I spent hours looking at power rack setups, and landed on this KingKong one based on the amount of options it gave within a relatively small footprint. Price wasn't my top consideration, but it was a bonus that I was able to get this amount of flexibility in terms of work out options, at a relatively low price.
I've had it a month or so now, and continue to be very happy with it. More details below.
Customer Service:
Great - Jay was very responsive when I had queries, and pick up from Melbourne warehouse was dead easy, and friendly dudes there.
Installation:
Surprisingly easy. I did it solo in about 3.5 hours, although it would've been a bit easier with someone to help when connecting the uprights. I'd recommend
- sliding the rubber feet onto the metal bases as a first step, I left it until the whole unit was assembled and so it was a bit of an effort to lift up enough to fit them
- having a 17mm socket and ratchet available, the supplied spanners are fine, but it's a quicker process being able to ratchet the bolts
- similarly with the nuts on the yellow knobs that adjust the angle on the bench - these are an appropriately tight fit, and so using a larger / longer adjustable spanner made it easier to apply the required torque
Instructions were easy to follow - make sure you've got the back uprights on the correct side before you bolt to the base, the diagrams are correct, but it's easy to put on the incorrect side (same as with IKEA furniture assembly). If you're checking that you've got all the bolts and nuts before you start, be aware that some of them are already in the associated component, like the top n bottom bolts of the stainless steel vertical rods that the weights for the cables slide up and down on.
Tolerances between all the components, and nuts and bolts were spot on, I'd envisaged some challenges lining things up, etc, but everything lined up and connected perfectly first time.
Design:
I like
- single weights stack for the twin cables, rather than being separate ones for each side - quicker to increment the load between sets, and makes for a simpler unit
- the spotter bars being 'inside' the rack frame, means it's a small space required to work out, rather than having spotter arms extending forward of the rack
- very sturdy, large footrests for seated row and related exercises
- landmine attachment
- the cable pulley units that slide up and down the front uprights have barbell supports on the 'inside' as well
In terms of attachments for the cables, it comes with 2 D stirrup handles, a short straight bar and a long lat pulldown bar. The two bars are as per the rack, in that they are metal tubes, powder coated in grey (with rubber for grip on the ends), rather than heavier chromed items, but they work just fine.
I did buy from them a couple of cable attachments; the tricep rope and the closed grip triangle for seated rows, and these are as per commercial gym equivalents, and are great.
When using just one cable, I tend to 'hook' the D stirrup on the other cable under the base bar on that side. That 'takes up the slack' that's in the cables, and so means that, for example when I'm doing seated row, the weights 'kick in' closer to my feet, so I get a longer range of effort and lift, of the weights.
What could be improved on
- I agree other reviews that the pull-up bar could be higher. I'm 5' 9" and to not have to bend at the knees at all, I'd need it to be about 15cm higher. But it is usable, and I was keen to get a rack that wasn't too high, so that it would fit where I needed it in the garage, or in the future even in a spare room in the house
- The cable pulley units - I reckon they could laser cut one extra hole at the top of the uprights. With the current top height available, it's just a little bit too low to cater for 'sitting on the bench' lat pull downs. Again, not the end of the world - I sit on the floor, use the foot plates to lock in posture and do more of an angled pulldown, rather than a more vertical one - but could be a simple improvement they could make. Or you could even just drill a new hole on each upright yourself :)
Quality:
Great. It's not an excessively heavy rack, but it is very solid, it's a decent metal thickness for all areas, and the paintwork is decent. I got the black rubber coated bumper weights and am very happy with the quality of these. Bench is also perfect for my needs.
Overall:
I'm very happy with my purchase, especially considering the generally higher price of other twin cable racks I was considering. I don't normally spend the time writing reviews, but reckoned this setup was worth it, and hopefully my comments are helpful to people.
