hey guys i did some browsing on new gym equipment and i need help to pick out the better one. Recently i went to Costco and saw a Gold's Gym and it was going for about $899 canadian with all the weights included. But i also saw a Marcy Diamond Elite going for the same price and weights are included as well. One of my buddies told me to look at a GRANITE 2 CABLE MOTION gym and it comes with 150 pounds plus you can add an additional 50 pounds to it, and the total for this equipment is $1388. So can anyone give me some advice and help me out to pick out the better equipment

I'd also like to know what the difference is between linear bearing and linear bushings?[

Thanks in advance:)

Granite 2 cable motion gym
http://www.fitnessdepot.ca/shop/stores/1/images/products/all/MGGRANITE2.jpg
Golds Gym smith machine
http://tsa.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p4172935dt.jpg

I like the cable machine but that's because I would get a lot from it that I can't get from free weights alone. I would still want a barbell and dumbells with it.

I'm not a fan of Smiths, I can't really see what you get with that you don't get with a decent squat rack.

For the price of either of those you could get a good power rack, a good bench, and an olympic barbell set. I'd say that would be a better starting foundation than either of those machines.

Check the safeties and rack on the front of the Gold's..

It IS a squat rack!

So....you can squat off this rig plus do a ton of other stuff, fluctuating between using the Smith function (which can be used for partials and other things) and using free bars off the racks plus using the cables.

I would use this rig over the Granite job anyday.

The bench on the Gold's looks clumsy to move around....but the one I saw had a caster/roller rig on the far end of the bench to help facilitate sliding it out of the work area if need be.

I never did get a good look at the pulleys/bearings and bushings (if any) on the Gold's though....definitely worth seeing what it is they use. Bearings are generally more desireable than bushings.

I see in the other thread you have out there.. you mention that Costco has the Gold's GR7000 gym. The picture you posted of the Gold's smith machine in this thread is not the Gr7000.. Which one exactly does Costco have?

Gold's GR 7000
http://content.costco.com/Images/Content/ProductLarge/243637LL.jpg

Gold's Gym Pro Series Smith (sold only at Sports Authority as far as i know)
http://tsa.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p4172935dt.jpg

Thanks guyss and i more likelyy to go with the Golds gym unitt.
the one i saw at costco was the Gold gyms pro unit, not the Gr7000, and it was going for 899 with the weights included. Cant wait till this weekend, having a final look at the unit and probably end up buying it.:)

Check the safeties and rack on the front of the Gold's..

It IS a squat rack!
Ah, I missed that somehow.

Thanks guyss and i more likelyy to go with the Golds gym unitt.
the one i saw at costco was the Gold gyms pro unit, not the Gr7000, and it was going for 899 with the weights included. Cant wait till this weekend, having a final look at the unit and probably end up buying it.:)

i'm also considering this Gold's Pro unit, so i really inspected it at Sports Authority the other day.

the one thing i didn't like about the Gold's pro unit when i looked at it at Sports Authority was the pegs that hold the weights.. they are only bolted into one side of the frame, not through the whole bar.. so there was definitely some give in it. i was able to slightly bend it down with a little force.

That makes me wonder how this this is gonna hold up over time with 100+ pounds of weight on it at any given time..

Thankss for the heads up about the pegss, ill be sure to look at that when i take a look at it again.

Thankss for the heads up about the pegss, ill be sure to look at that when i take a look at it again.

just to clarify, i was talking about the pegs on each side of the rack that hold the extra plates