Rival Strength Reviews 

I can't recommend Rival highly enough. I spent a long time researching what equipment I wanted to include in my home gym and am so pleased I ended up going with these guys.

The equipment itself is fantastic - really sturdy, really secure and super solid. I've been lifting weights for 20 years, I've been a member at dozens of gyms and have had a home gym for about seven years now, so I've used a lot of equipment and never thought I would find something for my home gym that so closely mimicked the quality you'd get in a commercial gym in terms of cables and selectable weights.

On top of that the customer service from Vicky and especially Sam has been outstanding. The communication throughout has been fantastic and any questions are answered really quickly and helpfully.

10/10 recommend

What a friendly team! The customer service these guys give is second to none. Highly recommend!! Special shout outs to Jake and Sam, thanks Rival I will definitely be making more purchases in the future.

Great product at a very reasonable price, Very good customer service, very helpful before I purchased my power rack, was kept well informed about delivery and it arrived when they said it would! On assembly a small part was missing so I messaged rival strength and the part was sent out to me as soon as I mentioned and arrived the day after. Very pleased and would highly recommend.

I bought my first lot of equipment from Rival in November 2025 – specifically, the J2 series folding rack for my home gym and a full set of 2.0 plates. The rack was the big investment, as it is the one you really need to get right – my gym is inside the house, and the rack would need to be mounted to an internal wall via the wall studs. At the time, I didn’t know the implications of this, so contacted Rival alongside other companies I was considering both to enquire about their products and get some advice generally.
Rival stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of the guidance and advice I received (having not even made a purchase at this point). They explained in greater detail how the products work, the purpose of additions like stringer bars, and gave me guidance on the optimal rack height. They were also incredibly responsive and really pleasant to deal with. This, combined with their reasonable pricing, made me choose them.

In my view, the rack needs two people to install, especially if you’re using the stringer bars – they are heavy. If there’s a method of installing using only one person, it was not clear to me. One of the stringers I received did have a dent in it – the coating was still intact and the dent wasn’t going to impact my installation, so I didn’t bother mentioning it at the time. From my dealings with the company, I am confident they would have replaced it if asked. I’ve been using the rack for over 3 months now for squats, bench and shoulder press, and band work. It delivers on what I wanted – a solid rack, that folds easily out of the way for a reasonable price. They also support their products and have developed a full suite of attachments, so you can further expand the functionality of your rack down the line. This is something I intend to do (still hoping for a calf-raise U cup to be added to the lineup!).

I was guided to go for the 2.0 bumper plates as the ones I initially wanted had sold out in the full set – this is a decision I do not regret. The plates a really well finished and the design makes it easier to pick them of the floor, due to the indent on the rim.

I’ve since gone on to buy more products from Rival, including their weight toaster rack and several barbell wall mounts. All products have been very reasonably priced and performed exactly as you'd want them to.

For me, what really sets Rival apart however is the customer service. You learn a lot about a company more when things go wrong than when things go right; in my case, the rack was missing a few screws. Once I mentioned this to Rival, the screws were with me 2 days later, no questions asked. They are incredibly responsive, knowledgeable about their products and happy to provide guidance for your specific situation. That is a rare thing, and is exactly what you want when investing in expensive equipment. I cannot understate how important it is to buy from a company that places a lot of value on customer satisfaction – it makes the products better and your life easier.

I’d highly recommend Rival if you want to buy from an exceptionally customer-focussed company that delivers solid, highly practical and affordable equipment for your home gym.

The team read the delivery note instructions, and were quick to update me. The finish on the completion kettlebells is excellent, they arrived well packaged. And I could track progress on the delivery, that was really useful, thanks

Great quality squat rack; I had questions that were answered immediately on their website, and the folding squat rack, safety arms and dip station have really help my garage gym feel one step closer to a professional gym! I'm very impressed with the rack, especially for the price paid; fantastic quality and value!

Incredible company , 40 + yrs in the building industry and have done many gym conversions , holy c##p what a great product at a great price and so easy to lay and looks so dam good , ordering couldn’t be easier the guys are so knowledgeable and helpful .
Do yourself a favour don’t go anywhere else .

Great item and fast delivery

Great information, delivery on time, all as predicted.

Great products and service .

I will go to these guys first for any purchases .

Fantastic company, service and products!

I can’t recommend this company more. Communication was great straight away, and they were really accommodating of my multiple changes of preferred delivery date. Kit is brilliant too - good and solid. I was worried I’d miss the commercial quality gym equipment but once my kit arrived, I couldn’t cancel my gym membership fast enough. Brilliant

Phenomenal. Was let down from another company and I contacted rival strength who quickly sorted me a order and arrived promptly in pristine condition with communication every step of the way which was also polite and informative. There was minor issue with a item missing but was sorted straight away with no fuss.The items are incredible quality, I am very impressed. This will 100% be the company i will be using going forward and recommending to friends and family. High quality, quick delivery , reliable and good communication. Appreciated and look forward to next order.

Kind Regards
Stephen

Received friendly advice on building a package that suited me as a beginner, within my budget and with excellent communication throughout the process which now means I look forward to getting into the garage and working out. Delivery was quick and on a day that suited me. The only minor issues were sorted out quickly, I was missing instructions and a pair of pins, neither of which stopped me building and using the rack. Will be placing an order for a few more bits on a payday soon..

Great company to deal with, really helpful and knowledgeable.

Ordering from Rival Strength is always an absolute breeze. I work in a large commercial gym with sites across Europe, and this isn’t the first time we’ve used Rival Strength, every experience has been outstanding.

The plyo boxes we received are 5-star quality. The design is premium, the build is solid, and they look fantastic on the gym floor. You can really tell the attention to detail that’s gone into them.

Sam and the team went above and beyond to make the entire process smooth and professional from start to finish. Communication was excellent throughout, and delivery arrived exactly as planned.

As a large commercial gym, we would absolutely recommend Rival Strength to other companies. Thank you again to Sam and the team. As always, we’ll definitely be back.

Im a fitness manager for a large commercial gym company, and we recently ordered branded plyo boxes from Rival Strength. From start to finish, the experience was excellent.

Sam and Jake were fantastic to work with—responsive, knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about what they do. Their customer service stood out immediately, and it was clear they cared about getting everything right for our facility.

The plyo boxes look great, feel solid, and fit perfectly into a high-traffic commercial gym environment. It’s refreshing to work with a brand that combines quality products with people who truly take pride in their work.
Highly recommend Rival Strength to any gym or fitness facility looking for reliable equipment and top-tier service.

I purchased a cable machine from Rival Strength for £900 on 18th December, so I expected a high-quality piece of equipment. Delivery was very fast (only a couple of days), which was a great start.

Unfortunately, once the machine arrived, there were several quality issues. The front upright was badly dented at the bottom and heavily marked. The swivel arm had loose bearings, the weight stack plates were chipped with paint flaking off, and the top plate (with the pin) had visible rust around the joins. Overall, the condition did not reflect what I’d expect from a machine at this price point.

I contacted Rival Strength via email and message, then followed up with a phone call to get the process moving. They were closed over the holiday period, which I completely understand. However, even after reopening, I still had to chase multiple times for updates and responses, which was frustrating and time-consuming.

Due to lack of stock, replacement parts were delayed. I was concerned that the machine itself might be faulty and felt a full replacement would have been more appropriate, but in the end I agreed to replacement parts instead. These included the upright, swivel arms, the top plate, and two weight plates (even though more plates were damaged).

After agreeing to replacement parts, I asked about compensation for the issues and the time involved. Initially, I was offered either a £50 refund or a £75 voucher, which I didn’t feel was reasonable. I requested a £100 refund instead. What added to the frustration was that very early in the process, on 22nd December, a £120 refund had actually been offered, which later changed.

The replacement parts arrived on 23rd January. While the swivel arms were usable, there were still inconsistencies on the replacement swivel arm the bolts were noticeably longer than on the other arm and stuck out significantly more. The replacement upright, although not dented, was still marked up. At this stage I chose to overlook these issues simply so I could finally be finished dealing with the situation.

The replacement weight plates were also still heavily marked. Rival Strength agreed to send a paint pen to touch up the marks and ultimately provided a £100 refund.

While I appreciate that Rival Strength did try to make things right, the whole process was very stressful. It took a lot of time chasing updates, waiting for parts, replacing components myself, and then repackaging parts for collection. For a £900 machine, this level of effort shouldn’t really be necessary.

Summary
With the issues out of the way, the machine does work well and is very versatile. However, the nylon pulley wheels would benefit from being upgraded to aluminium, and tensioning the cables correctly is quite finicky and time-consuming. After doing some research, I’ve also found what appears to be the same machine being sold in Thailand under different brand names, which may explain some of the quality inconsistencies. Overall, it doesn’t feel like a uniquely designed, finely tuned machine that has gone through extensive development and refinement, but rather a rebranded product with some compromises.

Really good product. It was hard fitting it as our room is not an even square but the mats were easy to cut and eventually all fit and we are very happy.
Good quality.
Customer service were quick to answer when we submitted a query and samples were easy to get hold of to check we were buying the right mats.