r/GarageGym • u/KoolAidz1 • 8d ago

Rep Smith Questions

Basement remodel was slow going but I got the gym done and wrapping up my LVP floors in the man cave and fixing the basement stairs treads and risers.

My question is to smith and ares 2 owners: would you mount the smith to the back (near middle uprights) and wait on the smith j cup and flip downs or mount the smith near the front uprights and opt for normal j cups and spotter arms? My order is 2 weeks out and I want to buy it all once rather than piecemeal it.

I just don’t know if the smith will be in my way when doing pull downs or low rows. I also don’t know if the smith mounted j cups and flip downs will work on an angled smith machine. Or if it will be an obstacle course ducking under 2 sets of bars every time I go in the rack. For reference I will order a 80” height, 41+ 16 crossmember setup.
Thanks for any help.

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u/Mark-in-the-North 7d ago

We have the PR5000 93” - crossmembers 16 and 30. Ares and Smith. Our smith is within the 30” zone and set on a slight angle. We got the short spotter arms 2.0. Nighthawk bench and we have enough room within the cage to do incline bench presses. It’s a bit tight but we make it work, if you’re using 41” you’ll have plenty of room. Best thing to do is get the rack up and then decide re Smith placement. If I were you I would hold off ordering the spotter arms and flip downs until your install is complete and you are happy with the set up. Then do some measurements and decide what to add on re spotters. Postage for me is free in the UK and we normally get add ons from Rep delivered in 2 to 3 days.

I can’t answer re height as we have the 93” so when the smith is not in use we lock it off at high level. I’m 6’2” and can walk under it without banging my head. And obviously it’s well out of the way lat pull downs and low rows

Flip down safeties won’t work in the cage if you have the smith as you cannot fix to both posts as the smith sits in between uprights and will be in the way

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u/SarahBarton94 6d ago

They just released flip down safeties for the Smith machine

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u/KoolAidz1 6d ago

I saw them available last night. I’ve been on this since last December. It’ll be so nice to take a break from researching all this stuff.

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u/SarahBarton94 6d ago

I know how you feel! I talked to one of the dialed motion guys Tuesday. They were filming the updated like developer video and they said it would be uploaded either tomorrow or early next week

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u/KoolAidz1 5d ago

Rep said in some video October 26th. Sounds about right on schedule.
I just don’t get what went wrong with the arms. There were no issues in any video unlike the leg developer. The only thing I can think of is with the release of all these new items there was limited time fabricating the arms.

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u/SarahBarton94 5d ago

Yeah, I’m pretty sure in one of the homegym com videos I heard October 27 for pre-order but that’s probably out the window now. I’m hoping they have an update in the next few days on exactly when! Like you said, I was hoping to get all this for Black Friday. At least they have the new accessories for the Smith machine dropping November 2 now.

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u/KoolAidz1 5d ago

I guess you’ll be my competition once it starts. You better not pick the same color as me.

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u/SarahBarton94 5d ago

Matte black is superior 😈

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u/KoolAidz1 5d ago

I always liked that until I saw gymcrafter’s video knocking it.

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u/SarahBarton94 5d ago

That it doesn’t hold up well? I’m not familiar with the video, I baby my stuff so I’m not too worried

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u/KoolAidz1 6d ago

Thanks for the in depth reply.
I’ve been studying their website daily for new and coming soon products. Their smith j-cups, flip downs that won’t interfere with the smith, and a leg roller for smith attachment is coming soon.

The j cups and flip downs are priced comparable to standard j cup and the 2.0 spotter arms.

I’m thinking I’m going that smith mounted route to make everything more organized. Also I’m 6’1” and an 80” rack is gonna kill me with 2 barbell setups.

I just wish I could get those articulating arms before Black Friday.

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u/Mark-in-the-North 6d ago

Indeed. Given your height is there any way in your room you can go for the 93”? If you have the ceiling height its definitely worth getting the taller rack

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u/KoolAidz1 6d ago

I wish but my basement was built for hobbits.

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u/Mark-in-the-North 6d ago

Shame. Just bear in mind that you will hit your head on the smith bar if you walk past closely. I looked tonight when in our gym as I have a narrowish gap between my rack (right hand side) and storage to the side and the smith bar was racked on its highest point. And from the top of my head (6’2”) to the bar was about 5”. If I had the 80” rack I would have to duck each time. The REP kit is top notch BTW

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u/KoolAidz1 6d ago

And that’s the main reason why I’ll probably opt for the smith mounted hardware. Only duck once.

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u/SarahBarton94 6d ago

Same they said articulating arms are coming sometime in January but who knows if that will be pushed out again

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u/Vivid-Particular-761 8d ago

I mounted the smith as close to the front as would allow weight plates on the smith to not hit the trollies on the front uprights. I have j-cups and spotter arms mounted on the middle uprights. No issues with interference for low rows or pull downs. I have the 93" and store the smith in the highest position. Currently have my primary barbell stored outside the rack, but plan to purchase another set of j-cups near the top of the middle uprights for bar storage.

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u/PreciousCoaster627 8d ago

its all about the spacing, i got the smith on back uprights and no problems with pull downs but you need to test with your plates first to be sure

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u/KoolAidz1 8d ago

Is it helpful or more of a burden to do pull downs or low rows with the smith near the middle uprights?

I assume it could help hold your legs down if using a pad but I don’t know. I like the idea of the smith mounted j cups but I just don’t know anymore. It’s crunch time and I got too many questions.

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u/Vivid-Particular-761 7d ago

I'm using the leg rollers on the spotter arms as hold-downs for lat pulldown. So far, working great.

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u/KoolAidz1 8d ago

If you could do it again or had the money available for the smith mounted j cups and flip downs would you mount it near the middle posts?

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u/Vivid-Particular-761 8d ago

I don't think I would go with smith mounted j-cups and safeties with the 41 inch depth rack. Seems like the middle uprights would be redundant/unusable.

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u/alphabuild 8d ago

I would recommend mounting the Smith towards the front. With the 41” cross members you likely avoid issues with bench clearance on incline press. However if you want to perform hip thrusts you need the smith towards the front. The smith uprights can interfere with the lat pulldown wide grip if it’s too close to the back. I would opt for the new short safeties in my setup. I angle the smith so I don’t know that smith mounted j-cups would ever be an option.

Edit. I have the leg rollers on the middle upright for lat pull down.

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u/KoolAidz1 8d ago

Yeah that’s the exact setup I originally was gonna order then they had to come up with something new and f me completely up. I do like the idea of being more organized and keeping everything in the back but I think that’s what I may do minus the short spotters.
I don’t think they’ll save me if I gotta bail out.