SCM-S1000DW

I am very impressed! I just assembled this Smith machine. The instructions were easy to follow. I did it by myself, but a second pair of hands would help. It's sturdy, but it has a small footprint, so I anchored it to the floor with lag bolts. I feel this is mandatory from a safety standpoint. There are concrete anchors included in the kit if you are installing the Smith on a slab. I've only put in a couple of sets of incline bench in just to demo my work, and it feels smooth, sturdy, and reliable. Two things to be mindful of: 1. Follow the instructions carefully, and pay attention to every detail from the diagrams. 2. DO NOT tighten every connection all the way because you will need a little play room to make sure everything lines up. After it is fully assembled, then make sure all connections are tight. All the parts and tools are included in the kit, but I did not use the wrench included. A 17mm socket and socket wrench is MUCH more efficient. I am very happy with this purchase. Buy it because I'm sure you will be happy too. Remember to plan to ANCHOR your machine to the floor.

This is great for the price! It’s smooth and is holding up well. It comes with concrete anchors. I do recommend anchoring it to the floor if you’re going to use much weight. It was easy to assemble, but did require two people. It takes up less space than I thought it would. I’m very pleased.

Decent, sturdy quality for price. One person instal was not an issue, ease of assembly. I'm not able to use provided expansion anchor bolts, so i used an 80lb bag of concrete on each side for counter weight. So far with 200lbs, it stays solid. Slightly wobbly if the bar is all the way at the top with all the weight, but I'm not at all worried about it tipping yet.

Truly exceeded my expectations. This is the probably the cheapest smith machine on Amazon (with coupon) and what a bargain. It took me about 1.5 hours to put it together myself. The bar itself weights approx 17lbs per my scale. I bolted the smith machine to the floor of my home gym and did not have any problems with it tipping over when doing heavy lifts like other reviewers mentioned. I did squats with two 45lbs plates on each side and the machine held up just fine. The action was smooth. There were some minimal wobbles but that is to be expected for this price. At no point did I feel unsafe when using this machine. I recommend putting some PB blaster oil on the bearings to reduce the noise. I am able to complete all of the main compound lifts (bench press, squat, seated shoulder press, deadlifts, rows) with this machine. The only complaint I have is for the model that comes with the folding bench. There are too much spaces on the hinges, thus causing the bench to wobble side to side. It still works but it would have been better if they have some kind of spacers on the hinges to eliminate the wobbling. On the plus side, I am able to do incline bench press with the folding bench.

Great compact Smith System, Directions easy to follow!

Very surprised ! This machine is very sturdy and glides very smooth , I did anchor to my concrete so that contributes a lot of the sturdiness but the build quality is actually quite nice ! It doesn’t feel like cheap thin metal , Don’t underestimate it for the price .

Installation = 4 stars It took 2 hours to unbox, unwrap, organize and piece the unit together (working alone). I drop one star due to confusing installation instructions. One section in particular has user jump a couple steps ahead to "verify" configuration; however, either way (correct/incorrect) verification "works". Quality = 5 stars For total cost paid including free shipping unit is fairly solid and does not look or feel "cheap". After tightening all bolts and nuts and using two 45-pound weights on back rack of unit - feels very solid. Use = 5 stars Bar movement is smooth. Footprint of unit works great for a small home gym. And, since I will most likely never load more than 240-250 lbs (probably could handle more than that) I think this smith-style machine meets my needs. Overall, I give 4.5 stars but will round down for this review. Note: I did not order the bench part of the unit. Just the cage.

This a pretty solid piece of equipment that is easy to assemble. The overall design is well thought out and provides smooth even functionality with no jerking or unevenness. As 6"1' user there is plenty of room for me to full extend without hit the top of the machine. Those over about 6"4' could have issues depend on both proportions. The machine itself is definitely too light not the be anchored to the floor. The instructions do recommend anchoring it to a concrete floor and the machine does come with the appropriate hardware. If you are not going to anchor it to the floor, then I highly recommend at least 75 to 100 lbs of counter weight on each side. Old standard or Olympic plates work very nice, you just can't mix and match plate types.