Alibaba Chest Supported Row
So back in November, I really wanted to add a chest-supported row. Back in college I used the crap out of chest-supported rows and really wanted to add one despite knowing that it would take up a ton of space in my gym. I looked around and only really found one company that made a machine that I liked from an aestetic stand point. I emailed for a quote and got a price that I mostly expected, however, the shipping portion of the quote floored me...It was $200 more than the cost of the machine itself. About the same time, I saw a Massanomics YouTube video discussing their experience purchasing an Alibaba dumbbell rack. This was the push I needed to begin looking into what China was producing. I ended up finding this machine and began peppering the DMs with questions regarding their product. Long story short, their customer service has been superb, and I ended up putting in an order knowing full well it would be almost 6 months till I would take shipment (I got update picture of the entire process as it was being fabricated). Anyway, here is the fully assembled piece. It came with zero instructions and not a single extra bolt. The crate was massive, and the packaging was amazing. Ok, some things that I would like changed: The machine doesn't come with a hook or perch for the bar. I am using a 5/8 inch hitch pin that is mostly doing the trick. Second, I am 6'2 with long arms, and I can hit the cross portion at the bottom where the bar moves down towards. To make it better I have relocated the pad as high as possible in order to extend my ROM. This change, I think, slightly throws off the angle for the bar. In an overhand grip this has no noticeable change, but in a narrow grip pulling where the hands face inwards, the angle changes just slightly, making it somewhat problematic. I think if I extended the bar 4-5 inches, I think the angle would make up for my pad adjustment. Lastly, it was interesting to find that the front foot on the chest supported row has 1" holes. I tried a few different times to get the shop to fabricate the machine with 1" holes, but was told that the machine was already set, unless I wanted 10 or more machines. All in all, I'm happy with my purchase. I've gotten a few workouts in, and it's super nice just to jump on the machine, vs setting up blocks for my fee and then getting the bar loaded into the Landmine etc. Anyway, can think of anything else I would need from Alibaba, but I definitely would hesitate as long as you know things may not be 100% perfect right off the bat.