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1,277 of 1,318 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this more than my own mother., April 12, 2009
This review is from: Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar - Extreme Edition (Misc.)
I was a little leery of making this purchase. Normally, products that seem too simple for too reasonable of a price just never end up satisfying in the way you hope (e.g. The Dodge Neon, anything on Jack in the Box's value menu, my two years at DeVry). But this? Oh. Oh, my faith has been restored in cheap American products.
Because, you see, kids. This is a WELL ENGINEERED cheap American product. Yes, a rarity. I was worried that it would be difficult to assemble. I was worried that it wouldn't really hang from my door frame. I was worried that it would break under my underwhelming 155lbs. I was worried the Utah Jazz wouldn't be able to gear up and start winning road games as the playoffs grew nigh.
I mostly worried for naught.
I assembled the Iron Gym Extreme in about 15 minutes. Probably could have done so a lot more quickly, but I was distracted by Boston Legal on DVD, and by gunning my power ratchet wrench at my cat to stop her from playing in the packing materials.
(Note: You do NOT need your own tools to assemble this product. It comes with a little tool. But you can speed up the process with your own tools. You should have your own tools anyway, you know? Be a man.)
Once you assemble the Iron Gym Extreme, you'll need to pick a doorway. It seemed to fit all my doorways perfectly, but I have heard word of older houses having issues. You will need to insert a small metal wedge into the top of your doorjamb. This helps to secure the device and make sure it doesn't fall on anyone's head. It's not as scary as it sounds, you just kinda shove the thing behind the wood. Then you kinda wiggle it and say "Will that hold it?" Then a few minutes later you say "Gol-darn, it WILL hold it. Ain't that somethin'." Should any friends be standing nearby, this would be an excellent time to exchange high-fives.
I then chin-upped. Well, I tried. God as my witness I had no idea I was such a puss. I had like no upper-body strength. I'm pretty sure I heard my cat laughing at me somewhere down the hall behind me, but the blood was thumping in my ears so I can't be sure. But the bar sure worked!
I didn't give up and kept at the bar. Now, no, several weeks later I'm nowhere close to entering any Ultimate Fighting Competitions or anything, but I can do buttloads of reps now, and my cat has stopped mocking me.
This product has been excellent. Buy with confidence.
The Utah Jazz, however, appear to be headed towards a first-round sweep at the hands of the L.A. Lakers.
Crap.
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190 of 193 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Measure your door frame first!, April 3, 2009
Depending on the size of your door frame the rating can be anywhere from 1-5 stars. The assembly is pretty straight forward (the instructions weren't very good, but you really just need to look at the picture and put the pieces in the correct place). It's a solid piece of equipment and the quality seems good. Here's the problem: it says that this will fit any door frame from 24" to 32". What I discovered is that the ends of the 'U' shaped pieces stick out past the bar that is supposed to rest against the molding. This makes the rubber protective sleeves useless since they are not touching the molding. If your door frame is less than 31" then you will want to find another product. If your frame is 31" to 33" then this would be great. My door frame is 28.5" and I'm having to place towels between the molding and the metal ends so I don't gouge the wood. If I could make another purchase I would buy one with a simpler grip system that actually made use of the foam/rubber padding. Also, you don't need to mount this piece to your wall. It works just fine without the wall mount.
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180 of 186 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Damages doorframe, January 8, 2010
This review is from: Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar - Extreme Edition (Misc.)
Product works, and is strong enough for a 100kg person, but it damages the door frame.
Product has changed through time, mine came with a metal block not a plastic one (probably since the plastic ones were breaking) and knurled handles for the pushups. Pushups and dips are WORTHLESS on this, they should never have compromised it to suit those purposes. The knurled plastic pushup handles are the same parts of the device that apply pressure to the doorframe - the ridges indent into the wood. Probably this can be fixed by slipping a piece of thin wood between the device and the doorframe, but it is an unnecessary complication and the damage is done.
The bolts I received, instead of 8 of the big kind and 2 of the flatheads, I got 10 of the big kind, rounded head bolts .... the two bolts that were meant ot be flathead, well the roundhead went through the wall, denting the soft wall above the frame. I have fixed this by sliding a thin piece of wood between the bar and the wall, and I put a piece of paper between the bolthead and wall and the paper was undamaged so it is not touching the wall anymore. BUT COME ON! Stupid bolts. Wish I had noticed first, I had even read a review by someone else and missed that point.
If it does not fit your door, you are stuffed. So, here are the elusive measurements that I could not find anywhere. Tags for poor customers searching the internet are here
iron gym deluxe extreme measurements dimensions width door size
Width of support bar on top of door: 45.5cm total width, 34cm between the connecting bars
Width between the ends of the bars that will destroy your doorframe if your doorframe space is not at least this wide: 73cm
Width your doorframe should be as a minimum to allow the "padded" (that is, knurled destructor bits) ends to be on the frame: 81.5cm
Max width of the device: 105cm
Now I have only given it 1 star because the door damage infuriates me, it is unnecessary. Also I don't like reading the instructions where the first step is "with an electric drill, drill 8 holes in the wall to mount the two brackets that will hold the device, with 4 screws each". It does not need these mounting brackets, but annoying they would even suggest such a thing - the whole point of it is to NOT damage the wall.
One more gripe - they should have made the main bar solid, not two-piece. It was designed two-piece to minimise packaging, and then, they made a mess of the packaging so it is still quite large. I know it is cheaper to have a package that is shorter and wide, but I would have paid more for one that is long and narrow, with a solid bar. That would make it a rock solid product. Alas, it is a bit wobbly and creaky.
Is it a good product otherwise? Apart from door/wall damage and creaky construction, problems that can be fixed, yes it is good. I give it 1 star because I am so annoyed. Fix the door damage problems and I would give it 4 stars. Solid bar, I would give it 5 stars and pay 20% more for it.
Good handle positions. Great variety of pullups and chinups etc... although, not stable or strong enough to climb around on it like a monkey, jumping from grip to grip, turning upside down. You could do all this, it won't break or fall off (unless you start jumping up or swinging wildly). For steady, controlled work, it is fine.
Too low? Need to bend knees? This really isn't a problem, and is probably safer because you will fall a shorter distance if it breaks :) seriously though, the height is not a problem. In fact if you have a low ceiling the lower height bar is probably a bonus.
Note that when you go up, your head generally goes between the handles, which is good. Better than hitting your head on a bar, anyway.
So if you want to get it, please check the measurements, investigate the screws and reinforce the doorframe with thin wood to protect it. If you do all that, it can be a good device.
If you like this review please hit the button so more people notice it - my ramblings are not worth much but the measurements I think are essential for everyone to see. I searched for days and only found one reference to any measurements.
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