 Sturdy, Huge Range of Weights, but Small Increments Take Time |
| Review Date: July 25, 2010 |
| Reviewer: HTBK, San Francisco, CA USA |
PowerBlock adjustable dumbbells in general are the best we've tried. They feel sturdier than the dial-type dumbbells like the Bowflex Select Tech. Somewhat surprisingly, we've also found them easier to adjust than the dial-type - the dial looks like it would be quick, "turn and click," but in practice those types take too much time to get all the dials lined up properly.
The other advantage of the PowerBlock is the density of the weights. You get far more weight in a smaller area, making it easier to do moves like kickbacks and curls without needing to keep your arms at a wide angle given how far out the plates push. The Bowflex Select Techs are huge, so if you're doing curls, for example, you can't have your arms straight down at your sides.
The only downside of this product is that because it has a huge amount of weight in a dense package, the small increments are modified by adding or removing the weights inside the handle. This is very time-consuming, and can make it tough to move up or down in 2.5lb-5lb increments without losing time.
This is not really a flaw in the product, more of a tradeoff - if you want to have the quickest possible changes of weight, every increment needs to have its own plate, rather than having increments dealt with by weights inside the handles that take longer to remove. However, it's impossible to have a plate for every increment when you have a range as huge as 5-90 unless you have an immense end product. As a result, the adjustable dumbbells with a plate for every increment are going to be either a) a smaller range of weight than this, or b) huge. I'd rather have a dense package with a big range of weight that takes a little longer to change, but your mileage may vary.
One partial solution is to get a second set of dumbbells for your lighter workouts when you want to quickly be able to change - PowerBlock SportBlock 24 Adjustable 3 to 24-Pounds per Dumbbell Set, for example - and stick with this set for your heavier workouts. |
Best Excercise Purchase Ever
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| Review Date: July 11, 2010 |
| Reviewer: David P. Wilson, |
| I bought the Sport 9.0 version of these and LOVE them. There is no way I could be happier. I'm seeing great gains. The one thing I did to that cost a little more is to buy an extra set of handles so that I don't have to load and unload the 5lb ballasts between each set. |
Perfect
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| Review Date: March 11, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Heidi Burke, Boston, MA |
| I purchased the PowerBlock Elite along with the stand about a month ago and I'm more than satisfied. I would recommend these to anyone who wants to have a home gym. They save so much space and time that I can't imagine using any other set of dumbbells. Easy to use, quick to adjust, and always stable. The odd shape of the PowerBlock dumbbell make it appear larger than other dumbbells but they're about the same size when compared. A good buy. |
13 years owner
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| Review Date: March 8, 2010 |
| Reviewer: GODJOEY, |
These are great I have the 95lb set and the big block set puts it to 130lb set. I also replaced the rexan handles with the aluminum pro ones. Call around try to find a floor model they are willing to knock the price down that's what I did.
Great space saver worth every penny. But nothing beats the atmosphere of a gym. |
Built A Lot Better Than The Competition (IMO)
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| Review Date: December 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: JP, Satsuma, AL |
These were the only weights that I wasn't able to do a hands-on review, but after reading several other reviews on the PB's and their competition, these seemed to be a smart replacement for my dumbell set. I lucked out and found this set in the classified ads of my local paper for $175. Yeah, that's right, $175. The person I bought them from said that they had never been used and she was tired of them setting around. Okay, enough bragging on the deal I got....
The weights are built for simplicity and durability, just like the individual dumbells they are replacing. The only thing that would take longer than the 3 seconds it takes to change the weight would be inserting the 2.5lb adder weight. You'd need to tack on another 7 seconds for that move.
The only thing that is probably preventing more people from buying them is the price plus shipping charges. It takes a lot of $ to ship 200 lbs, but the cost easily outweighs buying individual dumbells of this weight range. Unless you find a sweetheart deal like I did (I had to throw that in there one more time). I would definitely recommend the PowerBlock weights over their competition. |
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