I posted this under fitness equipment but figured I would post it here as well since this seems to get more views.

I am on a committee looking at purchasing workout equipment for a new station. We may have the opportunity to get a good deal on Body Solid equipment. Having never used or even seen Body Solid equipment I am somewhat concerned about quality. Whatever we buy we will have for quite some time. Anyone out there with experience with Body Solid please let me know what you think. Thanks!

I have:

• GFID-71 Flat/incline/decline bench.
  
• Multi-press rack.
  

I put the bench together for DB work and it’s solid. It’s rated to hold up to 1000lbs, has thick, durable padding and upholstery, one decline, multiple inclines, flat and straight up positions for the back and about seven positions for the seat.

I love it.

The rack is still in the boxes because I’m moving to new lodgings next week and don’t want to put it together just to take it back down. Once I do have together, I’ll post on it. I think it's also rated to handle 1000lbs.

My employer has a body-solid VKR tower that is rock solid, but it has only one dip width and the pull-up station isn’t designed for chin-ups and neutral grip pull-ups.

If I had my choice, I’d get a Hoist VKR, but I’d get a BS bench and powertec cage (see below). If you need to stay in the same vendor line, then you’re still not going wrong. Body-Solid is high-end equipment.

If you're looking at plates and bars also, you could get BS's rubber grip plates. They look great and will help protect the floor and make it easier to hold when changing plates.

Check out the cages on fitnessfactory, but in truth, my favorite cage is the powertec because for $299 you get the cage, multi-position pull-up bars and dip bars. For an additional $500 you can get a plate loaded lat/row station.

EDIT -- Scratch the Hoist. If I had the powertec cage, I wouldn't need a dip/pull-up station. I've only gotten 5.5 hours sleep in the last 48 hours, so I'm not thinking right.

I am very familiar with the brand and its applicable for home use but not the enviorment you are intending to use it in,won't hold up to the usage & abuse. It's great if you can save money but like you said "Whatever we buy we will have for quite some time". It would not be a good investment.

The two pieces I own are rated commercial w/ a lifetime warranty. I've seen a picture of a full-fledged gym that had the rack I own and had a contributor on another site tells me his gym uses the bench I own.