack and review op.

http://richmond.craigslist.org/spo/3848220564.html



I would also try to get that bench and dip bar attachment. Make sure that you have 9ft ceiling clearance although you could chop it off and lower the pro-style pull up bar. Then you could use the spotter platforms as a step up to the pull up bar.