Today we modified the safety to make it adjustable and changed it to round tubing. The adjustments are easy to make, it needs a little more bracing but happy with the way it’s come together so far. We may also change the front vertical safety bar to square tubing for more stability. It’s pretty solid but not good enough yet.
We also changed the back brace to round tubing as it makes a more comfortable step and also allows you to use it for elevated push ups (if there were no plates on the back) and convenient as a hamstring/glute developer. Adding some round tubing generally make the machine better looking, softens it up a bit.
We just drilled out 2 holes for the squat cradle but intend to add more adjustments there, at least 2 or 3 additional locations.
Our next step is to get the connections points correct. This is vital for the feel of the machine and easy assembly. We are thinking that welded ears for the main frame, connected with a heavy bolt through the bottom would be the best. Not unlike the way most heavy duty squat racks are connected. We’ll probably connect the front safety legs the same way.
May 18, 2009 at 11:30 am
Molly the machine is looking better all the time. How much do you think the machine will cost? I have been looking at different pull up stations including the Torque Athletic one. Your machine will definitely offer the most function. I am going to hold off until you finalize your product. When do you think this machine will come to market?
Chris
May 19, 2009 at 6:50 am
She still has to show us photos of the dip station but I agree Chris, it is looking very nice. How are the bars attached to the squat cradle? Is it being fed through the tall post as drilled holes? Also, Garret mentioned earlier the pull up may not be wide enough for some user that have wide shoulders. Have you thought about making the width adjustable? Ironmind mind has Vulcan racks that are adjustable with square tubing at the bottom that has a bar fed between the two post and this make it adjustable for people of different sizes. You could sell the top unit or pull up bar portion with two different sizes. One at 36 inch and the other at 48 inch to users with different body widths. Also, if you could create a top bar one width and make the machine adjustable, that will work as well but the issue would be how to fix the end from rotation?
May 19, 2009 at 8:26 am
Chris
Great. I hope you can wait ;) I don’t know what the price is going to be yet. I wouldn’t even feel comfortable throwing out a price range quite yet. I should have a ball park figure within a couple of weeks.
We are going to offer the machine and the accessories in several different packages. The basic package would include 50 or 75 lbs of plates and a barbell. If you already own weight plates or a barbell, the price would be significantly lower. If you have Olympic plates, we make a great adapter.
The machine works well with rings, straps and resistance bands, so we may offer those in a package too? And of course, the Whole Body Vibration platform, weight bench, even the Soloflex hand weights if you’re looking for the grand daddy set up. We will see ;)
I am hoping we can introduce this to the market within the next couple of months. It could take a bit longer. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I will post more photos after Friday.
Take care,
Molly
May 19, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Sage
Yeah, the squat cradles are fed through the mainframe. We’re using basic cradles that can be pinned through the back side. We may change this. What’s your favorite kind of cradle? I checked out the Vulcan rack, looks nice. It’s something to think about, the problem is offering as much versatility as possible, while keeping the design simple. It’s already 3.5 ft wide which is fairly wide. We had one of our guys stand inside and he had plenty of room to move around. He said he weighs 275lbs and you know that probably means 300lb ;) We’ll think this through some more.
As for the dip station…we’ve already got a few ideas. This should be a fairly easy attachment to design.
Love the feedback. Keep in touch.
Molly
May 20, 2009 at 9:20 am
Round tubing is a nice touch. Many Crossfit trainers like to use thick barbells and dumbbells up to 3″ thick. Be sure that the final product can use those thick barbells.
May 20, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I think the concept of the cradle that you have currently is fine. I also think the width that you have chosen is good as well. I thought the width of the main frame was the size of the width of a door opening which is why I brought up the comment. For the bench press, or military press, do you plan to have the option of setting up the barbell on the mainframe at different positions as well or just the two clips welded to the main frame. Putting more holes in vertical columns of a main frame may reduce the load capacity to less than desirable weight limit but I am sure this design will be load tested or hire an mechanical or structural engineer to do an analysis of the load capacity. Can’t wait to see what the dip station will look like. Have you guys thought about inverted hanging situps?LOL
May 24, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Wouldn’t it be easier to reproduce the original soloflex? I liked it and it was very simple to use, even with free weights. The only issue I had with the original soloflex was pull down exercises. The original soloflex was the best on “push-up” exercises (presses, etc.), pully-type machines (bowflex, etc.) are better at pull-down exercises.
Anyway, I still love the original soloflex and wish it could be put back in production. (The price of the bands is still too high though:)
Jim
May 25, 2009 at 7:44 am
Garrett
We’ll be making the cradles large enough for standard Olympic bars, which is 2″. I’ve never seen a 3″ bar? I’m meeting a guy on Tuesday who owns a CrossFit Gym here in Hillsboro. I’ll ask him about the cradle size. Thanks for bringing that up ;)
May 25, 2009 at 7:55 am
Sage
Actually, you were correct about the width being an issue. Most people did just fine but the interior width is at 31″ now and it’s a bit tight for some big guys to do wide grip bench press. We also want to market the machine with our Whole Body Vibration platform, which is a very tight fit right now. This Wed. we’re going to change out some pieces and make it a couple inches wider. I hope it doesn’t visually make the machine look bigger. It’s such a balance to create compact home equipment that’s super functional. But we’re soooo close ;)
Yes on the testing. That will start directly after the next round of modifications this Wednesday. We are planning on a single cradle for the bench press…for now?
We discussed a dip bar on Friday. The ideas are flowing. Not yet on a vertical sit up. Do you know a classic Sololfex? The Soloflex is brilliant for dips and vertical sit ups.
May 26, 2009 at 6:05 am
When Soloflex came out, I was a young guy with no job living at home going middle school, with no way to afford one yet I did want one from watching the commericials. I came close to buying one when I had a job but didn’t because it appeared to be unyielding to move around if I had to. I always thought the inverted vertical situp was a great feature of the soloflex and you do not see anyone in the fitness industry that makes exercise machine, have this as a feature. I think having it as an exercise will seperate you from the rest of the exercise community for creating a machine with alot of versatility in the bodyweight exercise regime.
May 30, 2009 at 9:44 am
It is good to see that the best name in fitness is back SOLOFLEX!
SO go kick some boflex ass!
July 8, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I enjoyed your post, very informative. I’m learning a lot from your site.
July 13, 2009 at 10:43 am
I don’t like the idea of making a new machine like this traditional bench press/squat unit because it totally the opposite of what the traditional Soloflex was invented to do. It really makes Jerry look like he does not back up his claim of not needing to go to the gym ever again by working out on Soloflex. I even felt the Rockit machine was redundant. I’ve promoted Soloflex to all my friends and family for the past 20 years; this new direction will be hard to explain to my peers. I think this squat/bench press would be commercial suicide. However, I love the idea of bringing back the traditional Soloflex and kicking Bowflex a$$$. Jerry and Soloflex staff, just concentrate on the very thing that made you a genius. If you bring back the traditional Soloflex please put more emphasize on that fact that it can also use free weights.
Your, unofficial Salesman, Ignacio Salas, Norwalk California