Pull Up/Chin up Bar - standalone

November 11, 2011 6:12 PM

Looking for a solid, light, and inexpensive standalone chin up, pull up bar.

I've found this one and this one. Are there any others worth considering?

posted by storybored to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

Is there a reason you're only interested in standalone bars? If you're going that route I'd suggest something with a dip station too, otherwise doorframe bars are excellent for pullups at a fifth the price of what you're looking at.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 6:50 PM on November 11, 2011

We have something like this. Easy to stow out of the way, and inexpensive.
posted by evilmomlady at 6:54 PM on November 11, 2011

The trapezerigging.com chin-up/pull-up bar is awful. All they had to do was to provide for cross-bracing, and since they did not do that, you will either be left with a shoddy standalone chin-up/pull-up bar, or will have to pay someone to do the machining necessary to add cross-braces.

But hey, if you want to buy it, I can sell you one for cheap.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 7:30 PM on November 11, 2011

Response by poster: Villanelles, evilmomlady, i sadly ordered one of those door gyms and there's something non-standard about all my doors, the dang thing doesn't fit. That's why i'm looking at standalone options.

USR - thanks for the feedback on the traperigging frame.
posted by storybored at 9:05 PM on November 11, 2011

No problem -- if I had to do it over again, I would order something like this. Unfortunately, this is 135 pounds, so it doesn't really qualify as light. And at $500, it doesn't qualify as cheap.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 10:18 PM on November 11, 2011

Craigslist. I don't know about your area, but in mine the 'Sports' for sale ads are positively brimming with unwanted exercise equipment. Including several stand alone pull-up/dip stations in the last few months, usually selling for around $100-150.

I mean really like 20% of all the sports for sale ads are fitness related. LOTS of Bowflex machines. It is the graveyard of good intentions past.
posted by TheRedArmy at 9:12 AM on November 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Found another one. 54 lbs, $85.
posted by storybored at 1:04 PM on November 12, 2011

Response by poster: Gee, now i see that the thing i'm looking for has a generic name: "power towers"
posted by storybored at 1:13 PM on November 12, 2011

storybored, I should mention that I would have gone with the steelfitstore.com pull-up bar because I am fairly tall (6'3").

Before you buy any standalone pull-up bar, stand up against a wall, with your arms lifted all the way up. Make a mental note of where the top of your palms are, then measure the distance from the floor to that mark.

The bar itself on the item you buy should be a few inches higher than that (or at least can be set to be a few inches higher than that). You can do pullups and chinups if the bar is lower (as your legs aren't going to be fully straight), but if you want to do leg lifts, you will want that extra height.

So if you're about 5'10" or shorter, the WalMart item should be fine for you.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 5:07 PM on November 12, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks USR! That is very helpful.
posted by storybored at 5:39 PM on November 13, 2011