Rogue R3 Rack and Flat Utility Bench Review

[GarageIron]

I posted this earlier on another board but figured I'd repost (with minor updates) for the members here also...


After much debate over which rack to go with, I ordered my Rogue R3 and Flat Bench in the afternoon of Thursday Oct 18th. I went back and forth for a few days trying to decide between welded or bolted, 24” or 30”, etc. After comparing prices, reading reviews and measuring my garage a few times I decided to go with the 24” welded. It was about $40 less for the rack and surprisingly $30 cheaper to ship the welded version to Canada.

On Friday morning I realized I wanted some HG collars. I remembered seeing that they were free if I ordered a bar, so I figured I’d email and ask to add a beater bar so I could get the collars. I really didn't want or need the bar... but its $50 for the collars without the bar and $140 with the bar and collars. A $90 bar isn't bad. I opened my email to fire off the change and got an email that the rack had shipped. Oh well, too late. The rack shipped 18 hours after I ordered it. That’s pretty fast.

The rack arrived the following Wednesday via UPS Freight (about 3 business days). I was nervous about UPS shipping the stuff. I won't use them to ship my stuff out for the same reasons I don't want my stuff coming in by UPS. To my relief a Canada Cartage truck pulled up.



The rack arrived in perfect condition, not a scratch. The packaging really impressed me (I spent 10 years as a packaging specialist in lean manufacturing and Six Sigma, so I’m kind of OCD about silly things like this). The first thing I noticed was the bench being packaged upside down in the box. Most packaging operations would never do this so they could stack the boxes for storage and use the top of the bench for stability on each layer. Having the bench upside down prevents you from cutting the top of the box with a knife and also cutting the upholstery. the boxes can still be stacked or palletized, just stack them upside down. A cool little mistake proofing idea I'm assuming was by design and I thought was neat… That’s enough about packaging. Sorry.



The rack bolted together in about 10 minutes. I wanted to try it out before bolting to the floor to make sure I had it in the right spot. I moved at around a bit and found a home at the top of my garage. Due to the slope in the floor, the rack was out of level by about 3/4 inch front to back. This worked out as my mats are 3/4 inch thick. Instead of cutting 4 holes in the mat for the mounting plates, I just cut the rear mats and bolted through the mats in the front. The rack is perfectly level.





Bolting it down made it bomb proof. The rack is unbelievably stable. This is the first time I’ve had UMHV covered J-hooks so my bars are very happy about that.

The bench is simply awesome. No wobble, nice grip on the upholstery, very firm and solid feel. The bench specs say it is 17.5" but its closer to 18".



I have a few criticisms of the rack that are very small (and I’m being really picky here).

I didn’t order the weight storage pins because they look like they would get in the way if there were plates on them while using the rack (of course depending on where they are mounted and what you are doing). I’d like an attachment that hung to the uprights and offset the pin behind the rack about 6-8” to keep the any plates on the pins out of the way. I’m guessing most people have the rack at least 12-15” off the wall so this shouldn’t be a problem.

2 of the 3 holes drilled in the foot pad mounting plates are very accessible with a hammer drill. The 3rd is under the cross member. This isn’t a problem is you mark or pilot all of the holes and then move the rack before drilling into the concrete, but I suspect most people just want to use the holes in the plate as their drilling template rather than move the rack. If you do this you will only be able to use 2 of the 3 holes. I understand they are located in the best configuration to keep the plate mounted evenly, but I’m guessing many people are not using the 3rd hole in each plate for this reason. Its really not a major concern, but drilling a hole in all four corners of the plate would allow the 3rd bolt for us lazy folks, and a 4th for people that want to move the rack before drilling.

There are a lot of upright holes in this thing. I’ve found myself counting up and down on each side trying to align the J-hooks several times already. Having a numbered or marked decal strip on the uprights would be great. This would have to go on the inside of the uprights to prevent the j-hooks from rubbing on it and damaging it. I'm going to keep at it for a bit and if it remains an issue I'll get one made up.

I’m very happy with my purchase and I doubt dollar-for-dollar there is a better “off the shelf” rack available for the home gym owner.

[Northernmoris]

Nice pics and clean set up. Hope you enjoy it..

[Vmango]

Gym is looking good GI

[f0rbidden]

Great review! This is a little different than the model at the gym I lift at. The one I use doesn't have all of those spaced out holes on the wide side of the upright, probably for future attachments I'm guessing, pretty cool!

Jealous, wish I had a setup that nice in the basement.

[matrix563]

very nice review. what do you do to keep the bench level?

[Accutron]

Great pics. Glad the rack arrived okay re the packaging! I noticed you have that timer on the wall. all a very cool gym!!!

Enjoy.

Im guessing thats your Dodge Ram - very nice trucks, Ive always wanted a nice truck like that.

[skrebs01]

Very nice, well thought out set up!!

[ProtienandIron]

Excellent stuff. Simple, strong, functional, and utilitarian. Everything I like in a gym.

[irongrandpa]

GarageIron, that's a great looking setup. You might want to try what i did, i just marked the holes that i used. If you have lots of users this wouldn't well, and you'd need to number them.

[Keetman]

Looks great! I'm sure its a pita to bolt, but I can just imagine how much sturdier it makes this rack over others.

On my rack, the numbers are lazor cut....but only on one side, which suck because it becomes an issue at some point or another. I got mine used from Pitt University, and apparently they thought the same because they simply wrote the numbers on the unmarked side with what appears to be a silver paint marker. It withstood their abuse for several years and mine for the last year and a half. May not be the "prettiest" fix and I can understand why you wouldn't want to do it, but I'm sure it can be done neatly if you care to take the time. It'll be well worth the issues that may bother you....as in "I refuse to mark up my pretty new rack!".

[Northernmoris]

Keets idea is good or...

Go to a staples or office supply and buy the colored small round stickers. Example: red for bench, blue for squat etc.

[GarageIron]

The one I use doesn't have all of those spaced out holes on the wide side of the upright, probably for future attachments I'm guessing, pretty cool!

I suspect those holes on all of their longer 2x3 stock. I'm guessing that pattern is on several pieces of Rogue fabricated stuff which would reduce drilling later in the process. It would also make it lighter to ship. Just a guess though... I'm hoping you are right.

very nice review. what do you do to keep the bench level?

I don't. Because the bench is actually closer to 18" rather than 17.5", I just left it sloped a bit. If I raised the bottom to make it level it would seem much higher.

Im guessing thats your Dodge Ram - very nice trucks, Ive always wanted a nice truck like that.

Yes, I bought it new about 2 months ago. That Hemi is quick. I can pass anything on the road aside from a gas station.

GarageIron, that's a great looking setup. You might want to try what i did, i just marked the holes that i used. If you have lots of users this wouldn't well, and you'd need to number them.

That's the plan, probably only in the 1" section for now. I do have about 4-5 people that use it... but fack them. It's my rack.

Keets idea is good or...

Go to a staples or office supply and buy the colored small round stickers. Example: red for bench, blue for squat etc.

I'm looking for some cool skull and cross bones ones

[Stasher1]

Keets idea is good or...

Go to a staples or office supply and buy the colored small round stickers. Example: red for bench, blue for squat etc.

I just use a grease pencil and mark the uprights with all of the positions for my j-hooks and spotter arms. I run the pencil across the top of the j-hook/spotter arm and mark them with OHP, S, B, IP, etc. When/if I decide to change benches (or sell the rack), I can just use a bit of thinner or mineral spirits and a rag to wipe the marks off the uprights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_pencil

[Terpgym]

Thanks for the review and pics!

[GarageIron]

Looks great! I'm sure its a pita to bolt

Sorry Keet, I meant to comment on this yesterday.

I set aside 2 hours for this job expecting the PITA you mentioned. The whole job was 20 minutes or less including cutting the stall mats.

The mats cut very easily with a standard utility knife. The trick is to trace the foot plate of the rack on the mat with a marker and then stick a 2.5lb plate right under mat in the section you will cut. This spreads the mat apart as you cut and it goes through like butter.

Once the foot plate was sitting where I wanted it, I used a 3/8 masonry bit on a hammer drill and drilled right through the holes in the rack. I dropped the 3/8 anchors in and started snugging them up. Far easier than expected.

I was only able to hit 8 of the 12 bolt locations with this method but its not going anywhere.

[thejosef]

Sorry Keet, I meant to comment on this yesterday.

I set aside 2 hours for this job expecting the PITA you mentioned. The whole job was 20 minutes or less including cutting the stall mats.

The mats cut very easily with a standard utility knife. The trick is to trace the foot plate of the rack on the mat with a marker and then stick a 2.5lb plate right under mat in the section you will cut. This spreads the mat apart as you cut and it goes through like butter.

Once the foot plate was sitting where I wanted it, I used a 3/8 masonry bit on a hammer drill and drilled right through the holes in the rack. I dropped the 3/8 anchors in and started snugging them up. Far easier than expected.

I was only able to hit 8 of the 12 bolt locations with this method but its not going anywhere.

wow, can't believe it took you 20 minutes. it took me about 5 hours, no lie. My problem was I used a cordless "hammer drill" a.k.a., not a real hammer drill. My fault as I didn't have a real one lined up for the day I chose to install. Big mistake. Good thing I had six batteries.. kept rotating them out every 20 minutes. ugh.

anyway, yea 8 bolts in and it is solid as a rock.

[Keetman]

Sorry Keet, I meant to comment on this yesterday.

I set aside 2 hours for this job expecting the PITA you mentioned. The whole job was 20 minutes or less including cutting the stall mats.

The mats cut very easily with a standard utility knife. The trick is to trace the foot plate of the rack on the mat with a marker and then stick a 2.5lb plate right under mat in the section you will cut. This spreads the mat apart as you cut and it goes through like butter.

Once the foot plate was sitting where I wanted it, I used a 3/8 masonry bit on a hammer drill and drilled right through the holes in the rack. I dropped the 3/8 anchors in and started snugging them up. Far easier than expected.

I was only able to hit 8 of the 12 bolt locations with this method but its not going anywhere.

As I was reading your explanation, I realized that I had done this with a wall in my basement a few years ago. Its been awhile, but I think once I got the hang of it, it did go pretty quick....a lot quicker than you'd think. You drill, place the anchor, hand tighten it, then crank it down with a ratchet.

Just forgot, I guess....been awhile!

[twirp]

I’m very happy with my purchase and I doubt dollar-for-dollar there is a better “off the shelf” rack available for the home gym owner.

You are incorrect. You are not very happy with it and you should sell it.

[GarageIron]

You are incorrect. You are not very happy with it and you should sell it.

You are correct. I assume you've seen the listing.

[Scout255]

You are correct. I assume you've seen the listing.

What are you switching it out for if you don't mind me asking?

[GarageIron]

What are you switching it out for if you don't mind me asking?

I haven't ordered anything yet but I'm almost certain it will be a Sorinex Dark Horse.

[817boy]

I haven't ordered anything yet but I'm almost certain it will be a Sorinex Dark Horse.

Not sure if you read towards bottom of page "Custom colors available: customerservice@sorinex.com"
Here is a link to the Dark Horse: http://store.sorinex.com/Dark-Horse-Rack-p/p01385.htm

Honestly i almost bought this like a week ago when i first saw it (only reason i stopped is no band pegs) im not too picky but band pegs is a must for my next rack.
If someone doesnt need/want band pegs this is the best rack out there (from a price range). Same price as Rogue R3 once you add Rogue weight storage, but the dark horse is 3x3 11 gauge.

[GarageIron]

Not sure if you read towards bottom of page "Custom colors available: customerservice@sorinex.com"
Here is a link to the Dark Horse: http://store.sorinex.com/Dark-Horse-Rack-p/p01385.htm

Honestly i almost bought this like a week ago when i first saw it (only reason i stopped is no band pegs) im not too picky but band pegs is a must for my next rack.
If someone doesnt need/want band pegs this is the best rack out there (from a price range). Same price as Rogue R3 once you add Rogue weight storage, but the dark horse is 3x3 11 gauge.

Thanks! Yeah I saw the custom colour thing but I'll likely stick to black. I'm not too worried about the band pegs but if it becomes a problem I can just drill a few holes or find another way to to mount them.

I thought the pricing was much better than the R3 option. I called Rogue twice this week trying to get a useable weight storage setup and the only way to to it is basically bolt on another R3 and buy a ton of pins. With shipping I was looking at almost $1000. This rack is $999 shipped.

[GarageIron]

I ordered one... we shall see...

[817boy]

I ordered one... we shall see...

Congrats, looks sick. Plz do a review and compare it to the R3. Sure it will help out a lot of folks

If $$$ is no problem you should have gone w/ their No Problem 0-90 bench. That is a nice looking bench at a nice price (and it ships for free right now till Xmas) https://store.sorinex.com/np-bench-p/onw-3.htm

[GarageIron]

Congrats, looks sick. Plz do a review and compare it to the R3. Sure it will help out a lot of folks

If $$$ is no problem you should have gone w/ their No Problem 0-90 bench. That is a nice looking bench at a nice price (and it ships for free right now till Xmas) https://store.sorinex.com/np-bench-p/onw-3.htm

Thanks. It will get reviewed.

I'm sticking with the Rogue Flat bench. I'm not much of an incline/decline guy and I really like the rogue bench. I'll probably get it reupholstered with something grippier at some point but thats a ways down the road.

I may get the weight storage bolt on shortened up a bit, not sure yet. Sorinex says they ship it with 24hrs so the review beings there. Not sure about the J-hooks... I don't like the Rogue covered ones as they use one screw on the bottom and it spins around. It's way more annoying than it sounds twisting them back. The Sorinex covered hooks are pricey and not listed as an accessory to the rack... I was about to order an extra set and thought better of it until I talk to them. I'll just get Dean at BWTG to make me some up later. I'm actually really looking forward to NOT having Westside hole spacing. I really don't like it and find it rather useless. I will bolt the hell out of this rack also though... If I've learned anything from the R3 its bolt $hit down.

[dumb.bell]

You are correct. I assume you've seen the listing.

I guess I didn't realize that you had issue with it.

[Detrus]

What didn't you like with the R-3?

[GarageIron]

To be honest, there is really not a huge issue with it. I figure if I'm paying for it, it should be what I want. The R3 can't do that with the plate storage options and I tried to work with Rogue to correct that. The rack does as advertised and is rock solid. This mistake was my own.

The vertical storage pins they offer are $30/each, retarded and useless. I emailed and asked for help. They had a few options... buy some uprights, bolt on 24' cross members and pins. It was turning my rack into a mini R6 and was going to run $1000. I'm not doing that when I can buy a a better rack that meets my needs for the same price and sell the R3 for a few hundred less. Plus, again... that 1" hole spacing sucks.

The R3 is a great value but I suspect this is a better deal. I still have the R3 and will just stick it in the basement until is sells. I kinda hope I can do a side by side.

[dumb.bell]

To be honest, there is really not a huge issue with it. I figure if I'm paying for it, it should be what I want. The R3 can't do that with the plate storage options and I tried to work with Rogue to correct that. The rack does as advertised and is rock solid. This mistake was my own.

The vertical storage pins they offer are $30/each retarded and useless. I emailed and asked for help. They had a few options... buy some uprights, bolt on 24' cross members and pins. It was turning my rack into a mini R6 and was going to run $1000. I'm not doing that when I can buy a a better rack that meet my needs for the same price and sell the R3 for a few hundred less. Plus, again... that 1" hole spacing sucks.

The R3 is a great value but I suspect this is a better deal. I still have the R3 and will just stick it on the basement until is sells. I kinda hope I can do a side by side.

That makes plenty of sense. I'm so accustomed to having plate storage on the rack that I really wouldn't want a rack without one. It does seem odd that Rogue hasn't come up with a cheaper way to add plate storage.