Valor Fitness BD-11 Hard Power Rack Reviewed

About a year ago I got my hands on BD-7 rack, which is the younger brother of Valor Fitness BD-11 Hard Power Rack, the one that we are going to review now. I don’t think that Valor Fitness needs an introduction – they have been on the market for a great number of years.

Valor Fitness BD-11 is an advanced power rack that can be purchased either on its own, or with accessorises, like cable crossover and lat pull. So let’s not waste time and jump right onto features.

Features

The entire frame is constructed of 2.5” x 2.5” heavy duty gauge steel. Each base foot is encased in rubber for better stability, safety and floor protection. Knurled pull-up bat is included at the top of the frame. There are total of 27 adjustable positions for bar support, ranging from 15” to 67” (38.1 – 170.2 cm) height. Each hole is also numbered for easier height identification. There are 4 total storage pegs, each is 7.5” long and will accommodate both standard and Olympic plates.

BD-11’s weight support is 650 lbs (294.8 kg) for bar catchers inside the cage and 500 lbs (226.8 kg) weight support for bar catchers outside the rack.

Valor Fitness offers 3-year frame warranty and 1-year hardware warranty. The assembled inside-cage dimensions are 43” x 32” x 83” (109.2 x 81.3 x 210.8 cm).

There goes the list of features and specs.

Assembly

Valor Fitness BD-11 is shipped in two separate boxes. Both are very tightly packed with all the parts inside, which are separated with plastic bags. There is no Styrofoam between the parts, which I think would help to protect individual parts better. The assembly is pretty straightforward with the included instructions. However, I’d recommend having a friend to help you with the rack; otherwise it can be tedious work.

Sturdiness Goes a Long Way

The 2.5” heavy-duty gauge steel indeed feels solid. The frame is pretty sturdy and personally, I don’t think you are going to need to anchor it to the floor, unless you plan to reach the weight support limit. With that being said, the welds could be nicer, but I’d rather have bad-looking but high-quality welds than other way around. However, there are no mounting holes pre-drilled for floor anchoring, so you will have to do it by yourself. Thanks to the rack’s dimensions there is plenty of room for practically every exercise. Even bulkier people shouldn’t have any problems.

The pull bar is knurled and of good quality. It’s rough on hands, which I personally prefer. You can do pull-ups, chin-ups, muscle ups and limited wide chin-ups. Why limited? Simply because the bar is not very long – it’s about 39” from one end to another, which will be limited for most folks in regard to wide chin-ups.

Valor Fitness BD-11 offers 27 holes are 2” spaced. The range is from 15” to 67” in height. Every hole has a numeric mark, which helps out to remember the height settings.

The four storage pegs are 7.5” long and they can store both, standard and Olympic plates. The lower ones are 13 inches from the ground, and there is another 18-ich space between the additional two on the upper level. It’s good to know that someone actually used brain in regard to peg spacing. J

There is no dip station included, which is a small inconvenience, as manufactures started to include them within racks in recent years.

Pros & Cons

With all the information above, let’s summarize the pros and cons of Valor BD-11 Hard Power Rack.

Conclusion

Our rating: 4.5 / 5

Valor Fitness BD-11 Hard power rack is a very good piece of equipment. While it is not considered commercial-grade rack, the 2.5” gauge steel makes it feel that way. The sturdiness goes a long way if you ask me. If you do not mind the missing dip station and shorter pull-up bar, then you are in for a treat. BD-11 is definitely worth the purchase.

If you would prefer something of a full-commercial quality, then check out Fitness Reality X-Class power rack.