Best Adjustable Dumbbells 2021—With Fast Weight Change

[klbbr]

I've been looking at adjustable dumbbells that are fast and smooth to change weights on, and I am considering buying one of these.

Nüobell
5LB increments. Fastest to change weights on the market—according to Garage Gym Review. Looks and feels like an ordinary dumbbell. But since they're new, regarding quality: who knows how long they'll last. Some say the stand that's made of plastic looks like it'll break. Goes to 80 lbs.
https://www.roguefitness.com/nuobell

Power Block
Tried and tested. The old champ. Solid quality. But the shape doesn't look that handy. And it takes somewhat longer to change weight settings. But they might be the best, still in 2021. I plan to try them, and see whether they're better than the Nüobell dumbbells. Not sure which is best, but thinking about the Sport 5.0 or Sport 9.0.

MX55
Looks alright. Looks like it goes fast to change weights. But it doesn't look as smooth as the Nüobells. Goes to 55 lbs.
https://mxselect.com/products/mx55-a...umbbells-rack/

The NYTimes have tested many, but the winner of their review, well, on Amazon customers say the weight plates (sometimes) fall off. And the Bowflex is popular, but they're too unwieldy, at least for my use. Both length and width.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...ble-dumbbells/

If you know of other quality adjustable dumbbells where it goes FAST to change weights, then do post. I always do supersets, so changing weights fast is key, and such dumbbells is what this thread is about.

[AccomplishCoyot]

I knew NYT was trash for their politics, now I know they don't lift either.

I can't understand how anyone would make a review of adjustable dumbbells, take four years to do it, mention frequently how annoying it is that you can't drop the dumbbells, and not think to look up Ironmaster. NOT EVEN ONCE.

To say nothing of all the new companies that have sprouted up selling durable adjustable dumbbells; Pepin and Baadaass should have been looked at. For ****s sake, they don't even mention spinlock dumbbells. You know, the things that have been in use for almost 100 years.

If I had written that article I'd be embarassed as hell.

[klbbr]

But ... bu... they're politically neutral, the Times. They're quality. They're trustworthy. They've spent four cumulative years. They ...

Yeah, they're shait. They touted the bowflex, and I lost an hour yesterday driving to someone who sold. I needed only four minutes to see they're #%¤&. I couldn't to curls, presses, raises or most anything else without the weights hitting each other.

[litljay]

Powerblocks or Irnonmaster.

you pick.

[ampire]

Powerblocks or Irnonmaster.

you pick.

Pretty much.

[klbbr]

The Ironmaster are quality dumbbells, and a good choice for people looking to buy. So are Rogue DB25-10 and Pepin. The latter recently getting an updated design that's improved a lot https://garagegymreviews.com/pepin-a...mbbells-review

When it comes to speed—it seems they all lag behind Powerblock, and certainly lag behind Nüobell and MX55. It's speed I want, without losing too much quality. I do twenty-two sets in an upper-body workout, all supersets, so although it's certainly feasible to use things like Rogue DB25-10, more speed and ease for changing weights would be welcomed. Hence the emphasis on ease of changing weights and such ITT.

[Aspenextreme03]

Powerblocks or ironmaster all day long.

[klbbr]

I ended up buying the Nüobell, and got 14 days now to decide whether to keep them. They are f**king amazing when it comes to fast weight change, and they feel solid enough, even though they're not tried and tested like some other adjustables. Pretty much all my workouts are with supersets. So for the upper body days it's chest->back->shoulders (repeat cycle 3x), then new exercises but the same order chest->back->shoulders (repeat cycle 2x), then biceps->triceps (repeat cycle 3x).

For such supersets the Nüobells to be a mighty fine choice. Some have problems with weight plates getting non-aligned when changing load, that said. Thankfully there's a warranty of at least two years where I live so lets say the quality doesn't hold, I'd get a new one.

[ncsuLuke]

Powerblocks or Irnonmaster.

you pick.

I couldn't pick so I have both

[Deep-Voiced-One]

I couldn't pick so I have both

Damn right! It might sound spoiled (not to the equipment crew), but having both IMs and PBs is extremely convenient and imo covers every DB portion of the workout.
I own both and find myself using both if not at least one, or the other each time I lift.

[Duplicitous]

To say nothing of all the new companies that have sprouted up selling durable adjustable dumbbells; Pepin and Baadaass should have been looked at.

Both are Canadian companies that have, thus far, had major issues getting their products to the States in a timely fashion. More relevant to reviews though, most people don't even know they exist. That said, the ew reviews there have been on Baadass aren't particularly stellar. The finish appears to be spray painted on and the branding just appear to be some stickers slapped on as an afterthought. I also don't see how they're any better than spinlocks tbh. Lastly, the owner of the company has a longstanding reputation of, allegedly, taking money and failing to deliver anything (you can find that on various automotive forums, which is one of his business ventures prior to the dumbbell thing).

[broganoff]

I ended up buying the Nüobell, and got 14 days now to decide whether to keep them. They are f**king amazing when it comes to fast weight change, and they feel solid enough, even though they're not tried and tested like some other adjustables. Pretty much all my workouts are with supersets. So for the upper body days it's chest->back->shoulders (repeat cycle 3x), then new exercises but the same order chest->back->shoulders (repeat cycle 2x), then biceps->triceps (repeat cycle 3x).

For such supersets the Nüobells to be a mighty fine choice. Some have problems with weight plates getting non-aligned when changing load, that said. Thankfully there's a warranty of at least two years where I live so lets say the quality doesn't hold, I'd get a new one.

How is the gear mechanism that changes and holds the weight plates? Is it made out of plastic or metal? If it's not metal, I don't see it holding up over time.

The MX 55 appears to be all metal in what holds the plates, the dial pushes out/pulls in the metal bar itself to hold the plates. Looks strong enough, but time will tell.

[GamecockLifter]

How is the gear mechanism that changes and holds the weight plates? Is it made out of plastic or metal? If it's not metal, I don't see it holding up over time.

The MX 55 appears to be all metal in what holds the plates, the dial pushes out/pulls in the metal bar itself to hold the plates. Looks strong enough, but time will tell.

It’s steel.

[broganoff]

It’s steel.

Good to know, thanks. you think the Nuobell will hold up over time?

also- anyone know the handle diameter?

[klbbr]

Good to know, thanks. you think the Nuobell will hold up over time?

also- anyone know the handle diameter?

The handle diameter feels good. I've got big hands, though. I went and measured and got 33 mm, knurling and all.

If I think they'll hold over time? If you take good care of them, I think they will last long. I am guessing that «racking» wrong, i.e. unaligned, if you do that time and time again it'll wear them. And if you're racking them right, the wear will be minimal. I've only used them for a week, and it's been easy to rack them well aligned every time. Never missed it. That said, I do take good care of my gear. With bikes I can have them for how long without wrecking the gears, whereas others need have it to service quite often.

I needed speed, max speed when changing, to make lifting more fun. I always do super-sets, so I change weight plates tons of times per workout. The Nüobells are great for that.

If you're wondering about buying, check out this review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVmEgHMhZKY

It lays out the Powerblocks vs Ironmaster vs Nüobell vs a lot of others.

[broganoff]

The handle diameter feels good. I've got big hands, though. I went and measured and got 33 mm, knurling and all.

Wow that's a nice diameter. I bought the Rogue DB handles and hated them, they were way too small at 28 mm.

Thanks for your measurement and input on durability. The fact that there are some plastic components is a bit worrying, but at least what's holding the actual weight plates is metal.

[klbbr]

Yeah. For durability it'd take a miracle for the Nüo to outperform the Powerblocks or Ironmasters. They're dumbbells you could pass down to the generations to come. The question is really if the Nüobells would last long enough for your purpose. Maybe mine would last 1 year, 5 years 10 years, or more. Hard to tell. But thankfully the warranty is 2-5 years where I live, so they'll at least last that long.

[supramax]

There are weak metals and there are strong plastics.

[klbbr]

Good to know, thanks. you think the Nuobell will hold up over time?

Another thing which makes me think they'll last. The company NÜO is based in Sweden, and their primary marked is the EU. And for all its other failings the EU has done one thing right. You're not allowed to make crap. Or, you're allowed to make it, but customers are allowed to demand their money back, for a minimum of two years. In Sweden they have the law «konsumentlagstiftningen» which gives customers even better rights.

So if many dumbbells started falling apart within that frame they'd many claims. I really think they've done proper testing to make sure right use makes them last long (NB! Right use). But it's a new company Nüo, unlike say Rouge or Eleiko, so in case things fall apart it's a stock company with limited money in their coffers.

Looking at their website, it says the guy behind the company started experimenting with making what's to become the Nüobell already in 2006 so at least he's not in to make a quick buck.