Gluck & Wynie March 2023

Rep PR-5000 V2 Power Rack Review

The Rep Fitness PR-5000 is overkill for a home gym and yet here I am with one and this is the next tier of over the top, a 3x3 rack with 11 gauge steel and 1” holes and hardware (and it's glorious!). In this article we’ll cover all the details and reasons why I went with this power rack vs many other popular options (though we do now own a few), which we'll also talk about. This rack isn’t for everyone and I don’t mean that in an arrogant, "I’m better than you" way. I mean it’s overbuilt and honestly too much for the vast majority of us but it's still exceptional and there are a few reasons you'd want an overbuilt rack like this.

Looking at the Rep Fitness PR-5000 V2 there’s a lot of reasons to want one. Rep seems to consistently find themselves at the sweet spot between price and quality. Where you still feel like you got a good deal but didn’t sacrifice quality along the way.

Now to be clear I’m not saying this is a budget rack, if you’re buying this thing you’re probably pretty serious about your home gym and rightfully so, this thing is awesome! If you don’t believe me check out my friend’s reaction when we installed his Rep PR-4000. Although their accessories can’t match Rogue's yet, as we’ll see they’re not making strides there, they’re taking huge leaps.

The Specs

Let’s cover the specs quickly which will set up my comparisons and better explain why I went Rep over Rogue  and changed racks (I did eventually get a Rogue Monster as well). As you can see there are a lot of similarities but some subtle and important differences we'll explain as we go.

Rogue Monster Rack

Rogue's premier rack, if you want the best Rogue offers this is it. The name perfectly matches what you'll be getting. These racks encapsulate everything Rogue is. Big, beautiful, and highly customizable with more options than anyone would ever need. Rogue's 3x3" rack with 1" holes and hardware.

The Options

Rep's PR-5000 is a highly customizable rack with two different height options at 80” or 93” and two depth options for the main cage at 30” or 41”. You can also get it in a 4 or 6 post configuration, build yourself a collegiate, as we can see from my 11 post build you can do a lot more than that as you can go pretty crazy with attachments and accessories.  Since our original 6 post build we've expanded to our squat rack to 11 posts, added an Ares (a functional trainer, lat pull down, and low row machine that integrates into your rack, see our review here!), swapped out crossmembers, and changed a lot more than that.

With Rep offering 6 finish options (check out the clear coat on my AB-5200 in our YouTube review!) which can be mixed and matched between uprights and crossmembers (note our matte black and red mixture) there’s lots of options as you build your rack out. Rep has various pull-up bar configurations, different j-cups options, and a quickly expanding list of items accessories for their racks like the Athena, a functional that mounts to your rack (they've even got a plate loaded and selectorized version). This is one of the areas that has really seperated Rep from Rogue lately, as Rogue has gone somewhat stagnant with their offerings, Rep's catalog has exploded in options and their quality seems to keep getting better as well.

Rep also has a Rack Builder feature build into their website that allows you to visualize your power cage build. You can change rack depths, height, try out various attachments and even use your phone to see what the rack will look like in your space! 

It’s also nice that Rep offers “free” shipping so you can easily buy things later and not feel like you’re getting gouged on shipping. My 6 post rack is 93” tall with a 41” depth and 16" deep weight storage add on which saves me a lot of space vs my old Rogue R6.

Build Quality

One of the knocks on Rep Fitness years ago was on their quality but they've heavily invested in manufacturing and now the cuts on their power rack are done by lasers and they also use robots for all the welding and painting. This rack features high quality laser cut logos and the welds are very well done as is the finish. No doubt about it, this is a beautiful and very well done and the accessories that weren't up to par in the past have been slowly revised and updated to meet the high standards of the rest of the rack.

Do I have complaints? If I'm really nitpicking I'd argue the laser cut Rep logo on the uprights, while it looks cool, takes away a hole for my Ares trolleys since they lock into the holes on the side of the uprights. Also, personally I'm not a big fan of the large stainless steel logo plate though I do tend to enjoy the other more subtle touches Rep has worked into their rack and accessories that aren't quite so obvious such as the urethane coating on the weight horns which is a step up from the powder coating you often see companies use.
 
The logo crossmember just seems a bit much which is why I swapped it out for their compact crossmembers. They provide just as much stability as their larger counterpart but look cleaner to me. Either way that's just a personal preference and many people don't mind and even like the big Rep logo..

Shipping & Packaging:

This is an imported rack and although I’m pretty pro American manufacturing Rep has about 150 employees here in the US and are based in Colorado. Which isn’t something you’d miss if you've ever ordered from them, it’s on every box.

Speaking of boxes, after moving this into my garage, then into my basement during our gym renovation, then back into the garage... by that third move I gave up on being gentle with it and the fact that my rack was unboxed unscathed is nothing short of a miracle.

What makes the shape it's in even more impressive is how it arrived. When they unloaded the rack it snapped the pallet in half. The guy who dropped it off said that’s the second pallet that happened to because it crushed the first one and they had to build the one it was on. It was a beast of an order but after all that the only nick I saw was on the globe pull up bar. Rep's packaging on their racks is really second to none.

Comparisons and Alternative Racks

Make no mistake, this is Rep’s answer to the Rogue Monster rack line and Sorinex’s various offerings (most logically  the XL series). So why did I originally pick this over Rogue's? For 2 main reasons.

• Cost savings without sacrificing much quality
• I wanted a narrower 47” rack to keep it from getting banged up as much and for specialty bar fitment.

The prices of Rogue's and Rep's racks are constantly changing but as a generalization Rep's is basically always cheaper. Technically my 6 post build with the attachemnts I got would've cost about $1500 more if I bought the equivalent build from Rogue. That's would've been about 50% more, let me explain.

The racks themselves aren’t always far off in price. What really adds up fast is when you start adding on accessories. Take for example Rep’s standard J-cups which have UHWM along all of the inside of the cup VS the Rogue's Standard Monster cups. The Monster cups are more than double the price (with tax and shipping) and don't have UHMW on the front lip which your bar can and will dig into (ask me how I know).

Not convinced? Look at the price difference in their drop safeties (also, Rogue only offers a 43" of these, no 30").

Rep Fitness Rack Attachments and Accessories

While we’re on the topic of power rack attachments, Rep has an exciting future and they’re clearly pulling out all the stops. In years past I'd have said their catalog of rack accessories doesn't compete with Rogue's but I'm almost tempted to say that it's Rogue Fitness that isn't competing with Rep lately. 

In the past year or so Rep has released the Ares Cable Attachment, new safeties for all their squat rack lines, updated their j-cups, created an in rack functional trainer with the Athena, dropped their utility seat with optional removable pad that fits built on many different power racks, and a ton of other rack attachments. Since we originally got our PR-5000 I think Rep's more than doubled the accessories they're offering for their racks and the quality of their attachments has increased at a very quick rate as well.

Rep has created quite a long list of attachments for their racks, here's a short list.

Rack Compatibility Between Manufacturers

What if you've decided you you want a Rep Fitness rack but really like an attachment Rogue makes (or vice versa)? This is a topic we've covered a few times since I built my 11 post Rep and Rogue frankenstein rack which features components from both companies. Some accessories can go between the racks but there's a few general rules you'll want to follow so that you can avoid a costly mistake. 

Rep's racks are listed as 3x3 but just like Titan Fitness and other imported racks they're actually a tiny bit smaller (about 2.95"x2.95"). This means if you put an attachment from a metric rack onto an American one it'll almost always be a little too tight. You can of course sand down the UHMW some on the attachment to make it fit better but when putting an American rack accessory onto a metric rack you'll often be left with the opposite problem, the attachment is a bit loose. When doing this I've often used UHMW tape to shim and tighten up the fit some but you may be left with one other problem when swapping attachments between racks. 

The hole spacing on the uprights and crossmembers of 3x3 racks is typically every 2" on center but again there's a slight difference between metric and American racks with metric racks actually being a little bit smaller than 2". This spacing difference can add up if your attachment requires more than 1 hole to attach to your rack so as a general rule, attachments that require more than 1 hole don't always line up between racks. 

These rules have become more important to know about as third party companies like Mutant Metals, Surplus Strength, and even companes like Rep Fitness (with their utility seat) make attachemnts that are either designed to go on both metric and American racks or if you decide you want to put a rack accessory on your rack regardless of who made it.

A few more notes on attachments between racks. Since Rep racks are 47" wide and Rogue's are 49" wide, attachments that span the width of a rack won't fit between them. For example, you can't put Rogue's Socket Pull-up Bar or Drop in Rhino onto a Rep rack without first swapping all the crossmembers that go across the width of the rack over to Rogue's 49" members. If you take a look at my 11 post rack (below) you can see a good example of how to mix crossmembers.  

The barbell storage selection consists of Rogue 30" crossmembers and their Monster Storage Panel. If you're wondering why I didn't just use Rep 30" crossmembers (that's what I'm using on the right side) it's because Rep's and Rogue's crossmembers aren't actually the same lengths though you can bolt them to each other using either companies' uprights.

Rep PR-5000 vs Rogue Monster Rack

In the end both racks are exceptional in quality so you can’t really choose wrong, it just comes down to your personal preference. Rogue as a generalization will have feature a little higher quality while Rep Fitness will save you money. That's not to say they're perfectly equal. For example Rogue's racks feature flush mounted top crossmembers that not only look nicer but also give you a little more vertical space within the rack. Rogue also has "keyholes" cut into the side holes of their crossmembers. These are 5/8" holes cut below the 1" holes which allows you to use 5/8" attachments off the side of your Rogue rack and Rogue also has keyhole specific attachments like their Monster Plate Storage Pins or Keyhole Gun Rack (both of which we own) that utilize those holes. Unfortunately Rogue doesn't really capitilize on the design much but being able to use 5/8" attachments is a nice bonus and it's how I use my Bells of Steel Seal Hydra Row Pad with my Rogue Monster Rack. 

Your decision may ultimately come down to who's ecosystem you want to live in. Some attachments work with the other company but many won't. For example and Ares isn't going to fit on a Rogue Monster and while you could make a Rogue Rhino work with a PR-5000 you'd so many Rep crossmembers your rack may end up more Rogue than Rep. Still can't decide? Check out our Rep PR-5000 vs Rogue Monster Rack video!