Customer Reviews

Body Vision PT600 Power Tower

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

We decided on this tower after looking all over the net for different models. We also went to various local stores looking at different options. Between Amazon's price and free shipping, this was the best deal. It arrived about 6 days after we ordered it. The assembly was easy enough. It took my fiance and I about 30 minutes to put it together. The packaging was good and there were no missing parts. Based on the packaging, even a hole in the box would probably not lead to lost parts. The nuts and bolts are packaged in a larger package together so it would be difficult to lose them. There were some small scratches on a few pieces. If we cared, we could hit it with some hit touch-up paint. The scratches do not go through the paint and are hard to see. We are not planning on fixing them. I am a big guy (230lbs) and the unit easily supports me. As I lose weight, the unit should only get more stable. Obviously any tower that is compact is not going to be as sturdy as something you would find in a gym. We did not want something that was too bulky so we will accept less-than-gym quality as a trade-off for saving space. We purchased this to use with P90X because we did not trust using a doorway mounted pull-up bar. This also gives us the option to doing dips, leg raises, and push-ups. One reason we chose this model over others is the fact that this model comes with a straight pull-up bar as opposed to two bars that do not connect. We did this because my fiance is obviously going to grab the bar in different locations than me based on shoulder/arm width. A straight bar makes it fit the two of us. As suggested by another reviewer, we are going to buy handlebar tape for bicycles and tape up the entire bar. That way we get good grip no matter where are hands are. Overall we are happy with the purchase.

This product has a few major flaws that make it not worth the money. For some perspective, I'm a 30yr old male, I work out very often and I'm 5'9".
1. the arm bars are too far apart and are Not adjustable. This makes dips painful on your shoulders, rendering this part of the machine useless. If you have very very broad shoulders it may be okay for you. But when you pay over $100 for a machine that only does three things, you'd like for all three things to work.
2. Even if you could do the dips without pain, you'll hit your head on the chin-up bar if you're any taller than say 5'4". This is why some of the machines put the dip station on the opposite side- a better idea.
3. Again, because the arms are so far apart, it actually makes leg raises much more difficult and awkward.
4. While safe and pretty sturdy, the machine rocks slightly during pull-ups. To avoid this you have to put your back on the back brace when doing pull-ups.

In general, I think it's better to buy this sort of product from a store where you can try it out to see if it works for you.

Easy to assemble and strong. I am 6'3 and there is enough room for me to do chin-ups facing away from the apparatus. Also there is enough head clearance from the chin-up bar when I do dips. I would buy again and would reccomend.

I must confess that I am enjoying the Body Vision PT600 Tower of Power, despite a couple of small set backs.

First, the unit was shipped with 30% of the box completely shredded. The UPS delivery man said "I can't believe that this was even shipped out. You better get ready to call Amazon" and then promptly left the scene. Luckily, everything was in the box, and nothing was damaged.

The tower took me 1 hour and 35 minutes to assemble, from opening the box to throwing the cardboard in the recycle bin. There are quite a few parts, but Body Vision has done a stellar job of organizing everything (all of the nuts and bolts are labelled in a cardboard container). The only tools that I needed were a pair of vice grips (to hold the washers in place) and 2 sockets from my socket set. A couple of notes: the arm rests lean/face IN, and the rubber covers that go in front of the pull-up bar are packaged with the back braces for the arm rests. I assembled everything and then found the leftover braces, so I had to unbolt the arm rests and put the back braces on. Probably my stupidity for not noticing them, but the diagram is a bit vague on this step. So, remember this step and you can shave 10 minutes off of your install time.

As for use of the Tower: I am 6 feet tall and 210 pounds, and the tower did not tremble at all when I did pulls ups, dips, and ab movements. So, the sturdiness of the tower is rock-solid. One of the arm rests shimmies slightly, and I have tried tightening it; it is not enough to keep it from being used, or to doubt it's construction, but it is something to note.

The push up bars, at the bottom, work great and will give your chest a powerful blast.

Overall: 4 stars (more like 4.5), but I knocked one (half) star off due to the shipping brutality to the box, and the slight wobbling of one of the arm rest. Otherwise, a great product!

Excellent price! Assembled fairly easy. I wasn't real satisfied at first. I really wanted this station for the dips, but when it was all together I was like why does this not feel right? Two reasons, make sure that your dip bars are on the right way.. Well right for you. If you like your dip bars to be closer in towards your body, make sure the forearm pads are angled outwards, otherwise you'll want to swap the dip bars around. I originally had it with the pads angled in and it was harder to do the dips because my arms were farther away from my body. Also, make sure the 4 lock nuts on the back side are really right.now I don't find it wobbly at all (for being ion a carpeted floor and I can't recommend more.I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase and I hope will be too.

I used to use a piece of equipment like this at the gym and I really enjoyed using it.

I purchased this one over the others mainly because of price and free shipping. It also does exactly what I wanted and nothing more.

I'm 5'11" and currently weigh 240lbs. That's coming down soon BTW. If I reach my hands over my head and grab the pullbar I am barely flat-footed.

The box this ships in is like an Ikea box, flat. It is heavy but I was able to get it to the 2nd floor of my house alone. Once there you really need 2-13mm end wrenches, 1-14mm wrench, 1-17mm wrench and a phillips screwdriver. That's it. The nuts/bolts are packaged and numbered so it matches the clear instructions. Read the instructions carefully before beginning so you are familiar with what's next.

I put it together without assistance and it took around 35 minutes beginning to end. Helpful hint, do not wrench-tighten ANY bolts until the unit is completely assembled. After everything is hand-tightented and together, use the wrench and work from the top down.

I especially like the handles on the bottom. They double as footstands to get you into the chair but also work as pushup bars to keep you elevated. This lets you go extra-deep when doing pushups. A fantastic feature.

The unit is very sturdy and I am very happy with it.

I weigh 175 lbs and I'm 5'9 and the machine is working great for me. It moves slightly when I am doing dips due to my unsteadiness and I wouldn't recommend the product to anyone over like 220lbs, but for my weight it is fantastic.

Things to note, the plastic grips on the areas where you do dips / wide shoulder pullups really suck. They are hard and they spin. I would recommend getting some grip tape and taping those areas up so that they are softer and sturdier on your hands.

You will need tools to assemble; it doesn't come with any. You will need 2 wrenches of the same size to be able to hold and tighten the bolts.

The packaging can get a little banged up, but mine was all in one piece. I was not missing any bolts/washers. I made sure to buy this from Amazon due to their excellent customer service just in case I lost any bolts/washers due to shipping.

I highly recommend this product.

I weighed 250 pounds when I bought this, 1 yr ago. I weigh 240 now. Couldn't even do a pull up then. I can do 5 now. I don't work out regularly but I can tell you it held my 250lbs without any problems. So in my opinion it is sturdy, fits well in my apartment and I like it a lot.

If your looking for a good dip and chip up/pull station you found it. It assembled easly, all the parts were there with clear intructions. It is perfect for the home gym, at a great price.

I was initially concerned because of previous reviewers mentioning how damaged the product comes through shipping, but my box was in good shape, All the parts were there. (as a TIP, I would definitely recommend getting some zip lock bags and separate all the screw, bolts, and washers in each bag, as they come all shrink wrapped on one piece of cardboard, which once you open you can easily lose them.)

I am 6 foot and weigh in at 230 and found this could easily take my weight. though the only thing that I did notice is I couldn't comfortable do straight leg ab raises, but again I have very long legs compared to the rest of my body frame.

some of the things I noticed
-you may not think of this, but you do your pullups between the dip bars, at the gym the machines I use you can lift the dip bars up so they are not on the side of you. didn't think of that when I bought this equipment, not a dealbreaker at all, just something I have to get used to .
-the equipment, for me I can do chest dips facing it, but facing outward it shakes a little bit. not a big deal, I just normally do chest dips facing out, not in.
-the back pad has a bit of a contour, but I prefer a bit more of a contour when I am doing ab workouts, but again it just makes the workout a bit more challenging, doesn't at all decrease the use of the machine.

the equipment is sturdy and all the bolts and screws fit very well into corresponding pieces, I actually put this together by myself, but in some areas it would have been easier with another helping hand, especially when equipping the overhead pull up bar to the curved brackets. but not impossible to do alone.