Rogue Monster Rig 2.0 vs TITAN power tower bench

This is a comparison of the Rogue Monster Rig and the TITAN power tower bench including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the TITAN power tower bench 188.99

This is an overview of the TITAN power tower bench including pros, cons and alternatives. This article was originally posted in Which gym machine to get from TITAN. Follow the links for additional information.

Overview of the TITAN power tower bench

The power tower bench is a variation of the multiple power towers that TITAN has in their line up. This version will also make it possible to do bench press motions and flyes while lying down. Combined with a pair of dumbbells it takes care of many of the shortfalls of a regular power tower as the bench gives you access to a wider arrange of exercises to get to your goals. The downside is that this power tower will eat up more space because of its T shape than a regular power tower. The full specifications of the TITAN power tower bench are:

- Full size bench

- Adjustable j-cups

- Dip station

- Multi-grip pull up bar

- Push-up handles

- Length: 79 1/2"

- Width: 34"

- Height: 86 1/2"

- Bench Length: 43 1/2"

- Weight: 99 lbs

- Capacity: 350 lbs

This is a good training station if you do not go crazy with it. I would not recommend using at for barbell bench presses, especially not if you go very heavy, as the hole thing might tip over or you might get your fingers caught on the awkward hooks to rack the weight.

Pros of the TITAN power tower bench

The pros of the TITAN power tower bench are:

You get a bench
Price
Great for bodyweight exercises

The biggest advantage of this product is that you get a bench including a power tower. With many vendors in the market you would be ard pressed to even get a bench for this prize. Never mind an entire exercise station that can function as a gym in your home. For what it does the TITAN power tower bench is great value for money.

Cons of the TITAN power tower bench

The cons of the TITAN power tower bench are:

Racking hooks
Low weight
Space requirements
TITAN finish

The hooks for racking can be become a real health hazard. They are not optimized for racking a heavy barbell including weights. The cups have a small metal disc in front to keep the barbell in place. This can easily turn into a finger cutter if you have the pressure of a heavy barbell and a metal disc with some fingers sandwiched between them.

The whole station also has a pretty low weight for hanging yourself from it. If you do not attach it to the ground or to the wall it is likely that you will topple it. Especially if you like to go apeshit when you are training. It is not a good idea to get the cheapest possible equipment and than put the maximum amount of stress on it except you want to break things and humans.

This TITAN power tower bench will roughly take up the same amount of space as a small power rack. As you can not put this outside in the rain based on the bench pad you might want to reconsider and save up a little longer to fill your home gym space with something proper.

In addition to all of this you always have to take the TITAN finish into account. TITAN is know for parts that won't fit or completely missing parts. If the bones of the product are already flimsy and you combine this with lax quality controls you get recipe that won't necessarily make you happy. It does not mean that you can not train with TITAN equipment, it just will not more caution and DIY to make it work compared to other vendors like Rogue and Eleiko.

Alternatives to the TITAN power tower bench

Alternatives to the TITAN power tower bench are:

TITAN outdoor power tower
TITAN rack combo
Rogue jammer bar

The TITAN outdoor power tower is built a little sturdier than the TITAN power tower bench. It has also has been stripped off any parts that do not do well in the rain. In addition the tubing is a bit thicker as with the power tower bench and an extra coating has been apllied. If you want to invest a little more and train outdoors this is the safer and better choice than the power tower bench. The only downside is that you will not get a bench with your purchase.

The TITAN rack combo plays in a different league than the power tower, but you still get a bench and other options to train. Rack combos are aimed at powerlifting meets and are easy to assemble and transport. With the TITAN rack combo you save some money compared to the competition and do not take your fingers off when you are bench pressing. In return it can not be used for pull ups or dips.

The Rogue jammer bar is a great indoor pull up bar to put above your kitchen door. Whenever you walk through, you do as many pull ups as you can muster. Keeps the entire family fit, is safe and does not take up a lot of space. Nothing to not like about this product. Except the price as it costs the same as the TITAN power tower bench.

Conclusion for the TITAN power tower bench

If you use the TITAN power tower bench together with some light dumbbells and do not play tarzan while hangin from it it is a good budget option to keep generally fit. Still, I am not a huge fan as the production is cheap, it takes up quite a bit of space and does none of the things it claims really well.

Overview and review of the Rogue Monster Rig 2.0

Price: 1.845 - 6.095$

This review was originally posted in the longer article "Which strength equipment to buy from rogue" in in which you can read about 25 products of Rogue which cost more than 1.000$. The Rogue Monster Rig 2.0 can be a good start to build your first commercial gym. See the details in this article.

Overview of the Rogue Monster Rig

The concept behind the rigs is the backbone of any CrossFit "box" gym. This design is genius in its adaptability and flexibility. As with all highly flexible and adaptable systems, this makes the purchase process a bit more complicated. Before you buy a rig, make sure you have measured your gym, made some reasonable assumptions about your potential clients, or even better asked them directly. You can spend thousands of Dollars on attachments and space, that your clients might not even use and you, therefore, don't need.

The constant factors in the Monster Rig built are the width, height, steel notes, and built pattern. The Rogue Monster rig is 6' wide and 9' high. The steel nodes come in 3x3 11- Gauge steel. The rigs will be built in a 4-6-4 pattern, which means that the squat/bench stations are 4' wide while there is 6' space between the stations. The main variations are the length and edition of the Rogue Monster Rig. The editions are from lowest to highest price:

Base 2.0 Edition
Standard 2.0 Edition
Racked 2.0 Edition

The base version has the lowest cost, The construction gets its stability from double pull up bars. If you have no clients who want to do muscle ups and you do not want options to place rogue accessories up high for climbing exercises this is the way to go. If you want to be able to do muscle ups ask rogue whether you can swap the double bars to dirty south bars. This provides the double beam while moving the pull-up bars out to be able to do muscle ups. The standard Edition might be more cost effective for this purpose.

The standard edition comes in at a slightly higher cost. For this, you get the second generation of the rigs. Rogue changed their pull up bars so that muscle ups are possible and there's more support where the bars attach to the beams of the rig. The upper construction has also been optimized that it can take more accessories. This leaves you with more options for upgrades and more stability, as the upper construction is now sturdier. The base and standard edition are optimized for Crossfit as you can move around the ground more freely. For gyms focused on weight training & powerlifting, you might want more stability and beams.

The Racked Edition of the Rig adds considerable cost. In return, you will get more rack space. Each bench/squat station now basically turns into an RM6 rack with one full rack in front and a half rack in the back. The half racks could be filled with Rhino belt squat machines. This setup also enables band work in and outside of the rack and opens more storage options for plates. The downside is that this setup is suboptimal for CrossFit gyms. There is too much going on on the ground to freely move around.

The Rogue Monster RIg is available in 4 different lengths which are

10'
- 2 Squat/Bench Stations
- 6 Pull-up Stations
14'
- 4 Squat/Bench stations
- 8 Pull up stations
20'
- 4 Squat/Bench Stations
- 12 Pull up Stations
24'
- 6 Squat/Bench stations
- 14 Pull up Stations

The more clients you want to serve in parallel the longer the rig should be. Choose wisely between the setups especially on your first purchase. Remember that you can always buy more at a later stage. You can even make it a business goal to be able to justify to make your Rig longer based on growing numbers in classes.

Pros of the Rogue Monster Rig

The Rigs are highly modular and versatile. You can find an option for almost any budget and can do a multitude of exercises in them. The general feedback in the market is that Rogue comes in at a higher price and delivers with solid builds. You can also see how Rogue incorporated client feedback and kept improving their RIgs based on it. Buying anything out of the Monster series also protects your investment for the future. Most upgrades are first released for Monster and are only later made available for Monster lite if it all.

Cons of the Rogue Monster Rig

Some clients might be put off by the open design of the Rigs. It all depends on whom you are targeting. Exercising in a Rig means that others are very near to you. If you expect to have clients which want to be more private go for separate racks, rather than connected setups with rigs.

How many clients should the Monster Rig 2.0 bring you?

Your first monster Rig purchase will be very important. If you are at this juncture take a really hard look at your business plan.

How many people live in the area?
How many people are already on your books?
What kind of training do they like?
Are there other gyms in the area?
What kind of equipment do they have?
What do you like?
What do you dislike?
What kind of equipment do you have yourself?
Is it compatible with the Rogue Monster Rig?
How much space do you have?
Where are the doors?
Where are major obstructions?
Where will you store equipment?

Just to name a few. It is easy to get excited about Rogue's great equipment and get carried away. If you are flush with cash have fun. If you are cash-stricken do multiple iterations of the planning process and reflect with others over it to get the optimum for your dime.

If you think that the Monster Rig will bring you 7 to 21 new clients who pay you 50$ on a 1-year retainer it is worth the investment. This will yield 4.200$ to 12.600$ in net new revenue against an investment of 1.895$ to 6.095$. Adjust the numbers for your own gym accordingly. If this Rogue is being bought for opening the doors also factor in running costs like electricity, insurance, staff education, and labor.

Alternatives to the Monster Monster Rig

For this, I will go with the average between of 1.895 and 6.095 which computes to 4.995$.

1 x Monster lite Rig Low end @ 1795$

This is the minimum configuration of the little brother of the Monster Rig.

Base Edition
Rig length 10'

The main difference are the holes which have been drilled into the material. This means that usually more accessories work with the Monster than with the Monster lite. Most rogue material is overbuilt for the purpose. I would not worry too much about stability and safety between the Monster Lite and Monster versions.

1x Monster Lite High End @ 5.095$

This is the maximum configuration of the rogue Monster Lite Rig. Same applies as for the minimum edition at 1.000$ less than Monster. The longer the Rig you want to build, the more financial sense it makes to go with Monster Lite.

Conclusion

The Rogue Monster Rig 2.0 is an uncompromising start to your new gym. Even the biggest athletes will be able to brutalize it without significant impact or movement in the structure. If you have the money and want to build the best of the best, this is the way to go.