MARKET COMPARISONS
What is the number one reason to consider REP's rack versus another brand?
Many attachments are available now and more are in development. A rack's attachment ecosystem is one of the biggest reasons why you would choose one versus another. When you purchase a power rack, you're buying into the company's ability to come out with new attachments that add additional functionality over the life of your rack. Our engineering team is hard at work developing new attachments every year, and we believe this is one of our biggest differentiators.
Below we have listed five key areas to also consider when comparing power racks: construction, design, consistency, attachments (the "ecosystem"), and value. Here is how we compare:
CONSTRUCTION
Construction refers to things like the thickness of steel, welds, and paint. We use state-of-the-art robotics in our brand-new facility to construct our power racks, including laser cutting, robotic welding, and robotic painting all under one roof. This helps ensure a consistent, high-quality product and sets the standard for precision manufacturing.
DESIGN
A 47” width helps ensure easy unracking and reracking of the barbell. Some competitors’ power racks are wider, and you’ll frequently see complaints of clearance problems when reracking the barbell, creating a safety concern with a heavy squat.
Plastic liners on all attachments are standard. This is a high-end feature that helps protect the paint on your rack and keeps it looking new. Most competitors don’t offer this, or if they do, it’s inconsistently used.
We don’t use stickers. Every logo on the rack is laser cut or stainless steel to look great for years.
In addition, we pay attention to accessory details and upgrades, including chrome weight horns (competitors use a powder coat that immediately chips and flakes away as you slide plates on/off), angled grips on our multi-grip pull-up bar, and many other fine details.
CONSISTENCY
We strive to deliver a great product to your door with no hassle. We ensure this by employing our own quality control team that is on-site daily, at the manufacturer and warehouses, for both inspections and training to improve production methods, such as welding (even the robots need help sometimes!) and packaging. We also ensure our packaging is designed to survive the occasional brutal beating while en route to the customer, so you’ll notice our boxes are reinforced and the parts within are further protected with internal packaging.
Our competitors that import often don’t spend the money for quality control, and our competitors who manufacture domestically often don’t spend the money for great packaging -- both of which lead to hassle for you as you try to get credit for damaged parts or new parts sent.
ECOSYSTEM
A rack’s attachment ecosystem is one of the biggest reasons to choose one over another. Other companies that import typically don’t have a dedicated engineering team to develop new products; they simply copy what already exists. If it’s patented, they can’t copy. For domestic manufacturers, they rely on high accessory prices to make up for a lower margin on the initial rack purchase, which means any new attachments cost an arm and a leg, while our global manufacturing advantage keeps costs lower.
In addition, REP offers attachments that no other competitor has – attachments that go far above and beyond a new handle or J-cup style. For example, the Ares is a fully integrated, functional trainer and lat pulldown/low row attachment that affixes directly onto your existing PR-4000 or PR-5000 rack. It saves major space, while adding a ton more versatility and cable exercises to the inside of the rack. Or take the Athena – a low-profile cable attachment that integrates onto your PR-4000 or PR-5000. The Athena comes in a selectorized or plate-loaded option and attaches to the side of your rack, so you get all the benefits of a full functional trainer without needing space for a stand-alone unit. REP continues to expand the rack ecosystem with a focus on innovation and value.
VALUE
Value is subjective, but we’re at the sweet intersection of price and quality. Spend more, and it’s likely just for a name or very minor, nonfunctional details. Spend less and you’re likely rolling the dice or giving up future attachment development. Our attachments are also developed with value in mind, and that’s an area many people ignore, to their later regret. It’s not just the base cost of the rack to consider; it’s the full attachment ecosystem and what you expect future attachments to cost.
In the past, racks were hand-cut, hand-welded, and hand-painted. Today, it’s mostly robotics no matter where it’s made, except for smaller shops that can’t afford robots or do custom, one-off production. The benefit of our scale is that we can employ the most modern manufacturing methods, including laser cutting, robotic welding, and robotic painting, resulting in a consistent, high-quality product.