Crandall Fitness Heavy Duty Adjustable Bench 2.0 – Reviews
At the end of 2022 we partnered with Crandall Fitness to kick start an idea… our Community Reviews! The idea was to send some products out to “regular joe’s” in the community who had a desire to review some gym equipment. Have them share their ideas, their feedback, pros and cons, and get the information out there. In other words, we wanted to open source the traditional product reviewer model. This means we as a community can get more reviews, from more people, from more companies. The Crandall Fitness Heavy Duty Adjustable Bench 2.0 was sent to 3 different members of the community. We’ll share their thoughts below.
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Juan – Adjustable Bench Review
The Crandall Fitness Heavy Duty Adjustable Bench 2.0 is a top-notch piece of workout equipment that provides a comfortable and stable platform for a wide range of exercises. With its sturdy construction, compact design, and multiple adjustable positions, this bench is an excellent choice for anyone looking to enhance their strength training or bodybuilding routines at home.
- Sturdy and Durable: The bench is made of heavy-duty steel, which makes it strong and durable, so you can workout with confidence.
- Multiple Adjustable Positions: The bench’s adjustable seat and backrest provide multiple workout positions, including flat, incline, and decline, allowing you to work different muscle groups.
- Compact and Foldable Design: The bench is compact in size and can be easily folded, making it an ideal choice for home gyms with limited space.
- Comfortable Padding: The high-density foam padding on the bench provides comfort during your workout, reducing the risk of injury and promoting better performance.
- Changing levels of inclination is very easy.
- The bench is even capable of being a decline bench.
Rob Cola – Crandall Fitness Heavy Duty Adjustable Bench 2.0 Review
Jennifer – Adjustable Bench Review
About Me
Hi, I’m Jennifer! I’ve been a power lifter (off and on) for a decade, and competitively (ish) for about 4 years. I spent a few years in a big box gym, another few at a powerlifting/strongman gym, before starting on my home gym journey when COVID hit. In June 2020 I got a rack and bench and I lifted with a borrowed bar and weights while they were out of stock online and ridiculously overpriced used.
I wasn’t sure if I’d keep the basement gym after I was comfortable going back to the gym, and I even kept my membership until last year. But I stopped missing the gym environment and started enjoying the convenience, quiet, and customization of the home gym. It’s still a bit half-assed; my rack is weighted down with sandbags rather than being bolted down and I desperately need to up my organization game. But over the past year, I’ve been adding more equipment to my home gym, like bars, more plates, a pull-up bar, and more.
So when Joe asked if I wanted to test out this Crandall Fitness Heavy Duty Adjustable Bench 2.0, I jumped on the opportunity.
Fun fact about me: I hate doing my accessories, and any excuse to not do them I will take and run with. So finally having some better and dedicated equipment has really done wonders for my actually getting them done. The sound in the distance is Liz, my coach, rejoicing.
Communication/Customer Service
The owner of Crandall, Shaun, was super responsive to questions and even my Instagram mentions of the company throughout the whole process. Offering suggestions, asking for feedback, and just all around being helpful. Great customer service. I don’t think this is a company where you’ll send an email or DM and get left on read. I had a phone call with Shaun on 9/6, UPS picked it up on 9/9, and I got the bench on 9/13.
Delivery/Unboxing
Shout-out to the UPS driver that delivered this beast of a bench! Didn’t want help or a Gatorade and put it inside for me.
The bench was well packaged and I didn’t see any damage to it despite the fact the box was a little beat up from UPS—which is saying something. FEDEX delivered a similarly heavy table (and two replacements) damaged each time.
One very minor annoyance was that the Styrofoam packaging shed a lot and made a mess. I think the main culprit was the pin handles on the underside of the bench pad where you can grab and adjust the bench angle—they poked into the Styrofoam and shredded it a bit. Taping a piece of Styrofoam or cardboard so these aren’t so pokey during shipping may fix that problem.
Assembly
The bench is fully assembled other than the foot at the bottom/top of the bench (the part with wheels). It only requires two bolts and was quick and easy to put together. I did also have to tighten up a couple of the pre-assembled bolts (as suggested by Shaun), which again, was quick and easy. If you notice your bench is a little wobbly, just double-check all the bolts.
Because this thing is so heavy, 125 pounds, it was a bit hard to wrangle down the stairs on my own. Obviously, because it’s an adjustable bench, you can’t really bear hug it or hold the top & bottom of the pad to move it the way you might a flat bench. It is also about 85% of my body weight and almost as tall as I am, so I had to do it carefully in order to not be dragged down the steep stairs with it. But I put the wheeled foot on a cardboard box, held the bottom handle at the top of the stairs, and slowly slid it downstairs. If you have someone to help out, or just need to roll it into the garage, it’ll make that process way easier. I was just too stubborn to wait for my husband to get home from work.
First impressions
I (5’4.5”) am a bit dwarfed by the bench, but I’m sure the long bench pad will be appreciated by taller lifters. I am not in any danger of not having my back & head fully supported. 😂
The multiple adjustment angles (2 for the seat, 6 for the back pad) are really nice and allow you to complete a variety of exercises.
The gray powder coating on mine looks great, a nice but subtle contrast from the black pad and hardware. So far no issues with any scratches or flaking, and I’m not the most gentle person on my equipment. The logo cutout looks really slick too.
The wheels are an absolute necessity; if you had to scooch or lift this bad boy from one end of your rubber flooring to the other, it would be difficult. But it is very easy to lift from the handle and wheel it into and out of the rack. This is super useful for me. I have a narrow area under the stairs for storage that it can be rolled into and be out of the way when I’m not using it.
Secure
My rack is right up against the back wall, so I do find that I may have to scoot the bench the last couple of inches to get the feet all the way to the back of the rack and have the pad lined up in the right spot for incline bench. Otherwise, the pad may hit the wall before the wheels hit the back of the rack. Not a big deal, just an FYI if you’re working in a similar amount of space.
The bench feels absolutely secure while working out, no matter the position. Some lighter benches will wobble just from picking up a dumbbell on one side before you pick up the other. Not so with this bench. Between the weight, the long foot, and the craftsmanship on the adjustable pegs, this bench is super solid. Honestly? Probably overkill for my usage, but I can’t really complain about that! And some of the cheaper options would have probably annoyed me in various ways (wobbly, knob adjustment, poor craftsmanship).
So far, I’ve used it for:
- Various chest-supported rows
- Incline bench (barbell, swiss bar, dumbbell)
- Seated dumbbell press
- Seated lat raises
- Incline dumbbell flyes
- Incline dumbbell bicep curls
I do have a standard flat bench, which I use for anything that doesn’t need an incline. Generally, I think that if you have the space, having both is good. I dislike using adjustable benches in the flat position because of the gap, and they have a shaped pad that feels different when compared to a comp bench. (To be fair, my flat utility bench also feels different from a comp bench since it has different specifications.) The bonus to the adjustable bench is that it’s tripod-shaped, with a small post in the front rather than a longer foot that extends to both sides (which often trips me up on the utility bench).
Comparison
I can’t directly compare this to other adjustable benches on the market, other than ones I’ve tried out in box gyms which have ranged from neutral to terrible (no idea on brands). I’m guessing the closest equivalents of this bench (with some pretty minor differences) are the REP AB-5200 and the Rogue Adjustable Bench 2.0, both of which are much more expensive than Crandall’s (and Rogue’s has been replaced by version 3.0, even more expensive, but does have 4 extra back adjustments). Titan’s Incline Bench V3 is cheaper but has pull knobs to adjust angle and is probably not really in the same league quality-wise and definitely not capacity-wise. Here are the minor differences between Crandall, Rogue 3.0, REP AB-5200 benches based on the online listings
3 Benches
| Feature | Crandall Heavy Duty Adjustable Bench 2.0 | REP AB-5200 | Rogue Adjustable Bench 3.0 |
| Back pad specifications | 52” long x 12” wide x 17.5” high | 55.25” long x 12” wide x 18” high | 52” long x 11.25” (or 11”) wide x 17.5” high |
| Pad gap | 1.5” | 2” | 1” |
| Back angle adjustments | 6, angles not listed on the slots or online | 7 (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 85 degrees) | 10 (from 0 to 85 degrees) |
| Seat angle adjustments | 3, angles not listed on the slots or online | 3 (0, 15, 30 degrees) | 3 (0, 15, and 30 degrees) |
| Vertical storage | No | Yes, built-in | Yes, built-in |
| Closed ladder design | No | Yes | Yes |
| Capacity | 1,200+ lbs. | 1,000 lbs. | unlisted |
| Assembly | Preassembled, except for top foot | Preassembled (I think) | Full assembly required |
| Colors | black, white, gray, red, orange | metallic black, red, blue, clear coat | black, white, gun metal, light gray, blue, dark blue, bright green, red, dark red, orange, clear |
| Price | $399.00 (on sale for $299.99 currently) | $499.99 (on sale for $449.99 currently) | $595.00 |
| Shipping cost | Free | Free | ~ $55 Ground (location dependent) |
Final thoughts
My verdict: If you’re looking for a heavy-duty adjustable bench, you have a low-to-moderate budget, and none of the differences above are a deal breaker (e.g., need vertical storage due to limited space, prefer a thinner pad width, or need more angle adjustments), then I think Crandall Fitness’s Adjustable Bench 2.0 is absolutely the best option I can find at that price point. And I don’t know that either of the higher-priced options would be worth the extra cost, at least not in my use case. If you are on a more limited budget or only need something light-duty, then you might think about Titan or finding something used locally.
Additional Details on Crandall Fitness
Crandall Fitness has been in the home gym game longer than anyone I know of, and they take that knowledge and experience, and put it into the products and services they offer. From their wide selection of cerakote bars, to the bomb proof racks, to their bumper plates and more… Crandall Fitness is offering things THEY use and want to use in their own home gym. No fluff, no “let me sell you something but use something else” gimmicks. You are getting what they trust to be loaded and lifted daily with their own family in their own home.
From their own words “Now with the growing demand for home fitness equipment and a healthier lifestyle, I know we can help customers achieve their fitness goals by offering a superior product at a fair price.”
