bow?FLEX? ..... power rods breaking

B

Brady12

0
Two rods broke on me in the same day, a 50 and a 5. I call, they have a lifetime guarantee, I get the replacement parts in a week. All is good, right?



Wrong, the first time I do one rep with the new 50, it breaks. This bugs me, but I am like, they are good to deal with. So I call, and they say i will have to send the old rods back and that customer service will be in touch with me.


I loved the bowflex up unti this, but now I am worried that I will hear that snap every single rep I do ( it doesn't exactly tickle either )
 
Dude, you build the guns and have to expect accidents. Stuff happens. Just be careful when you 1) hug or 2) pick up animals. Life's hard wit da guns.
 
Got the replacement part today, they are pretty good to deal with, I must say. They didn't ask for anything to be sent back, which is good. No good workouts for the month of January, like I needed a reason to go along with my excuses.
 
Hi guys, I bought a second hand Elite Plus Bowflex machine from a guy who had obviously almost never used it in the whole year he had been owning it. So after 4½ months of daily use I broke one of the 50lb power rods. I was surprised and mostly dissapointed since those rods are supported by a lifetime warranty. I was expecting them to last a very long time. I decided to order a set of two 50lb rods so I would have one spare rod on the side for the next rod breakeage that I now have to expect anytime. It will cost me $140 for this new set of rods since I have to pay as I'm not the original buyer. But what disturbs me the most is that every time I bend the rods now I kind of expect to hear this snap crackling sound again ... By the way, inside the rubber sleeve, the rods look like they're made of plain plastic. I wrote the company to enquire about the material they're actually made of and they replied they're made of «special composite» ... Too bad the rods are not reliable because otherwise the Bowflex machine is great.
 
Unbreakable ?? rods. 2 in 2 days

Having just assembled a Bowflex Ultimate 2 I elected a reverse curl as my first exercise. Using 120 lb of resistance (60lb x 2) I managed 5 reps when the 10 lb rod broke. The misbalance in weight at the stroke bottom caused the metal rod to jump upward cutting my lip and knocking a tooth loose. Two stitches later I called Bowlfex the next day and was connected through 2 transfers to a supervisor who reassured me this is a 1 in a million occurrence and new rods would be shipped out promptly.

Installing the 4 new rods I hooked up the machine 5 days later and decided on a preacher curl, with 60 lb of resistance (30lb x 2). After a dozen reps I noticed slack in the machine simultaneously with a large noise. The reduced resistance caused the bar to lurch forward toward my face unexpectedly. I escaped injury. Turning around I located the cause of the noise. Another 10lb rod had snapped.

I did not cross link the bars, or assemble the machine incorrectly. Besides earning a medical degree I have a Ph.D. and worked for Chevron as an engineer. This machine is an engineering nightmare and not safe in its design or materials. The kinetic energy released during the catastrophic failure of these rods is beyond the ability of an average individual to compensate and protect themselves from the missiles of unbalanced weights connected to cables and metal rods.
 
Strange how it is people with very low post counts bagging on the Bowflex. Why do I have a sneaky feeling they will be hawking some other workout device on here in the future????

I have had a bowflex for about 10 years. I bought it used. It has seen a LOT of use. I have never had a rod break. Last year I did notice that the rods didn't seem to have as much resistance as they used to. I emailed them and got 310 lbs of rods for $0.00 even though I originally bought my Power Pro used. I believe it is because I was in their database as a customer from buying a 100 lb upgrade like 8 years ago.

I have never heard of a rod breaking before. Exactly where are they breaking?
 
Yeah.. I thought the same thing SXIpro, I wanna see where's this goining..I'm waiting for another first time poster to show up, and to list some device that is suppose to be better than bowflex
 
Broken Bowflex Rods - AGAIN

1) I am not hawking anything. I don't make, sell, or endorse exercise equipment. I am a physician by trade and an engineer/chemist before medicine. :newangel:

2) I do not have supernatural strenght and am clever enough to put the thing together correctly and not cross the rods.

Finally, while doing an inclined bench press with 160 lbs (80 x 2), the 50 lb rod on the right snapped. Inside of 2 weeks I have 3 busted rods, 2 stitches, a chipped tooth and jangled nerves. :(

I am delighted you have 10 years and billions of reps from your bowflex. :jump1: Mine is becoming a project as I spend more time on the phone with bowflex than I do exercising. The biggest workout I get is with a scredriver repairing the thing.

I will be happy to post or e-mail pictures of the busted rods to anyone who wishes
 
The first 10 broke in the middle, the rubber sheath held.
The second 10 broke 1/3 the way up from the bottom, the plastic sheath ruptured and the rod broke into shards
The last 50 broke in the middle, the rubber sheath held.
 
Bowflex Power Rods Breaking!?!?

This is very very sad news to me. I have been a gym freak for so long and simply cannot do it anymore. I hate driving to the gym, spending the money on memberships, sharing equipment or waiting for the one you need to become available, etc etc etc. I had put a lot of faith in this Bowflex machine being that its the complete package and all. It was exciting to know that I could have an entire gym all to myself in the comfort and convinience of my own home. But now reading all too too TOO many negative feedbacks of the rods snapping in the middle of a workout shatters my spirits and demoralises me. Let alone bieng that most are breaking with there very first use... What the hell? This is almost an outrage and with all these negative feedbacks Bowflex SHOULD have done something about this by now, other than just sticking to thier WARRANTY as a solution to the problem. Now reading about all these snapping rods makes me wonder why Bowflex put all these warrantys in place to begin with. Im sure they expect this with almost every machine, but refused to scrap the project due to time and money spent on its development, let alone bieng that it was ALMOST flawless. I dont know, all I know is that I was once a hardcore believer and VERY excited about its TV hype, but now I will stay away from this device. Well, looks like im stuck with sharing sweaty equipment and waiting in lines at the gym.... thnx, but better luck next time Bowflex.
 
I've used my Bowflex Elite Home for a few years and never had an issue, use the 50's for nearly everything too. I will usually switch up the first pair with the second pair so they get the same amount of use but I've never heard of one breaking. I guess I should be happy they'll take care of it if it breaks. I still give mine "2 thumbs up."

Maybe you "rods" were frozen, it is January.
 
If indeed some folks are having failures, it must have been a bad batch of rods. I am still happy with mine. I'm on about my 10th year of ownership on a unit I bought used. They replaced an entire set of rods for free last year. I went through a set of grips about 5 years ago, which they replaced for free also.

I'd love to step up to one of the newer units, but none of them have as small a footprint as the Power Pro when it is folded up. I don't have a dedicated workout room or a basement, so I have to fold it up and roll it into a corner when I am done.
 
I loved mine and used it regularly for two years, then a 50lb rod broke. Since I bought mine from a retail store I had to send all the registration info in....however now that the rod has broke they can't seem to find any registration info so they won't honor the warranty. Now in order to replace it I need to order a new one (they recommend two of course)......BUT no warranty on the new ones either. So reading all of these I am real skeptical about even ordering new ones from them.
 
Hey folks,
Glad I ran across this forum. This is my first post, but I promise no-spam. I have a BF Ultimate 2 that I bought used on eBay. It’s in great shape and came with most of the bells and whistles, including a storage rack, so I think I got a great deal. In the two years I’ve had it, I’ve started then stopped a couple of times, relegating it to a very expensive clothes hanger like many others. I’m 50 y/o and have never worked out in gym to the point of mentioning. I’ve kept in minimal shape through the years from hard work, but in the last few years, I’ve been getting round and soft (and weaker)…. So hopefully without having to take sides in this “free weights vs BF”, all I can say is that I really like my machine. If I can avoid, or delay being placed in a “home” in the future, I’m sure that I’ll be able to attribute it to BF. I think it’s all about what your goal is, and getting out what you put into it.

So far, I have been lucky as far as not having any rods break on me. However, I have often heard that they (rods) do wear out. Being the curious type that I am, I checked things out. Using eyeballs instead of a measuring tape, it looks like the pulleys don’t offer a mechanical advantage; they just change direction. However, when I took a 50-pound fish scale to the rods, I was somewhat disappointed. On the 50-pound rods, the most I could get on any of them was about 25 to 30 pounds at their max deflection (bent over, nearly touching the pulley). Having said this, I guess it’s a moot point, because I can’t max anything except for leg presses… and I’ve decided that it’s all relative. I could probably just paint the tips, and base my workout on two reds and a blue. Or maybe even put decals on them, and do wide pulldowns with two butterflies and a bambi… and progress to a turtle in about three weeks. As long as you keep it in perspective, and don’t think you can do the same wt. with free weights.

I do have a question though. I bought mine used, and clearly read about the warranty being for the “original purchaser”. However, I have seen on here about people getting their rods replaced on machines they bought used as well. How did you pull that off? Did you have to get creative with your story, or did they not ask? I’m thinking about buy a couple of pairs of 50’s… but now I read that they (BF) don’t guarantee them either, even if you buy them new, direct from BF? How true is that? If that’s the case, I might have to figure something else out.

If anyone can find the time for a reply, I appreciate it. Meantime, you folks be safe!
MH
 
I have had the elite for four years without a glitch. Today I noticed that the first two 50lb rods seemed off alignment. When I checked you could turn them back and forth. Took out the box and checked the screws. All were tight except the first two 50lb rods. Tried to tighten them and could not. Called Bowflex. They are great. Two new rods on the way with 10 screws also. Great company and the Elite has been rock solid. Just upgraded it to 510lbs. Bought a extender from Ebay and two more power rods.
 
how are the rods breaking??
are they snapping in half?? or what??

also how much are you guys using the machine??
are you working on major body building or just getting fit??

my family is looking for a home gym machine with a lot of things on it, any advice??
 
I owned an old PowerPro model. I bought it used. I used that thing HARD for 10 years at least. I replaced the rods once, only because they had lost some of their resistance after about 8 years. Very versatile machine. I recommend them highly. Look on Craigslist. People sell them cheap because they get lazy and quit using them.
 
I've had my Bowflex Extreme II for about 6 years now. I tried it out when I first bought it for a few months then stopped using it (or doing anything) for about 5 years. Just set it up a few months back and have been using it pretty steady. Don't see any power rod issues. Nothings breaking yet. Sounds like a maybe its in the way its being used. The Bowflex is designed to be "pumped" not pulled through the fullest range of motion. And it should really just be used in addition to weights. I use it to fully engorge the muscle following sets with standard weights (I use the Bowflex adjustable dumbbells which are awesome). Get yourself a cheap home weight set and bench, some good dumbbells and use the Bowflex to supplement your sets and it seems to work great.
 
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