People often ask me the difference between the various and sundry silos and levels of gym equipment. And one thing I always tell them is while online companies may have great marketing, may show themselves in some fitness studio, all sleek and black and with heavy duty weightlifters all around their equipment, there's a big difference between actual commercial brands and online junk peddlers
Because during the pandemic, obviously everybody was buying whatever they could get online, and there was a proliferation of opportunity for the less scrupulous fitness equipment companies. Basically, these companies just order equipment out of a catalog from Taiwan or China or Vietnam, have their name slapped on it, and start advertising online. And even though some of them have gotten desperate enough to sell through dealers, you can tell when most of their efforts are on selling through the internet.
Why does this matter? Well? One of the advantages of the real commercial equipment companies that design their equipment is history and
patents. Because most of these online companies just pick their stuff out of a catalog, the same catalogs, and have it shipped to them. It is just a copy of everybody else, with no part support or staying power. Meanwhile, when you go to a dealership and they're carrying a brand like Hoist,
with 40 plus years of experience manufacturing and designing commercial level fitness equipment, means you have dozens of
patented biomechanical features that online D2C companies cannot replicate.
Yes, the real equipment manufacturers will be around a lot longer and have a lot better support. Especially because they work in all levels of the industry. But literally, their equipment will be better in terms of the adjustments and the workout, because these patents are things other companies cannot copy and have to avoid. And no matter how sleek they may look, they are a lot more dumbed down and inferior.
And this means better, safer, more efficient workouts.