Marcy Diamond Elite Smith System with Linear Bearings

5 Comments

1. Just says:

   July 2, 2010 at 6:58 pm

   Review by Just for Marcy Diamond Elite Smith System with Linear Bearings
   Rating:
   In case you are not aware, muscles react 30% better to free weights then they do to machine weights. The problem for many people, is getting that free weight motion safely if you have to workout alone. This Smith Machine concept tackles that nicely.

   I researched for weeks what would be the best free weight (or similar) home gym, at the lowest price possible, and as safely as possible without a spotter, but without sacrificing quality. This Marcy smith system won the toss. There were a few other possible runner-ups (like the Body Solid Series 7 Smith Machine at $2800, or the PowerTec Multisystem Leverage Gym at $1500). Both had their pros (quality) and cons (size/price), but in the end when I compared everything this Marcy gym won hands down. The Linear Bearings used in it dramatically increase the quality factor, and while some reviews said they were not “Thompson” bearings, I find them to be of very good quality and extremely smooth (besides, how “brand name” do you really need little steel ball bearings to be anyways).

   Anyhow, there are a few things to note about this gym:

   PROS:

   GREAT price at only $982 on Amazon w/ free shipping (and it arrived in a week)

   EVERY major exercise you can think of. I pulled out my exercise routine I followed when I was a member of Bally’s Gym, and I was able to do every single exercise on my list. I am still amazed at everything this gym has!

   THE SIZE of it is even more compact than I thought. The frame is only about 5 feet wide by 5 feet long (but keep in mind that the smith bar extends about 7 feet across, and the bench sticks out about 2 feet longer than the frame itself).

   LOOKS – it is probably the most stylish smith gym I have seen in blue and white (coincidentally, our walls are the same color blue, so that was a bonus)

   CONS:

   You need to buy separate olympic weights. This is not actually a CON, since most of these free weight gyms require the same, but you can tack on a few hundred more for those (I found the best deal at Sears for 300 lbs + the bar at only $275)

   The instructions – although they are fairly easy to read, they are aboslutely horrible for matching parts. NOTHING, not a single solitary part (and there are about 100) have labels. You have to actually hunt through the boxes to match the right piece with the right step and diagram you are on to make sure you have the right match. What were they thinking here? The good news is that ech part is pretty much one of a kind, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble matching the piece, it’s just finding it amongst 100 pieces that is the trouble. They could have made this much easier. The build time as stated in several reviews online said 5-8 hours, and yes it took me all 8 hours simply because of the hide and seek of matching parts. Proper labeling could have easily cut this down to 6 hours at a maximum.

   Lastly, two of the frame pieces were bent when they got here (although no visible damage to the boxes). I had to hammer one piece back to it’s correct shape, and the other had an elongated hole in it for a bolt to fit through, but because it was bent so much I had to drill about a 1/4″ more space to accomomidate the bolt.

   All in all, I would absolutely buy this again, as long as you don’t mind an 8 hour build time and the “possiblity” of a little extra handy work.

   My logic with this product was to buy it for $982, buy the Bowflex SelectTech dumbells (see my 2009 model review of those on Amazon) as well, buy the free weights, and buy an extra EZ curl bar but still stay under $2000. I did exactly that, while at the same time maintaing the ability to keep free weight quality and encompass all necessary exercises.

   MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, AND WE ARE 100% SATISFIED!
2. John Smith says:

   July 2, 2010 at 7:51 pm

   Review by John Smith for Marcy Diamond Elite Smith System with Linear Bearings
   Rating:
   I’ve had this Smith Machine for about 2 weeks now and one thing I can say for sure is that I am royally impressed with the quality-to-price ratio of this system. It does almost every exercise you could ever want or need. It also looks great sitting there in my family room. I have included a couple of pictures to give a closer and more detailed view of some of the attachment on the system because the picture that Amazon gives kinda sucks.

   Well here is my rundown on this gym:

   Pros are as follows:
   
   1. Great quality/price ratio with it only costing me $969.94 and Free Super Saver shipping. It shipped with CEVA Logistics to get to me. (Just a side note here, be sure to call CEVA and have them lookup your tracking number because Amazon did not supply the correct tracking number and CEVA must contact you to schedule a delivery appointment or else they will not come out to deliver to you.)

   2. This machine looks great in your living room, den, patio, or where ever you put so long as you have room for it.

   3. Almost every major exercise known to man can be done on this system. I’m guessing there are at least over 100 different ones you can do on it.

   4. Depending on your current weight collection, it will hold either regular 1″ weight plates or 2″ Olympic weight plates. It comes with these hard plastic adapters which slide over everything to make it Olympic size. It also comes with enough clips to go over every single weight peg; however, the set only comes with Olympic sized clips so if you want to use regular sized plates you have to get regular sized clips separately.

   Unfortunately this system has some Cons (but that’s ok, nothings perfect):

   1. The chrome bars that the Smith bar and the rear cable weight slide up and down do not come with any type of lubrication so the smith bar makes an annoying grinding noise going up and down while the rear cable weight holder tend to kinda stick going either up or down. I highly recommend getting some lubricant for both of these areas. After I lubed’em up they slide up and down smoothly. Hey now, get your mind out of the gutter.

   2. Build time for this system is staggering. Even though the instructions were not that bad and all of the nuts, bolts, washers, and bushings were labeled it still took 7 hours to put it together and that was with a buddy helping me the whole time. Be prepared to spend a lot of time building this if you get one.

   3. It doesn’t come with an Olympic weight set or regular Olympic bar but that didn’t bother me any. I bought the 300lb O-Ring Olympic set from Sears for $250 and it works just fine.

   I have another few tid bits of information, an “fyi” if you will, that I think everyone who is considering this gym should know. It has a spot on the bottom back support to hold an Olympic bar for storage. The smith bar has multiple locations to lock for varying heights and has adjustable emergency stops just in-case you can’t stand back up. The big white Olympic bar holders in the very front can be moved to any location on the silver part of the front so you can stand and rack a bar if you are doing shoulders or put it low for declined bench presses. Last but not the least, its rated to support 600 pounds on the unit. That doesn’t include the weight of the gym so it would come out to about 1100 pounds all together if you include the maximum plate weight and weight of the gym.

   All in all I am 100% impressed and would buy it again if I ever needed to.
3. Darrin Ferrante says:

   July 2, 2010 at 7:52 pm

   Review by Darrin Ferrante for Marcy Diamond Elite Smith System with Linear Bearings
   Rating:
   I’m very pleased with my purchase. It was delivered timely. It was in good shape as far as shipping for an item weighing in at 450lbs. I looked around on line and found the best price at Amazon. com. I also shopped for other types of home gyms and for the money this Marcy beat them all hands down. The assembly was time consuming about 10 hours (I’m pretty annal though) but without incident or problems. I assembled it by myself. The instructions suggested 2 or more people. Ha! The instructions are clear and easily understood. I’m very pleased with the smoothness of the pulley system and the linear bearings for the Smith portion. The metal, paint and bolts are of high quality which didn’t strip or break while being tightened. The only problems I had were, 1. the pad for your back was packaged in a way that left serious dents in the material, which still haven’t come out. 2. one pre-drilled and tapped bolt hole had to be re-tapped. Fortunately I had the appropriate tools. Other than those two minor items I would not only buy it again I would recommend it to a family member.

   Darrin (TN)
4. dmgdvm says:

   July 2, 2010 at 8:24 pm

   Review by dmgdvm for Marcy Diamond Elite Smith System with Linear Bearings
   Rating:
   Price was crazy low, got it for 648 with free shipping over the holidays, crazy!
   
   Anyway
   
   Pros: Linear bearings, multiple catches on the smith machine, having an almost complete gym for the price.
   
   Preacher curls feel great, as do the leg developer exercises.
   
   Squats on the smith machine can be done to perfection and create an excellent workout with less weight.

   I have a lot of cons, but I truly enjoy the machine and use at least 3-4 components of it 3-4 times per week.

   Cons: The bench does not fit all the way under the smith bar when you wish to attempt shoulder presses with the back support at 90 degrees, so shoulder presses must be done with the bench flat, without back support.
   
   Positioning the bench has to be done frequently, it can be hard to put the bench exactly where it needs to be for the perfect bench press.
   
   The bar is not scored for hand placement like a normal olympic bar.
   
   The bar is light, certainly not 45 pounds.
   
   The bar does not go down to the ground so you can perform a full deadlift. I solved this be standing on car ramps, but had to experiment with an empty bar until positioned perfectly (stand with your back to the machine!)
   
   The lat machine sucks, no way to anchor your body to the ground, need a separate power tower.
   
   The collars on the weight bar are plastic and wear down.
   
   The weight holder for your pec dec, lat machine, cross overs, anything cable related, travels up and down a square tube which cause extra friction and less fluid motion. Grease does not seem to help
   
   I have had trouble engaging the safety catches when performing squats, this would be trouble if I was lifting low reps and heavier weight. You need to have mirrors so you can ensure the bar is even on both sides when reracking.
5. Reginald L. Drakeford says:

   July 2, 2010 at 9:23 pm

   Review by Reginald L. Drakeford for Marcy Diamond Elite Smith System with Linear Bearings
   Rating:
   I spent almost one year building a free weights gym under my house. For the center piece I needed a smith machine/cage combination which will allow me to do full body workouts, (like squats) alone and safely. There are plenty of home smith machines out there so the trick was finding one that fit my budget, used linear bearings, didn’t eat up too much space and still fulfilled my workout regiment. After several MONTHS of research I found the Marcy Diamond Elite Smith Machine, model MD-9010. At $648 on amazon.com, (including shipping) this system appeared to present the most bang for the buck. It took my son and I 10 hours to put this system together. It was missing some minor pieces. None of the pieces were show stoppers otherwise my review would not have gotten such a high rating. The following day I contacted Impex, (the parent company) customer service department and with “zero” hassle they took my order of missing parts and shipped them promptly. The instructions were okay. Labeling the parts would have sped up installation. Once everything has put together and tightened she was impressive. A very heavy gauge framing, structurally solid stance, and all moving parts moved smoothly. WD40 is recommended where any lubrication is in order. The selection of workouts this machine provides is impressive. It is a very complete package. You will have to purchase your own plates, but most systems require this. Two of my partners have seriously checked it out and one has ordered a set for himself. I think anyone who orders this system will be satisfied with the product. To date I would recommend this to anyone serious about working out but feel the pinch of this economy. I’ve had my system for a few weeks and intend to give a follow-up report in six months (6/2010).