Great machine and don't let those who complain about the assembly instructions scare you. The assembly of this machine is not complicated. Also, the compression pins that people have complained about (which act as stops to prevent the bar from spinning) can be replaced with 5/16 bolts, washers and lock-nuts. Just pick up a pair of these at the hardware store and use them in place of the compression pins. I don't know why they just don't include nuts and bolts in the first place?

The only problem I encountered out of the box was that one of the plate carriages (containing the linear bearings pictured below), was not sliding down the stainless steel rail. When I slipped it over, it just hung there and I had to force it to slide. Something was obviously wrong with the bearings inside the carriage assembly (which there are two in each assembly). After contacting Valor about the problem, they first offered to send me the two bearings that are inside the carriage assembly. In order to remove the bearings, a compression ring pliers was needed. Before I agreed for them to simply send bearings only, I attempted to removed the compression rings with a compression ring pliers but still couldn't get the bearings to slide out of the carriage assembly? So removing the bearings is not as "cut and dry" as one may think. After contacting Valor about this, I asked if they could tell me how to remove them and they didn't know how? So they ended up shipping me a whole new assembly.

For the money, you can't beat the quality and price of this machine compared to others and the operation is smooth (when the bearings work correctly). The only thing that would ever have to be replaced on this machine is the plate carriages and or bearings contained inside. If I knew how to remove the bearings, then just the bearings could be replaced if and when that day comes but Valor has not offered a solution as to how to do this after my own attempts? I'm not sure what the life expectancy of these bearings will be or how much it will cost to replace an entire 10lb. carriage assembly with the bearings already installed? I guess I will find out if or when that day comes?

Anyhow, I love the machine and use it almost daily. There are so many exercises one can do with a Smith machine and Valor makes a great product for the price. The safety features are indispensable for those of us who are older and desire to lift heavy without endangering ourselves!

I'm a girl and not tall 5"5 thought it would be taller, it's not that bad I guess for my height but if you want to lift the bar up and down for your arms you can't put it up all the way unless you buy a workout chair thing to sit on then lift. Other than that I love it for my squats helps with proper form and feel safe using it. The little screws holding the bar are tough but do look a little cheap in my opinion not sure how it would hold up having a lot of weight on it since I'm a begginer and aren't using a lot of weight so I give it a 4star.

I read all the previous reviews prior to buying this smith machine. Here is my review:
1. This is a good product and worth the price. 2. True it doesn't come with counterbalance for the weight of the bar, but that isn't necessary at all.
3. The ball bearing sleeves work great and the bar slides smoothly.
4. The instructions could certainly use some work, but if you take your time and read them, it makes sense.
5. The pins for the locking mechanism of the bar are a pain to get in, but just hammer the crap out of it, they will compress and fit nicely. I used needle nose pliers to hold the pin and hammered it in.
6. The frame of the machine was deeply scratched in several places right out of the box. This was probably my biggest negative comment. There shouldn't be scratches on a brand new machine.
7. Overall, this was a solid purchase. I would recommend this to friends and family.

Nice assembled it's a very nice smith machine. My only issue was the extremely pour labeling on the bolts and directions were just as bad. I had to go to YouTube to watch a it assembled. Without hand video I would of never been able to assemble it. And I'm a part time construction contractor.

I'd buy it again if I needed to!

I will second most of the reviews and say this is a very solid piece of equipment. Assembly is fairly easy even though the instructions are not that great. It is better to have two people do the assembly but can be done by an individual. Pieces do not necessarily go together perfectly and there is a slight offset when the bar hooks to the pegs. The offset does not impact the overall performance but it would of course be preferable to have pieces go together perfectly. I did get a wrong part but customer service is excellent and the corrections were made quickly.. Overall this is an excellent machine and I'm pleased with the purchase. I will add that it was no fault of Valor but Amazon screwed up the initial,order and if I were to rate Amazon's customer service I would give them a zero.