MARCYSmith Cage Workout Machine Full Body StrengthTraining Home Gym Equipment System with Leg Developer, Press Bar, PEC Deck, and Squat Rack

I read review after review before finally pulling the trigger on this purchase. My wife wanted this machine and I was concerned about the size, the complexity, and the weight.First...the size. It is tall, wide, and long. You will also need to consider that you need about 2 feet on the three, non bench, sides to move weights. So when deciding where it will go, don't forget that fact. On the bench side...you will need even more. You will be moving the bench in and out and up and down and need some room to maneuver. We have about 6 feet in front of the machine and that seems to work well. We ended up with about a foot on one side and the back and while it works...it is not ideal. The last thing on this point...this is not a knock on the machine...it is just something to consider when purchasing.Next was the complexity of the machine. Using it is a breeze. My only complaint is that the two latches on the bench (for the seat back, and the curl pad) must be unscrewed and screwed back in. I saw this in other reviews and was willing to accept the annoyance. But know... it is not a 2 second operation...more like 30 seconds.Now...the real complexity with this machine is the assembly. I saw lots and lots of negative comments about it. But also lots and lots of helpful hints. I will condense several of those and few of my own here.First...this thing comes in three, big, boxes. They are heavy. You will need to inspect them when they arrive for damage and don't accept them if you notice any or if any of the boxes are heavily damaged or have been ripped open.Once you have ownership of the boxes...carefully unpack them and sort the pieces. In my case, I matched each part with the picture in the construction manual and put a small round sticker with the part number on each. ***If you have one take away from my construction story...this should be it...take the time to organize and label your parts. It will pay off in spades as you work.The hardware was packaged well and labeled on cardboard packages and was very easy to work with.Take your time. Understand what you plan to do...get all the parts ready...ensure you understand your goal and then proceed with each step. You will do much better if you have someone to help you. Sometimes, just someone holding a large bar in place will save you a ton of time.Start by assembling the bench. It is fairly straight forward and you will learn a lot before you get into the bigger pieces. The super structure is straight forward and is just bulky...this is where the second person really comes in handy. Make sure you have everything lined up and bolts in before you tighten the bolts. In some cases you simply need the "wiggle" room to get thing to fit.In any case...the most complex and confusing part is the cables. Three hints here.1. Take all the time you need to logically work out what they are trying to do. It is complicated and involves multiple fly wheels in one, very complex, mechanism. It was not until I was finished that I understood how it was going to work. The part that can get very confusing is the long cable that goes through the part with two wheels side by side. Really study the picture and understand the direction of the cable as it goes through. This is the part you will get backwards if not very careful.2. In the Owners guide, they give you the same pictures as the construction guide, but they add words for the cabling. Read this. It helps a little.3. Do not tighten everything up, for a step, until you are 100% sure you have it right. This will save you a lot of heartache later!In the end, it took my wife and I about 90 minutes to label everything and about 7 hours, spread over 3 days, to finish construction. I used a pair of pliers, a rubber mallet, and a socket set. Those were the only tools I needed to provide...the allen wrenches were included with the hardware.The last area to consider is the weight of this machine. I live in a house that was built in the early 60's with wood construction. This would not fit in our basement so it had to go on the first level. I was concerned. About 400lbs of machine...say...another 200lbs of weights...and then me ~300lbs and possibly my wife...(no weight here...I am not a rookie husband)! But we are easily pushing 1000lbs. Hmmm...should I be worried? Yes. So I called a friend of mine who was a contractor in my neighborhood (so knew our houses). He told me it was not a problem. He said...think about a bedroom set with a water bed. Four contact points and well over 1000lbs. Fair enough. This machine has the footprint of a small bed...and the feet are actually wider than that of a water bed. There is also a fifth foot under the rear weight assembly. So that concern was negated. We installed it...have about 150lbs of weights and not a creak can be heard from the floor. So no problems there.In the end...we love our machine. We use WD40 on back post and on the posts for the bar bearings. We also make sure the cables are not kinked. We adjusted the tension on the cables after the first week (see the owners maual for how), and have added some padding to keep from banging heads and legs on things. The quality is good and machine is sturdy and works as advertised. I highly recommend this machine and look forward to updating my review after we have used it for a year (to give you an idea on wear).

Happy with this machine! Overall greate value for your $'s. How can I get a new cable?

Gym memberships are costly. Driving to/from takes time. This is why home gyms have been sold for years. If you are reading this, then like me, you are doing your research. I looked at variations of this machine, cheaper versions, various other cage systems etc. I landed here for many reasons. This home gym does a lot. Many of the things it does well, some things it doesn't. You will never get a leg developer built into a bench that "fits all". They are nearly worthless. I had the predecessor to this machine years ago, it had the single overhead pulley and the smith machine did not have the linear bearings. The cables were always coming out of the pulleys and getting twisted, the smith machine was pure crap. I remembered the assembly taking hours and at times, an extra pair of hands were really appreciated. My teenage son was the catalyst for this purchase. I told him that he would have to put it together and he did. I helped a few times and gave him pointers along the way. If a 15 year old can put it together, so can you. I did the cable assembly. BTW, I hate pec decks and did not install it. I used one of the chains to attach the cable (coming from the lower pully going towards the pec deck) to the bottom pec deck mounting hole. This bypassed the pec deck cable and pec deck and works fine. A couple of the pieces were bent, where the top two arms meet the frame, I had to beat those into shape using a rubber mallet, wooden 2x4 and a 2lb hammer. Bad batch I guess but I know from reading that it isn't an isolated event.The pulleys and cables. I kept telling my son about how terrible and time consuming the cable system was. Doing research for this purchase, I ran across a little gem of information. Keep 10lbs or more on the pulley system at all times to keep tension on the cables thus keeping them in the grooves. I took this one step further and adjusted the weight slide to not sit, it always is hanging just off the resting position. This has worked VERY well. I have 2 teenagers so I can't expect this to always be followed but they usually do. When there is always weight on the pulleys, there is no twisting and the cable stays in the groove. The system works well too. I seem to remember my old system being "catchy" and not operating smoothly, this on the other hand is quite usable. Compared to a commercial machine at the gym, it isn't quite as smooth but is not at all unpleasant. I think if you were not used to expensive commercial grade equipment, you would think this works great. If you are used to commercial grade equipment you will notice but not be disappointed considering you purchased a do everything gym for under $1,000 vs a cable system only for $2,500.The Smith Machine. I ended up taking the bar off the smith machine on the unit I had years ago becaue it was worthless. Vinyl square heating up while sliding on metal circular tube, what could go wrong with that scenario - that engineer was a genius. Enter the linear bearings. The top and bottom of the collars have circular inserts that have rows of bearings, there are a lot of bearings on each side top and bottom. Is it the same smooth feeling you get from a $4,000 commercial smith machine? No but it is more than usable. I was shocked at how well it worked. I use this smith machine all the time. Be aware however, it is very loud. Not sure what makes it loud but it is loud. One side is louder than the other.The Bench. Not going to win any awards here. It's contoured and I promise you, it is not one size fits all. I'm on the short side of the male spectrum at 5'6". The bench is not made for me. No matter what exercise I do with the bench, it is uncomfortable for me. The great thing is, I don't use the bench much. When the teenagers move out, I will send the bench out too. I only use it for shoulder press, incline bench (flat bench is too uncomfortable), incline dumbbell curls, leg extensions. leg curls doesn't work for me on this bench, the length of the lever and the angle of pull are wrong for my body anyhow (probably will be for you too unless you were the one person they were using as the model to design this gym). Be careful tightening any of the plastic components. I wasn't in the room when my son started this and he over tightened some plastics and caused some problems. Lessons learned, wisdom gained.Would I buy it again or recommend it to a friend. I sure would. The information about keeping weight on the cables and the upgrade to 2 overhead arms and linear bearings have made this a truly usable home gym. It's not for everyone but it does a lot of things for a relatively low price and it does many of those things surprisingly well. I would not recommend the earlier version but this version I think is a "best buy".