Buying used Gym equipment - JP Fitness Forums

Chris-STL · 01-05-2006, 03:42 PM

We are putting a gym in the new house we bought. While looking around for equipment, I found a whole pile of stuff for sale from some gym around here.

http://www.briantuckerimages.com/gym/Page.htm

They have a ton of crap, I'm looking at a cage, bar, some weights, and maybe a few other odds and ends.

The real question though is this. Is there anything in particular I should inspect when looking at this stuff? Especially the bars and weights?

tossedup · 01-05-2006, 04:07 PM

What I looked for when I bought my squat rack out of the paper was rust, bent medal, if the bb have colars the inside of the clamps to make sure they aren't striped, any non-smooth painted surface that looks like painted over rust, cables that do not have a smooth range of motion that kind of get stuck when tension is applied on them. Thats is all I can think of at the moment.

Newlife · 01-05-2006, 08:14 PM

I personally would not purchase a used barbell. Too many things can be wrong that are not visable to the eye. Like stress cracks only seen by x-ray and damage inside the sleeve of the bar.

As for everything else, tossedup covered it. Look for repainting on rusted or damaged parts, look for sloopy movement or loose bolts. Cable that are worn and need replacement usually have a cracked nylon jacket on it that will peel. Pulleys should all be smooth and fluid. And plastic should not look dry or brittle.

Buy carefully as you will have this stuff for a long time.

Newlife · 01-05-2006, 08:18 PM

A couple more things...Padding should be firm and the outer shell should have no holes that will open up with use. Once they tear, they pretty much should be replaced. Try to buy rubber flooring used, if they have it at the sale. You can save a ton of money that way (I saved about $750) and the stuff lasts forever.

Good Luck

Chris-STL · 01-05-2006, 10:36 PM

Well I went and took a look at this stuff. They were getting ready to open a gym, and then the person that was going to run it backed out. Its in pretty good shape, but I'm a bit leary thinking along the same lines as you Newlife.

they have a power cage, but they want about 150 for it. It is in great shape, but it doesn't have the cable addition like most of them have now. I'm thinking I'll pass on this one.

All their plates and dumbbells are 40cents/pound. From what I can find online, thats a decent price. The plates looked like they weren't chipped or rusty. I'm thinking this would be a good place to grab some cheap weights.

The dumbells were the kind with the plates, not the cast iron hex ones. I was seriously considering getting some. I am curious though, how do these dumbells work? I'd like to have some bigger ones, but not buy a full set. Can I take them apart to make bigger ones if I have enough smaller sized ones?

The bar's were pretty lightly used. at 40 bucks, how big of a deal do you think it is that they are used? I'm no power lifter, if I get more than 200lbs on one, its probably not comming off the ground. =-) I can always invest in a nice new bar down the road.

Any insight you guys have would be great. I want a really nice gym, but with the new house, cutting any corners I can, safely, is a big bonus.

nyguy · 01-05-2006, 10:43 PM

150 bucks doesn't sound bad at all for a power cage. Do you know the name and maximum weight capacity? Unfortunally the picture is not opening.

Chris-STL · 01-06-2006, 08:11 AM

Yeah that link is broken, thats one of the reasons I went and took a look.

I'm not sure on the specs, I'll see if I can get that info from them.

On a side note, Sams has a squat rack with a built in pully system, bar, bench, 205lbs of weights for $409. I'd need to get some more weight, but that might be a nice starter set.