Bundle Edition Cable Crossover Machine

I received my BD-61 from Valor Fitness in a couple of days. After reading the reviews I anticipated a challenge with the assembly. Here is my experience:The machine was very nicely packaged in three boxes. All parts and pieces were received in great condition. I wouldn't normally do this, but I laid everything out on the floor before starting assembly--this makes it MUCH easier and not too confusing. I assembled the frame first using the directions as a guide. It bolts together very well (all parts and pieces aligned perfectly). It took me 1.25 hours to assembly the frame. The cabling wasn't nearly as challenging as I anticipated. I completed it in another 1.25 hours. Do yourself a favor and start the longest cable, then go to the next longest and finally the cable with the bolt ends. You will have to undo a few pulleys, as you go, but it will help keep the cables in place and make it easier to see how they relate to the illustrations in the instructions. The most significant tip I can provide is to pay attention to where the illustrations say "START." Doing so will prevent having to redo anything as the ends of the cables will only pass through the openings in a certain manner. I think the engineering of this machine is excellent and its a very easy piece of equipment to integrate into a home gym. Just add weight plates. It functions very similarly to a machine you would encounter in a commercial gym and it will incorporate a great number of exercises in a very compact footprint. I love it. UPDATE: After months of use I find this machine to be even more satisfying. There are very few lifts/exercises that you cannot do and if you are like me you will find that 90% of your non-cardio workout will be with this machine. Add a good bench and dumbbells and you have a complete lifting solution in a nice compact footprint. I added D-handles; V-bar, ankle straps, rotating curl bar, and a triceps rope. I'm looking at adding a dual cable bar in the near future. It's stunningly versatile once you start using it. I'm so satisfied the hassle of assembly is LONG forgotten.Now, here is my only complaint and suggestion for Valor: please label all the pieces including the hardware. It's very difficult for a novice to identify the various bolts and the instructions are useless when they refer to a cables or hardware by number when none of the cables or items are marked. Yes, we can figure it out, but I probably could have assembled it in two hours or less if I didn't have to be so meticulous in presorting hardware and scratching my head trying to understand the instructions. This process could be vastly simplified and make a great piece of gear more accessible to those who might be mechanically challenged or intimidated about the assembly process.

So far good. It took me about 5 hours to slowly put together. I had read the other reviews so took my time.TIPS: Definitely go to YouTube and get the videos for how to string the cables. The directions with the package will not help you do that and were not intended too. Don't fully tighten the frame bolts till you get that section together and aligned. Just slide the bolts that hold the pulleys in place for that cable run, don't put the nut on until you know you got all the pulleys and cable runs correct. It's easier to put on the nuts and tighten them down once you know you have them all working correct, do not tighten these to tight as they will bind the pulley.I purchased this unit as I have a very low ceiling and it was the only one I could find to fit in the room. I do like it and find it will be more adaptable than any of the others anyhow. I searched and found a very old used club type weight stack machine for $60 (there are 1000's of them out there, some for free). I cut out the 210 lb weight stack with it's very sturdy rack, cut down the heavy duty metal frame about 3" to fit in right where the current free pulley weight system was. This gives me plenty of weight to use, in my small work out area with no need to store and move free weights around. It works great. Those old systems have club level rollers on the weight stack sliders so it handles the weight and movement well. I found I was a few inches higher on the pulley for the stack, so I just pulled the front bottom cable out to take the slack out. I get full extension on the cable exercises so it had no effect on my usage.After a month of use I like it even more ... feels like a club level workout at home. After 3 months I am really happy with it. I just got rid of my traditional weight machine as I do not need it and after using cables I could feel just how restrictive the movements were. So I am getting some bonus free space in my workout area by adding the cable machine ... it's incredible that they can sell this for the $500 range.

I have used mine for a few months now with regular use and i am over all happy with this machine. Pros and cons below if you dont want to read my full experience. When i recieved this machine it came in a few boxes so assembly is a task. I was able to sort and assemble the whole machine minus running cables in less than 3 hours. I had to stop there for a few days because the pulleys came with 2 broken pulleys. The customer service was great easy to contact and with and email and proof of purchase they sent me out replacements. I was very pleased with the time of that service. When i recieved the pulleys i was able to run all the cables and put together the pulleys in just over 3 hours. The machine itself works great. I have not noticed any "break in" period it feels the same today as day one which is completely fine. I have not lubricated anything because i do not want to have any dust/ dirt to accumulate on my machine and it works great without it, there is just some extra drag while lifting. That being said do not expect to load this machine up with all your weights it will not work great. At least with the accessories that come with it. If you can i would just buy good single arm cable grips n the other accessories will be good to work with. The real only issue i have with the machine is the pull up bar. I weight 250 lbs and the pull up bar flexes... Hard when i do pull ups. It will probably be fine but i do not want to chance it. The machine stability is alright you will need to weigh it down with some plate weights at the base i use 30 lbs each side and that works alright for the workouts i do. Overall i enjoy this machine and it was worth the money.Pros:-Small foot print-Easy to use-Good customer service-VersatileCons:-6 hours to assemble-Flimsy pulleys-Pull up bar is weak, same withattachments do not expect to doweighted pull ups or heavy weights-Does have excess drag on pulleys