User Review
( votes)When we talk about the best budget home gym equipment on the market we’re not simply talking about price. Sure, you can buy a $100 barbell but you’re going to get exactly what you pay for. Instead, we look at the price of the equipment and stack it against each product’s quality, general use, and even the available warranty each product offers.
When it came time to pick the best budget home gym equipment we decided to focus on products that most gym owners will want to purchase for a full workout. Among the items we examined are power racks, barbells, weight plates, weight benches, dumbbells, kettlebells, conditioning products, and pull-up bars.
Budget-Friendly Power Rack Pick: Titan X-3 Series Flat Foot Power Rack
Titan Fitness has really been stepping up its game in recent years and the Titan X-3 Series Flat Foot Power Rack is a testament to the company’s cheap pricing that mixes with decent quality. Titan provides one of the best home gym equipment options on the market for affordable power racks.
The Titan X-3 Series is built with 11-gauge 3×3 steel that doesn’t require the rack to be bolted to the ground thanks to its flat foot design. The design of the rack makes it surprisingly stable when combined with double-sided gussets that add to the rack’s overall stability.
The rack comes in two heights with the Short Power Rack coming in at 82-inches and the Tall Power Rack at 92-inches. The short power rack can be purchased for just $569.99 while the taller option slides in at $599. Titan Fitness never charges for shipping so both options are incredibly well priced.
The units also come included with a pair of X-3 Series J-Hooks, one pair of pipe/pin safeties, and 1.25-in, and 2-in pull up bars.
You can learn more about Titan’s power rack and check out available extensions here.
Budget Home Gym Equipment Weight Bench Pick: FB-5000 Comp Flat Bench
Rep Fitness offers some of the best budget home equipment on the market and the Rep FB-5000 Comp Flat Bench is no exception. At a cost of just $149, this bench will provide an essential piece of equipment that helps diversify your at-home workouts.
Why this bench? Besides the price, Rep Fitness has created an incredibly sturdy option that features a heavy-duty 3×3″ 11 gauge steel frame with even thicker connecting plates.
In every Rep Fitness product we’ve reviewed so far, the vinyl featured on pads and covers have been excellent and this weight bench is no exception. The 3″ thick pad is comfortable for bench presses and seated use with our Titan Fitness Functional Trainer.
The bench’s three-footed design lends itself to a very stable experience that allows athletes to properly place their feet for bench presses and other workout needs. The Rep FB-5000 Comp Flat Bench also includes wheels that make moving the bench between workstations a breeze.
The bench features a standard 17″ height and the total pad length is 48″ with a width of 12″. At 62 pounds it’s a lightweight option which we appreciate when moving the unit around our garage gym testing facility.
Rep Fitness offers the bench in four color options: Matte Black, Hammertone Red, Hammertone Blue, Metallic Black. You can check it out here.
Budget Barbell Pick: The Rogue Bar 2.0 (Black Zinc)
At $265.00 the Rogue Bar 2.0 is still priced about $100 to $150 more than a standard CAP barbell and several of the budget-friendly Titan Fitness barbells. With that being said, this all-purpose Olympic barbell is built to last and features composite bushings for a reliable spin that will reduce stress on your joints while helping to prevent injury.
Rogue’s high-quality budget-friendly barbell features a very sturdy build that supports a 190,000 PSI Tensile Strength steel. The Rogue Bar 2.0 also offers dual knurl marks for oly and power lifts and an open no center knurl area. Rogue’s all-purpose bars use medium knurling that we absolutely love for light to medium lifts.
With a diameter of 28.5mm Rogue has developed a standardized bar that is machined to near perfection with a solid grip.
While the black zinc shaft finish and bright zinc sleeves are not on par with more expensive bars, it’s a fair price for one of the best budget home gym equipment picks on the market.
You can see all of the bar’s details here.
Fringe Sport Black Bumper Plates: Quality Budget Home Gym Equipment
The Fringe Sport black bumper plates are some of the most high-quality options on the market for their price. Fringe Sport uses a “hooked” stainless steel insert that attaches the bumper plates’ steel insert to the plate’s rubber. This proprietary system means less chance of separation when repeatedly dropping your weights.
The Fringe Sport black bumper plate pairs also feature a high durometer rating which means a low almost dead bounce that adds to the overall safety of the weight plates.
Fringe Sport provides a weight tolerance guarantee between +/- 1% of declared weight and they deliver on that promise.
One of our biggest qualms when it comes to using bumper plates are the width of the plates, Fringe Sport offers a relatively low width set of plates that range from 55’s at a high of 3.2″ and then consistently drop down to at 10 point pairs at 1.05″ in width.
We could keep raving about these weights but instead, watch Fringe Sport drop them off a roof to show their strength.
You can view all of the weight pair options and weight sets here.
Best Budget Home Gym Equipment: Rep Rubber Coated Hex Dumbbells
When reviewing dumbbells we focus on the size of the product, the durability of their rubber, the ergonomics and size of their handles, and the aggressiveness of the knurling on each handle. Go too large on a dumbbell’s handles and you lose a good center of gravity, push too much knurling and repeated use can start to feel uncomfortable.
We believe the Rep Fitness Rubber Hex Dumbbells offer a good mix of quality and comfort and at a starting cost of $7.50 for a pair of 2.5-pound dumbbells to $674.00 for a full 5-50 pound set, there’s something for everyone. Throw in a Rep Dumbbell rack for under $200 and your set with full storage is complete for a shockingly low sticker price based on quality.
Right out of the box you’ll notice that the dumbbells feature a low-odor build with almost zero oil on the surface when first delivered which speaks to the quality of the rubber used. Adding to the quality is Rep Fitness’ decision to friction weld each head to its handle, creating an incredibly durable product that will withstand the test of time. Rep is so convince its product is built to last that home gym owners receive a lifetime warranty while commercial gyms are offered a one-year warranty.
The handles from these dumbbells feel surprisingly great in our hands with diameters ranging from 22mm for the 2.5lb options to 34mm for bigger weights.
The handles on the dumbbells have an excellent knurling, although we’ll admit we find the Rogue Fitness rubber hex dumbbells to be more ergonomic, and more expensive. The full knurling from Rep Fitness, however, provides a consistent grip across the entire handle.
Check out the Rep Fitness Rubber Hex Dumbbells here.
Budget-Friendly Pick: Rep KG Kettlebells
For the record, Rep Fitness makes both KG and Pound-based kettlebells. We specifically list the KG kettlebells because that’s what we use at Garage Gym Products. These kettlebells range from 4kg (9 lbs) to 48 kg (106 lbs) and ship as single units.
There’s a lot to love about the Rep Fitness KG Kettlebells, beginning with their $19 starting price and ending with a build quality that leaves very little to be desired.
Rep Fitness relies on a single-cast gravity casting which is stronger than traditional sand-casted processes while providing a very flat base that won’t wobble, even when using them for push-ups. They’re not as strong as ductile iron options but the lower cost makes them well worth a budget-friendly buy.
The matte black textured finish on the Rep kettlebells is very solid while offering a texture that is grippy in the hands, an important factor, especially at heavier weights. The kettlebells hold our Rogue Chalk very well but clean up with ease.
Rep’s colored handles are great for grabbing the right weight without needing to pay attention to the embossed weight notifiers. Rep prints the KB and LB markers on all of its kettlebells so there’s no math necessary.
You can purchase the kettlebells as single units or you can buy a full 8 to 24kg set single set for $239 or a double set for $469. You can check out all the options here.
Budget Home Gym Equipment Conditioning Equipment: Rogue Echo Bike
We’re going to start by noting that $775 for many buyers isn’t exactly a budget-friendly option. However, the Rogue Echo Bike is one of the most solid pieces of gym equipment you’ll ever own. Reviewers who have revisited their reviews two years later are still raving that their bikes, many of which are used daily, are still in like-new condition.
The Rogue Echo Bike is built in China but it truly feels like an American-made product. The bike is incredibly solid with no bounce during use while the pedals and handles on the Echo Bike are among the best we’ve tested. At 127 pounds, the bike is a typical Rogue Fitness over-built option while its included wheels make the bike easy to move around your home gym. If you have uneven flooring surfaces, the bike also includes easy to adjust footings.
Rogue, unlike the slightly cheaper Assault Airbike, relies on a belt-based system with auto-tensioning. The belt-based system is less noisy and requires less maintenance than chain-based systems.
We really enjoy the ergonomic seat that adjusts in seconds and feels comfortable during quick interval training and longer endurance-based exercises. The seats stitching is high-quality and feels like a high-end product.
Rogue’s LCD Console Display features the ability to utilize built-in interval options and to set your own exercise routines. The system is incredibly intuitive which adds to the Echo Bike’s overall buy rating.
Because it will last for many years to come, the cost of use is actually lower, in our opinion, than other models that are cheaper but likely to wear down much more quickly.
Budget Pick: Titan Wall Mounted Pull Up Bar
At just $74.99 the Titan Fitness Wall Mounted Pull Up Bar is a steal. Featuring a classic design that most users will be familiar with, Titan allows the bar to be fixed to both wood studs and concrete walls.
The bar sticks out from the wall at a depth of 32″ which makes it suitable for hanging with a decent amount of swing during movements including kipping. Titan says the bar can sustain 500 pounds which includes bouncing around on the bar, a sufficient weight rating for almost all users.
You can attach the bar to 16″, 32″, and 52″ width which is set just right for 16″ wood studs that are found in many homes.
Titan Fitness provides a nice black matte finish that offers a decent hold on the bar. We particularly love this bar when used with our Rogue Chalk which sticks well to the pull-up bar.
While you can purchase bargain-basement products for your home gym, we’ve chosen all of the budget-friendly options above because they are still relatively cheap compared to high-end home equipment while providing quality that is sure to hold up over time.
