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. Body Vision PT600 Power Tower
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! - Fitness Power Tower - Pull-ups - Chin Up - Chin Up Bar'
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