Argos Extra equipment any good?

OFDM

I've noticed that now that Argos "Extra" products are available here, there's some sturdier looking weights equipment.

What's the general consensus on the "Extra" equipment? Is it still as rubbish as the "normal" Argos stuff just more expensive or is some of it worth the money?

Examples of "Extra" equipment:

Sportline Narrow Stance Bench
York Olympic Combo Bench
York Olympic Fixed Flat bench
York Press Squat Stand
York 540 Bench
York Power Cage

BrianD3

That stuff looks quite good. But you'd want to check the exact specs on the items before buying. Eg for a couple of those benches it states that the max user weight is 140 kg. This tells very little as you don't know what the max total capacity for the bench is.

The power cage looks good and has lots of liftoffs. The overall design of the cage looks very similar to one by Keys Fitness which is regarded as a good cage. 499 stg for the cage is pricey though.

PS some of the normal Argos stuff is OK. Eg the 2 X 10 kg cast iron regular plates for 22 quid. You won't find plates cheaper than that anywhere and the plates are grand.

kasintahan

BrianD3 wrote:

PS some of the normal Argos stuff is OK. Eg the 2 X 10 kg cast iron regular plates for 22 quid. You won't find plates cheaper than that anywhere and the plates are grand.

I bought a set of these and am buying another. I don't know how they can ship 20kg for €22, let alone sell them for that.

I got (old catalogue, not seen the new yet) the bicept and tricept bars aswell. I just wanted a cheap barbell bar and it turned out to be a very nice one, fantastic grip over the plain old straight bar (albeit with a max of 40kg).

conor-mr2

I just bought the reebok strength bars and the 20kg dumbbell set. I have to say Im very pleased with them. I was looking at the YOrk sets nut am not a fan of the plastic stuff. Prefer the chromed reebok set and they are good. Am looking to get more of the weights soon and a bench. The York benches do look decent.

kasintahan

Reebok?!?!

Their stuff is 2-3X more expensive and no better than the standard York kit (with the black discs, not the plastic ones).

BrianD3

Yeah, the chrome weights are a bit of waste and expensive. Weights are weights and plain painted cast iron is just as good as chrome plated iron. In fact with the chrome there's a good chance that the chrome will chip off in sharp metal flakes. If Conor Mr-2 is getting any more plates he should get the cast iron ones instead of getting more chrome plates.

But yeah, the vinyl weights in Argos are utter crap!

conor-mr2

Thanks Brian. Ill take that on board. Only getting into them now so any advice on this is welcome.

BrianD3

I just got the new Argos Extra catalogue today. It's much thicker than before due to all the new "Extra" items.

I notice that they now have 4 x 5 kg regular cast iron plates for 22.99. They also have the aforementioned 2 x 10 kgs for the same price. These are very good value. If you got these in vjhomefitness, elverys or JJB you would pay 2 euro per kg. So you'd be paying 40 euros instead of 22.99.

However their 140 kg Olympic weights set is dearer than the one in VJs (299 vs 219 IIRC)

They have more punchbags and boxing stuff than before. The punch bags seem a bit light though. The only weights stated are 20 kg and 24 kg. They have a free standing "man shaped" bag for 369 which is dear considering that VJs do a "tube shaped" one for 199.

One thing that doesn't appear to be in the Irish catalogue is the York Power cage that was mentioned in this thread.

Overall the catalogue is worth a look.

conor-mr2

BrianD3 wrote:

I notice that they now have 4 x 5 kg regular cast iron plates for 22.99. They also have the aforementioned 2 x 10 kgs for the same price. These are very good value. If you got these in vjhomefitness, elverys or JJB you would pay 2 euro per kg. So you'd be paying 40 euros instead of 22.99.

Took the words outta my mouth!!
And they'll fit on my overpriced reebok bars aswell. Im annoyed I didnt see them b4. Guess once I saw the York stuff I thought it wud all be vinyl. Wont make that mistake again. Im after a bench also. The York ones look ok. Thing is I need it to fold up so I was looking at the 73euro one. Not too interested in paying extra for butterfly arms?!

Boru.

Hi all,

As a retailor of fitness equipment I hate Argos for the Extra range. The reason is that they have all my favourite pieces of equipmetn and they are generally about 100-300 euros cheaper. In particular the Horizon and Vision cardio equipment is incredible. Good news for me is that they only have it for 6 months. Snap it up.

I am currently crying over figures trying to find away to compete with those prices. That said they can't bore you telling you about great servicing and aftercare like I can .......ah what's the point.

Hope this helps,

Boru.
info@borufitness.com

shoegirl

Conor-Mr2 wrote:

Im after a bench also. The York ones look ok. Thing is I need it to fold up so I was looking at the 73euro one. Not too interested in paying extra for butterfly arms?!

I picked up the version with the butterfly attachment and its a grand bench for home use. You're right about the butterfly attachment being a waste - they get in the way of other exercises and its more of a challenge to do flyes with dumbells only.

I also have the vinyl weights and find them fine for home use. I'm looking at the curl bench for 45 euros as I don't have a curl bench and it seems like a nice compact piece of equipment.

conor-mr2

Ah I bit the bullet Shoegirl!! I went into Argos yesterday and they only had 1 left of the 89.99 bench but none of the cheaper one. So f*ckit I went and bought it! Havent put it together yet. Thats my mission tonight.