If you are looking for a quality flat bench for your home gym that won’t break the bank, look no further. The Rep Fitness FB-5000 is as solid as a rock and only $149 for the black, regular pad version! Color options are available for $10 more.

Assembly:

The bench ships unassembled in five pieces inside one large cardboard box. Each piece of the bench is individually wrapped in a protective foam to prevent damage during shipping. The pieces include: the pad, the single foot post, the base with wheels, the main frame (spine) and the frame to wheel post connector. These pieces all bolt together with the supplied carriage head bolts and lock washers. A wrench is even included in the packaging. It took me less than 20 minutes to unbox and assemble the bench.

Construction:

This is a beefy bench that is well constructed. You can feel the quality from the time you start unpacking it. The points that the bench contacts the floor are covered with rubber to protect the floor. The uprights that connect the feet to the spine and the spine itself are 3x3, 11 gauge steel tubing. The connecting plates are all thick steel as well. This bench is rated for up to 1,000 pounds. That should be more than enough for the average home gym bench press.

The 4 inch thick pad is covered with a textured vinyl upholstery that really grips you so there’s no slipping and sliding around on this bench. The bottom of the pad has a plywood base that gives it a solid structure. I like that Rep has a screen printed logo on the side of the pad. The pad connects with 4 included bolts to the spine of the bench. You can upgrade the pad to a wide pad version, which is 14 inches wide versus the standard 12 inches.

The base features welded metal end caps and has a nice handle and wheels for easy moving around the gym. One great thing about the single post at the foot of the bench is that it doesn’t get in the way of your feet when bench pressing.

Size:

The size of this bench with the standard pad installed is 48 inches long, 12 inches wide (pad), and 17 inches tall. The base with the wheels measures 21 inches across. The pad itself is 4 inches thick. It meets IPF specifications of height, width and length. The bench weighs 62 pounds according to Rep’s website.

Color Options:

The FB-5000 is available in five colors: Black, Hammertone Red, Hammertone Blue, Metallic Black, Metallic S. I wish I could have gotten the hammertone blue version when I ordered to match my PR-4000 power rack. Unfortunately they were sold out of everything except the standard black version.

My opinion as an average guy who lifts:

I am very happy with this bench. I’ve used commercial gym equipment for the last 10 years and nothing in my local gym compares to the quality feel of this bench. When I lay back on this bench and press, it doesn’t compress like other benches. It’s comfortable to lay on and provides solid support while lifting. The feet of the bench grip my plywood platform well. The bench doesn’t slip or slide on the platform when pressing. I’m used to the slick, ripped up blue vinyl benches at the gym that used to have 1 inch of squishy foam somewhere inside. So going from that to this FB-5000 Comp bench feels like I’m riding in a Cadillac! That’s what this bench is, the Cadillac of home gym benches at the price of a Kia.

What could be improved:

There are a couple of things I would like to see improved with this bench. The vinyl covering the pad has a great texture but it seems to be too loose and can wrinkle. The wrinkles bug me. It’s only aesthetic but I would prefer a nice taught vinyl covering. I’m not sure how this will affect the bench as it ages. I would assume the pad cover will get looser with age as it stretches from being used over and over again. I’ve read online that some don’t experience this wrinkling while some do. The good news is, a replacement pad can be purchased from Rep.

On the foot of the bench, the single post isn’t as stable as I would like. That’s probably just a trade off of this design. It’s great while bench pressing because it doesn’t interfere with your feet placement. But don’t step or sit on that end of the bench without being aware of this or it will tip over. I tried stepping on the end to reach the multi grip pull up bar on the rack, and almost fell because the bench tipped. So I know now not to step on that end of the bench. And sitting on the foot end of the bench and doing seated overhead presses puts you off balance because the base of the bench isn’t stable because of the single post. Possibly adding a wider plastic foot to the bottom of the 3x3 post would help with this issue.

Then there is that logo sticker on the foot post by the handle. It’s ugly. Real ugly. I don’t like it. Rep could leave that completely off since the pad has a screen printed logo that looks much more professional. The sticker makes the bench look less quality than it truly is, kind of like a Kia instead of the Cadillac it is.

Conclusion:

All in all this is an excellent bench at an excellent price. At the time of this writing it has over 450, five star reviews. Check it out at RepFitness.com. I believe this is the best bench for a home gym at this price point.

Comment below if you recommend this or another bench.

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