Body-Solid® Bench (GFID71)

Comment: Title says it all, it is a great piece of equipment but there are NO assembly instructions, just an exploded parts view. I repair guitars, so I have some technical ability. This product is NOT easy to assemble, you have to have several components aligned exactly to get it together. Why any company would put out a great bench like this and NOT provide detailed assembly instructions is beyond me.

Comment: I am very happy with the construction of this bench. It is really solid as in Body Solid. However if your not handy its gonna take some time to put together especially with no instructions. There is a picture that is somewhat helpful.. The only problem i see with this bench is when i do decline bench presses.. When i saw the pads to hold the legs i thought you can slide all the way down to get the full effect of lower chest.. It turns out not to be the case you can slide down about three quaters the way which i guess isnt the worse thing but overall am pretty happy with bench

Comment: This is a great bench for working out at home. The gap that others have mentioned in their reviews is something that most incline/decline type benches have. As you raise the surface to incline the bench, the gap lessens until it disappears when you have the bench inclined all the way. When using the bench in the flat position, a rolled up towel works fine to fill in the gap if it bothers you. The construction is superb. This bench will last me my lifetime. I had absolutely no problem figuring out how to put the parts together with just the "expanded parts" view to follow. I recommend this bench to anyone who wants a high quality, sturdy workout bench.

Comment: I am a personal trainer and I really like the stability of this bench. It is very helpful to me as a great training tool. The only thing I don't particularly care for is the gap between the seat and the back of the bench. If it were a little smaller, it would be much more comfortable to me and to my clients as well. Other than that, I would highly recommend this bench.

Comment: Build quality is great, it is very sturdy and heavy. One thing that I do not like about the design is the 5" gap between the benches. I have used other incline benches where the gap was much smaller. I would give this a 5 but the assembly instructions were terrible. First there were no instructions, just an exploded view of the assembled bench. Next, the exploded view and index of parts called out the hardware in Inch measurements but the hardware was packaged and labeled with metric measurements. Lastly, the instructions did not match the pieces that were included (there were more pieces than shown in the picture) so I had to take two sections of the bench apart after I was done to install pieces that I had left off. Overall, it was not that hard to assemble but it could have been much easier if the manufacturer had spent a little more time making some instructions that matched the hardware. I still think that this is the best bench available for the money.