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novox77 |
Date: 2010-02-08

After reading so many conflicting reviews on this product, I've decided to set the record straight. This product has taken an unfair beating mainly due to ignorant people writing reviews for the wrong product.

1) This product is the genuine Beachbody P90X pull-up bar. As the product description says, it is sold by Beachbody (producers of P90X) and fulfilled by 24x7 Shopping Deal. Other pull-up bars look just like this one and may be marketed as "ideal for P90X," but they have nothing to do with Beachbody. Those are generic brands that cost about half the price of this product. Many reviewers bought the generic bar, experienced problems with them (bad fasteners, foam that ripped, wobbly parts, etc), but then posted their review under this official Beachbody product. I received this product yesterday, assembled it, and saw no problems with it whatsoever. Details follow.

2) The pullup bar is easy to assemble. Many people complained that the instructions were very hard to follow. It's not. There are 5 unique shapes to this bar (you can count them out just by looking at the product picture) fastened by bolts. There are 8 long bolts and 2 slightly shorter bolts. A wrench and hex key are provided to tighten these bolts. All you do is stick the bolt through the holes and tighten the nut. The picture in the instructions show you how the pieces go together. I assembled the bar in about 10 minutes, and I only used the instruction manual to make sure I used the 2 short bolts in the right place. All other holes use the same long bolt. There are no left- or right-specific parts.

3) This pull-up bar does NOT require the included mounting brackets. These brackets are included for additional safety. If you are applying any weight to the bar, it is impossible for it to slip off the casing of your doorway. In fact, weight hanging from the bar makes it even more secure. This is because the design of the bar creates a force that diverts your weight into a horizontal direction (the way you're facing when you hang on it), and the bar on the opposite side of the door applies an equal but opposite force the other direction. In other words, by hanging on the bar, the bar is squeezing the depth of the door. This is why you may cause a dent in your casing along the sides of the door. The only way to remove the bar from the doorway casing is to push up on the bar. If you're hanging on the bar, there's no way to cause a net upward force to dislodge the bar from its death-pinch on the doorway. You'd have to push off from something solid, or you have to be making some very extreme jerky motions with your body.

4) The correctly assembled product is sturdy and does not rattle, flex, or wiggle in any way. You may notice some abrasion noise from where the main bar (the long, one-piece bar that spans about 41" across) rests on the side casing of your doorway. The material on the bar is plastic and resembles a handlebar on a bike. I wrapped some of the protective packing foam that came with the packaging around the "handlebars" and it stopped all noise.

5) According to the product description, "the P90X fits doorways up to 32 inches wide and requires a sturdy doorframe with trim. The doorway should be a minimum of 5 inches wide and a maximum of 6.5 inches." The product was clearly designed for a standard 32" doorway opening with 2.5" colonial casing around the door. If your casing is fancier/wider, such as Stafford or Windsor styles, you may have a tighter fit. Based on my observations, this product will work safely up to an opening width of 36". The depth recommendation of 5" - 6.5" is accurate. Depending on the opening width of your door, you may get indentations in your casing from protruding parts of the bar. This is especially true if your doorway is between 29 and 31". The U-shape piece of the bar may rest directly on the casing, causing the dent. If your doorway is narrower than 29", you'll encounter no issues, since you'll likely have foam cushioning your casing.

6) The foam handles on this bar appear to be the durable kind. Years ago, I bought a generic bar that came with foam that lost its shape and eventually tore off the bar from use. This beachbody bar's foam feels firm, holds its shape after use, and appears to be durable. I can't attest to its longevity until I use it more.

I was torn between this product and the "Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar - Extreme Edition," which was recommended by several reviewers. As far as I can tell, that bar is also a decent one, and it costs less. I ended up getting the beachbody bar because the main bar (41" long) is one-piece. Is that worth an additional $33? Probably not. I didn't see people complaining about any structural issues with the Iron Gym. I figured I'd pay a bit extra for the the all-black bar, a purely aesthetic preference, and support Beachbody, the company that produced the awesome workout program P90X. If you're on a budget, I'm sure the Iron Gym would be an excellent choice as well.

J. Dion Bates |
Date: 2009-01-13

This was great. I love how it physically hooks over the jamb w/ the supplied brackets, ensuring the bar does not come off the door jamb. I read many reviews on other bars where the bar came off the door jamb while someone was doing a pullup. I'm glad I got this one. The instructions are not as clear as I would have like. When assembling it, do not tighten anything down until it's all assembled - the bar needs some freeplay to properly line up the holes. The measurements on the instructions to drill the holes in the wall above the jamb were wrong. Essentially, the two brackets must fit between the curved support bars. This was not clear, and the measurements provided would not have resulted in this. The piece of the device that rests against the vertical door jamb will make indentations in it (from your body weight). I solved this by spending $4 at the hardware store for some pipe insulation (the foam tubes). I use this as padding, so it's no issue. Very pleased.

David |
Date: 2008-08-24

Great product. Im 210lbs and it has held up for the last 90 days without a budge. Solid, easy to take down and put back up! I have worked out with it on the p90x program (great program) and it has done great for my back and strength training. Best product for the money spent. Enjoy!

Y. Orona |
Date: 2008-09-30

I think this product is great, strong enough to hold me and do the exercise with confidence of not falling down.

Tiffany B |
Date: 2009-03-12

The P90x chin up bar is an excellent chin up bar with multiple hand grips for the best possible workout. I've been using it with the P90x tapes, but will continue to use it even after the 90 days. At first, the nuts were difficult to fasten, but after pulling out my drill, they easily tightened. I also did not use the metal plates over the door frame. I'm a female, 5'6'' and weigh 125 and the bar stays firmly in the doorway without shifting while I workout. It fits very snuggly without them, but I think they are more for securing purposes. Also, at first, the black part of the bar that goes over the door frame was rubbing off some black color on the white walls in my apartment, so I improvised with some clear plastic wrap (the kind that sticks to itself easily) and problem solved. I would definitely recommend this bar over others.