The Official Adjustable/Flat Bench Thread

[turbolsxstang]

Thanks to this thread and your post I just spent my morning modifying my rogue frame. I cut 2" of height off the bench and the leg that goes down between your feet I narrowed it by 6". Will post pics this evening of it completed and back together once I get home from work.

And here is the finished product. Top of pad height is now exactly 17.5" and much more room for my feet so I'm happy with how it came out!

https://imgur.com/OJIjnNb
https://imgur.com/QcNImyu

[Domicron]

Hi is this the thread where we show off our benches?



the prostar is getting the most use because the wider pad is simply more comfortable. if i did more dumbbell work i could see myself using the bodymasters more...

i like the higher handle on the bodymasters and but don't like how the seat is ladder style and has to be repositioned every time after moving it. it's really minor, but it's something i guess i would fix. i like the bodymasters more in just about every aspect except that the prostar has a wider pad, even though they've made the unforgivable mistake of not using the 3 foot design

Mech6 frame, Rogue fatpad. Everything else is crap.

/thread

[img]https://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8575371&stc=1&d=148773 4164[img]

brb trashing both of my benches

[indianbuckeye]

brb trashing both of my benches

Which dumpster can I grab em from?

[chadsalt]

And here is the finished product. Top of pad height is now exactly 17.5" and much more room for my feet so I'm happy with how it came out!

https://imgur.com/OJIjnNb
https://imgur.com/QcNImyu

Nice work, what the width end up on both feet?

[turbolsxstang]

Nice work, what the width end up on both feet?

Thanks,

The top is 22" and the bottom is 16" but that's with the big rubber feet rogue uses. That could be reduced a lot taking those off and just getting some plastic end caps.

[Hallowedlunch]

And here is the finished product. Top of pad height is now exactly 17.5" and much more room for my feet so I'm happy with how it came out!

https://imgur.com/OJIjnNb
https://imgur.com/QcNImyu

I have been planning to buy and do these eact things for about a year. Only lame apartment life and figuring out how to cut the steel cleanly in said surroundings has given me pause.

And since this is a bench thread it would be blasphemous to not post mine: The good ol' Hammer Strength original heavier duty made in the USA automatic adjustable. 17.5 in flat, 11.5 width.

[jormone]

Rep will have a frame for Fat Padders. Not sure when though...

FB-3000. 3x3" 11g Flat bench that will be IPF specs of 17" high, 12" wide, 48" long, with a 4" thick pad that can allow someone to swap out our pad with a Thompson fat pad with no modifications needed.

[Domicron]

Which dumpster can I grab em from?

you still looking for an adjustable bench? i thought you found one awhile back? i haven't seen any come up recently on CL, but in my experience in this neck of the woods they come and go in batches

[indianbuckeye]

you still looking for an adjustable bench? i thought you found one awhile back? i haven't seen any come up recently on CL, but in my experience in this neck of the woods they come and go in batches

Always looking to upgrade. I got the ironmaster superbench but its too tall for me.

[Ramcharger310]

Haha I just realized that the REP FID, the RAW FID, and the ValorPro DD40 are all the same bench. I wonder if there are any manufacturing differences?

Lol https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=169959263

The difference is that I paid $149 for my bench. Great price right? Well, Equipment Raw had stupid low prices and put themselves out of business.

[dukenukem7777]

Lol https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=169959263

The difference is that I paid $149 for my bench. Great price right? Well, Equipment Raw had stupid low prices and put themselves out of business.

You should try putting their website address in

[Ramcharger310]

You should try putting their website address in

Ha, rub that salt in lol.

Duke, after reading several of your threads, I have been converted. Much respect to what you guys are doing over there.

edit:

Hilarious, everyone needs to click on: www.equipmentraw.com

[peligro113]

Duke I did a search so i could see what they priced their bench at and came up with some fitness store in Australia, but I did see that you guys are 1st or 2nd link in the search. I guess you bought the domain...lol

[irongrandpa]

I have been planning to buy and do these eact things for about a year. Only lame apartment life and figuring out how to cut the steel cleanly in said surroundings has given me pause.

And since this is a bench thread it would be blasphemous to not post mine: The good ol' Hammer Strength original heavier duty made in the USA automatic adjustable. 17.5 in flat, 11.5 width.

Congratulations on your purchase! I found one of these on CL several years ago and still love it.

[tonypearn]

And here is the finished product. Top of pad height is now exactly 17.5" and much more room for my feet so I'm happy with how it came out!

https://imgur.com/OJIjnNb
https://imgur.com/QcNImyu

It looks great! I have the same bench- how did you cut it? Thanks

[turbolsxstang]

It looks great! I have the same bench- how did you cut it? Thanks

Thanks! I just measured two inches down from the top of the leg post and used a bandsaw to cut it then used a drill press to drill a new hole in the leg for the second/lower bolt.

[Synthetickiller]

Can I play?


Review here: https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=164839851

[Deep-Voiced-One]

I decided to bump this thread back up with an update, I hadn't been on the forums too much lately, but am patiently awaiting my custom bench from Steve at Strength Inc. I got a notification that it's shipped out today and will receive updates of its tracking soon.

I know I'm being mysterious on the details on the bench a bit (figured I'd give the thread something to think about until it arrives), but let me just say that Steve went above and beyond the extra effort for expectations to be succeeded...

I had an original vinyl color in mind, but he didn't have it in stock since it isn't commonly used too often, so he would've had to special order it which would require a 10% stocking fee to cover the cost of the vinyl (which is totally understandable), so I decided on a different shade of the color I wanted (through a couple samples that he had left at the shop and sent to me), Steve got back to me and after receiving the pad from the upholster, he noticed there was some imperfections in that particular vinyl that had never happened before and went ahead to make things right and ordered enough of the color I originally wanted for the pad at no charge, great guy and excellent service!

Anyway, in the meantime while waiting to receive and post pics of the new bench, I would like to see even more appreciation of this thread (just don't flood it with too many Rep FB-5000s since that seemed to be the fad bench these days lol).

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Apparently it's the season of the bench for me, just thought I'd add a side note (since this is a bench discussion thread as well) that while I have my Dead-Squat Bar up on craigslist, someone offered me a trade for a new Elitefts 0-90 Incline Bench in orange frame with black gripper pad, cool offer and you can never have too many benches...but I think I'd be hoarding up valuable gym space with a third bench, and cash would be best (to go towards a future seated mid leverage row).

[Nebamartinez]

DVO

Looking forward to seeing your Strength Equipment bench

[McBrody]

PowerBlock's Serious Lifting Systems bench. It's the only commercially rated bench they ever sold, if I recall correctly. 11 gauge 3 x 3 steel, laser cut hooks that are 7 ga, weighs 100 lbs, bench height is 16 1/2" and back pad is 9 1/2". Love this bench, especially the 3 foot design and low height. Would prefer a 11" back pad but, got use to the narrow pad which helps you use more chest than shoulders.

[urbanlifter]

^^^ There is a bench you don't see every day! Pretty cool looking, I always heard those pads were great. Low maintenance, fairly firm, and they look like they are holding up well. Jealous of the height, that's the only thing I have left to fix on my CAP+ commercial, hoping to find someone willing to drop it down to 17" soon.

[McBrody]

Yes, the pad is called closed cell, it's some kind of plastic material and it does seem to be holding up well. The pad itself is pretty hard and durable. It's like benching on concrete but still I like it. I got this bench new from PowerBlock about 3 1/2 years ago, shortly after that it was discontinued. My main criteria when I was looking for a bench was to get something commercially rated, low, with a 3 foot design. This bench fits my needs perfectly.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Neba, Thanks bro! It's expected to arrive on Ash Wednesday/Valentine's Day.

McBrody, That's a nice design on the discontinued Powerblock Bench...if that was still going strong it could've competed right up there, or close to it with the Rogue 2.0 Adjustable, or Elitefts 0-90 Collegiate (It appears to have more adjustments than the both of those too).

[McBrody]

Thanks DVO, they carried it for about 2 years. According to PowerBlock's web site the designer had or has his own company called Serious Lifting Systems, he also designed equipment for Cybex and Parabody. It's a well thought out design.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Update, so as I was fighting a stomach flu this week and with the timing of the bench being shipped I figured it would be the imperfectly perfect time to get it (since I was home)...but no, freight decided to put in the tracking that it would arrive on 2/14/18, then changed to 2/16/18, then when Friday arrived it changed to 2/20/18.

I sent Steve a message about it and he called them up and they said it got delayed from one state to the next and that they called the NY terminal and it'll arrive on Monday, Steve said he'll believe it when it happens and mentioned about the freight trucking company running like this these days.

No fault of Steve at all and he's been excellent on the build, but stay tuned for the freight delivery situation.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Despite YRC Freight's arrival mishaps, my Strength Equipment flat bench finally arrived today! It came screwed down on a wooden pallet and Steve wrapped it deeply with layers of cellophane plastic and flat foam wrap to assure it was protected (Certainly reminiscent of my power rack from Mech).

Here's what I added for features to it...

-4X4 7 gauge steel.

-12" wide pad.

-17" height from floor to the top of the pad.

-48" length for the pad.

-Rubber glued to the bottom of the feet.

I went silver vein for the frame (like my Legend) and Steve got in a bit of royal blue for the color of the pad (I wanted a color slightly reminiscent of my old Pontiac Grand Prix color and also thought the royal blue looked cool with the silver), what I was surprised to see was that I not only got royal blue for the top of the pad, but I also got black on the sides of the vinyl which was a pretty nice touch! I would say the overall weight of this bench is 100 lbs, or greater (Freight gave me an approximate weight of 125 lbs when it was delivered which included the pallet it was screwed down to) it's definitely heavier than my Legend 3103 adjustable and is quite a site to see tilting and rolling a 4X4 steel frame on its wheels and once it's set to bench with it is SET to bench with! I love it!

Everything about it is beefed up and complete overkill! But it's great and makes my 3X3 11 gauge Legend 3-Way look like a tinker toy! I tried it out after rolling it into my home gym and after using a 12" wide pad for barbell benching, I'll never go back to a 10 1/4" wide pad...don't get me wrong, the 10 1/4" wide pad isn't horrible by any means and is still a better option if that's what you have in your gym, but to me the 12" width of the padding just locks you in and supports you on a whole other level and the 17" height is perfect for me on leg drive (I'll have to adjust my J-hooks and safeties one hole down on each of them and it'll be perfect).

Now the only slight thing I would say about the 2 3/4" padding is that Strength Inc's padding is just a bit on the soft side, very comfortable and has a pretty decent rebound to it, but I would definitely score the Legend's 3" durafirm padding a bit higher over Strength Inc's padding, but I'm sure it'll grow on me though and like I mentioned it is very comfortable while pressing on it.

The quality of the vinyl and stitching and wheels are excellent on it from what I see and the rubber glued to the feet are so perfectly flush that I thought they weren't even there at first lol...and now here's some pics (ignore the black splotches on the wrapping that was just to cover up the shipping labels)...

[Deep-Voiced-One]

[gym62richard]

DVO, now that's a beast of a bench, love the blue pad.

[C123C]

Gorgeous. Love it that you went 4x4. I agree on the 12" pad - I will never go narrower. I have a 14" FatPad too but 12" is just fine for me.