Overall I am very happy with this functional trainer. I have a 10*10 bedroom that I converted into a gym so space saving was my main goal. It took me about 3 hours total to install this alone. I think I could do it again in less than 1.5 hours now that I have done it once.
Working out with this machine is fantastic. Cables run very smooth. The 225 pound weight stacks (112.5 to lift per side) are plenty sufficient. The distance the cables come out before the weight stack goes all the way up is really long. You won’t run out of distance. The footprint in my room is minimal. A normal functional trainer wouldn’t have worked out well.
The machine looks great. It came very well packaged. Each weight was individually bagged, etc. There was still a few minor scratches here and there but nothing really noticeable.
Assembly, the instructions are decent but have a few small areas that were confusing about when to tighten hardware and how much. “Tighten but do not over tighten” apparently means loose enough to make adjustments and tight enough to stay in place. One statement says 12 bolts minimum into wood studs and another says 8. I also made the mistake of routing the cables through the rubber grommets for the guide rods and had to go back and fix that.
Areas of improvement: the accessories that come with it have very uncomfortable handgrips. I needed gloves for heavier weights with the included handgrips. I went ahead and ordered another brand.
The round stops that go at the top of the guide rods had internal burrs that I had to remove before sliding them onto the rods during assembly. Otherwise, they would not go on.
The cables should have been at least an inch longer. You cannot thread the pulley at the weight stack to the depth in the instructions and still get even one thread onto the other end. I would feel much more comfortable with another half inch minimum of thread contact on each end of the cables.
There is one pulley that the bearing seems to be loose from the plastic portion. It is functional but the plastic can slide on the bearing off center. The pulley is captive so it isn’t going to come apart but I should replace it.
Any heavier attachments need to be removed or held up with one hand when moving the weight stack pin. The weight stack slides up a little very easily.
I wish the weight labels had the actual weight rather than 1 through 15. I haven’t found pre-printed labels with matching weight online. It’s a pretty unique 7.5 pound interval. I ended up just printing a conversion cheat sheet that I taped up nearby for now.
It did take about 2 months to get this machine from the time I ordered so don’t be in a hurry.
I think my criticisms of this machine are all pretty minor. It’s a sturdy well-built machine and adds tons of options to my home workouts. Totally would purchase again.
