Powerblock Commercial Pro. Dissapointed.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

If only he hadn't said: "Now, this is a very unique set of PowerBlocks. This is a custom set with a custom knurled handle."

1:16 https://youtu.be/XjLAZ2ztL-M

Guys, the horse is dead.

Alright Supra, you won the internet lol...I guess that portion of the vid flew over a lot of people's heads (including my own), but Coop was still kind of misleading to the person in the comment section portion since his were custom (not the ones standard on the site page he directed him to)...however I think this is more of a situation with the Powerblock company, the handles on the commercial 50s and 90s for the price should come standard with a nice grippy to aggressive knurl on the steel handles in the first place.

Long story short and noted, Powerblocks are great...but stick to the non-commercial lines with the rubber contoured handles and/or perhaps the commercial 125 lb and 175 lb ones if those broader jumps work for the individual and the "screwdriver" handles live up to their name on that set.

Anyways I know, I know "Horse head in the bed" Godfather scene lol.

[thejosef]

I wouldn't mind seeing pics of what I can expect. Maybe it will help me prepare to fix or prevent the problem.

All these are broken:



Here's the common failure area..





Kinda sucks, but after a MONTH, they have finally responded to my email and they MIGHT be willing to help/warranty/sell me replacements.... we'll see. Will update if they finally do something...

[DarthCholo]

All these are broken:



Here's the common failure area..





Kinda sucks, but after a MONTH, they have finally responded to my email and they MIGHT be willing to help/warranty/sell me replacements.... we'll see. Will update if they finally do something...

Wtf. I thought those tabs were made of metal. What a terrible design flaw. Why?

Are newer designed pros like that?

[urbanlifter]

Really sucks, back when I bought my U90 sets I assumed like everyone else that the corners were metal. Had I known they were solid urethane I would have never purchased or recommended. I'd get the replacements and get them on the used market ASAP!

[PCRulesPSDrools]

Really sucks, back when I bought my U90 sets I assumed like everyone else that the corners were metal. Had I known they were solid urethane I would have never purchased or recommended. I'd get the replacements and get them on the used market ASAP!

OMG, is there literally no metal at all ? This might be asking a lot, but I'd like to know if this is just a solid Urethane mold, or if there is any metal in the plate what soever that one could weld a corner onto.

I've never felt so ripped off for an over priced product.

Btw here is the handle removed. It is solid through and the only issue I'll need to tackle is producing a matching tap.

[DarthCholo]

OMG, is there literally no metal at all ?

I've never felt so ripped off for an over priced product.

Btw here is the handle removed. It is solid through and the only issue I'll need to tackle is producing a matching tap.

Looking carefully at my new pros (rubber handle) seems like same design with plastic tabs. A magnet doesn't seem to have the same pull as it does over the curved two tops and bottoms of the tabs.

It seems like the design puts all of the combined weight load on the connecting rods that are bolted to them. This means the lowest weight plates is supporting it's own weight through the bolts. Any plate above that is resting on the pin right below or on top of it. Because each plate is only 2.5 or 5lb and the weight is split between two tabs, they skimped on reinforcing this part.

The combined weight is sandwiched between the uerethane tabs and the connecting rod above and below it. Dropping the weight is is very dangerous as the plates are all flush with the bottom and would create vertical shearing stress directly into these points.

Very dissapointed. Only a lifetime warranty would make me feel good owning these long term.

[thejosef]

Really sucks, back when I bought my U90 sets I assumed like everyone else that the corners were metal. Had I known they were solid urethane I would have never purchased or recommended. I'd get the replacements and get them on the used market ASAP!

Yeah, it looks like they may only charge me shipping for the 5 broken plate sets (~$50 total).. I will seriously consider selling these if I can get them back to something decent. Hate to do that, but I'm gonna be moving back to Ironmasters (if those Ever come back in stock.)

[radrd]

I'd been mirin the look of the urethanes but now appreciating the solid visible welds on my Sport blocks. Sucks that the top-tier powerblocks seem to be the worst.

[thejosef]

I will say the U90 style models have a thicker urethane plate which would definitely be stronger. I believe all the urethane models have a pretty solid warranty IF you buy them new. The U50s have a very thin plate design, which contributed to the failure. Note that their customer service leaves a LOT to be desired if you ever have an issue though. I believe the person I'm talking to doesn't even understand what they sell. It's painful trying to get these things fixed. I'm on email #7 now i think.

[Burgerbuger]

Thank's for the warning OP. I really wanted to buy the commercial 125 version but after reading this post I am having second thoughts about it.

I can't say it's surprising considering their commercial warranty is only 1 year. Red flags all over it.

Quality has clearly gone down hill from when they first started. Not sure if this has been posted already but some guy sued them back in 2017 for the welded on urethane model coming apart.


https://www.classaction.org/media/co...rblock-inc.pdf


Are all PB's like this now? They are still advertising power blocks exp as having welded on rods.

[radrd]

Are all PB's like this now? They are still advertising power blocks exp as having welded on rods.

Just looking at the photos on their site, it appears the Sport and the Elite are welded.

[ampire]

PSRulesPSDrools, here is something that may help
Here is a picture of some handles I have tried. The first is a cheap Cap style handle. The second is a handle I made by using 1" sch40 knurled tube, it has a 1" inner diameter and a 1.315" outer diameter. The third is the 1.5" 38mm CFF handles I use now.


3 years ago I bought knurled tube from an eBay seller named davidhubz to make dumbbells by placing 1" steel round bar inside with shaft collars (you can see how that works in the photo) and I used them for a while before I switched to the 38mm CFF prostyle handles. The knurling was really nice, just like an expensive barbells. I found I could cut it with a hacksaw without much difficulty though it was hard to cut perfectly straight.

I think its possible the sch40 knurled tube might work for you if you have the talent to mount it to the powerblock handles. Here is a link to a chart with the nominal (inside diameter) and outside diameter of sch40 tubing: https://www.rolledalloys.com/tools/pipe-chart/ The nominal 1" of sch40 is slightly larger than 1" so I found the 1" steel rod I placed inside needed a little extra girth to not rotate, so I used heat shrink tubing. Sch 40 pipe also has a seam on the interior surface.

Here is a link to his eBay page:https://www.ebay.com/usr/davidhubz
He was a pretty nice guy to talk to. He was commissioned to make custom barbells for a football team but was left with the remnants.

Here is another eBay seller named knurledbarstock with a similar product. You probably would have to arrange shipping for these with this seller. Stainless 304 would be desirable. A few examples in various sizes:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Sch-40-St...d/332618869859
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-Sch-40-...p/332618964849
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-4-Sch-4...-/332619005293

[thejosef]

Yeah, it looks like they may only charge me shipping for the 5 broken plate sets (~$50 total).. I will seriously consider selling these if I can get them back to something decent. Hate to do that, but I'm gonna be moving back to Ironmasters (if those Ever come back in stock.)

Aight.. Powerblock, after about 2 months of emails (pretty sure the lady didn't have a clue about their own products), is sending me everything I need (5 new weight "rails") to fix my set. They only charged me shipping at $45 so I'm pretty pleased with that. Pretty sure I'll be selling these things and moving on to something I can actually trust above my head.

[Greybird2]

Aight.. Powerblock, after about 2 months of emails (pretty sure the lady didn't have a clue about their own products), is sending me everything I need (5 new weight "rails") to fix my set. They only charged me shipping at $45 so I'm pretty pleased with that. Pretty sure I'll be selling these things and moving on to something I can actually trust above my head.

Those broken plates would make some really nice targets for shooting if you do that sort of thing.

[urbanlifter]

Aight.. Powerblock, after about 2 months of emails (pretty sure the lady didn't have a clue about their own products), is sending me everything I need (5 new weight "rails") to fix my set. They only charged me shipping at $45 so I'm pretty pleased with that. Pretty sure I'll be selling these things and moving on to something I can actually trust above my head.

Not too hateful, but I feel like you shouldn't even have to pay for shipping when it's due to a faulty product. Don't blame you for wanting to sell them, I like my Sport Series but even they are not the Powerblock's of old, some Pro's and Con's compared to the Classic and Pro Rexan Models (the Best IMO).

My biggest gripe is just the width/size, they feel obnoxiously wide, not quite as balanced as other models. The second gripe I have is the tiny 'China' welds holding the side rails on, man those things are poverty welded to the point where I wouldn't trust the slightest drop. Functionality wise they are great for people with bigger hands and the pin is better than the one of old, but these are definitely not my favorite PB's.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

After putting the PB Pros to the test for a while, there's some movements I like using them on along with the quick adjustment peace of mind (which I think is really the best selling point of them) and other movements I'm glad I've had my IMs for...choosing between the two, it's Ironmasters all day everyday! (which was and still is my opinion between the two).

Incline DB bench (for me anyway) feels awkward kicking the PB Pros up and into position and pressing them while doable, always bangs into one another at the top (due to their clunkiness), the other thing I'm starting to not appreciate too much is the contoured handles...it's not terrible, but it makes me appreciate the knurled steel handles on my IMs a whole lot more along with their durability in contrast to these.

These are nice for flat bench double arm DB skullcrushers, quick incremental changes on curls, rear delt lateral raises, DB rows and DB OHPs are ok with them...I'm gonna spend a bit more time utilizing them along with my IMs, but if I don't find any improvements along the way I may consider flipping them along with the stand for more space and money better spent elsewhere (such as perhaps on the IM 120 lb upgrade kit if it ever becomes available again and maybe the thick grip adapters for them).