Rig Roller X Review

Time Under Tension’s Rig Roller X is an upgrade to traditional home gym cable pulley systems.

I love pulley systems and I’ve DIY’d a few myself but they come with some issues like swinging.

And for the cheap price to make them or buy them, I really can’t complain.

But the Rig Roller X eliminates the swinging which is HUGE!

Plus it takes less time to load and unload.

Let’s check this baby out!

Unboxing

Each half of the roller came in its own box so I received two boxes in total.

Both were well packaged with all sorts of bubble and air wrapping to prevent damage.

I got both halves out of the boxes and here’s what inside.

Left and right roller parts, hardware, and a carabiner.

Time Under Tension does not sell cables and pulleys but I already had some from previous cable systems I’ve used.

Here’s a side view of the Rig Roller X halves.

Each loading sleeve is 7″ long and 2″ in diameter.

The bottom of each half has two white plastic rollers.

These rollers are what give this system its smooth, trolley-like movement up and down the uprights.

Now that I’ve shown all the different sides it’s time to connect the halves together.

Here’s all the hardware needed to connect these to my PRx Performance rack.

This will fit any upright that is 3 x 3, 2 x 3, and 2 x 2 so that pretty much covers the majority of major brands.

Hardware included:

• (4)  3/8″ x 2″ Hex Bolts

• (8) 3/8″ Washers

• (4) 3/8″ Nuts

Specs

• Rack compatibility: Fits 3 x 3, 2 x 3, and 2 x 2 weight rack uprights

• Loading sleeve length: 7″

• Weight sleeve diameter: Works with Olympic sized weight plates (2″ center hole)

• Weight capacity: Unknown (not mentioned in the website)

Assembly

Connecting the Rig Roller X to my rack was straight forward.

The 4 bolts go through the side holes of each half and they are tightened at the other end by nuts.

Two washers go at each end of the bolt (one next to the head’s bolt and the other next to the nut).

Here’s a bird’s eye view of the roller on the upright.

You can see the white rollers hugging the upright.

The roller can be kept at any height by inserting a band peg or hitch pin through one of the upright’s holes.

All that’s left is connecting it to a cable pulley system.

Cable Pulley System Connection

High Pulley Set Up

Each side of the Rig Roller X has a couple of holes above and below the weight sleeve.

This is where I can connect carabiners that go along with a cable pulley system.

I’m using a soft loop tie down strap at the top of my pull up bar to hang a high pulley.

Now I gotta run a cable through it to connect to the roller below it.

Here’s what that looks like from the top…

I’m using a cable from my SYL cable pulley system.

I attached my Mini D Handle Bar at the top end of the cable.

With the D handle bar I can do two handed exercises from one cable.

And here’s the cable connection at the bottom.

I can attach the cable on either side of the roller.

And here is the high pulley all set up from top to bottom and ready to be loaded.

Now I’ll show you how to set up the low pulley.

Low Pulley Set Up

The low pulley set up is super easy.

I insert a hitch pin through the weight rack and connect another pulley to it.

Here’s what the low pulley set up looks like from the top.

Since this is a low pulley, the cable needs to be longer to reach the bottom pulley.

So I remove the D handle bar and connect both cables at the middle with a carabiner.

Then I add the D handle bar to the end of the bottom cable.

Plate Loaded Cable Machine

It’s time to throw on some and get this thing rolling!

First I threw on a pair of bumper plates.

I don’t know what the weight capacity of this roller is but being all metal I assume it can handle a good bit of weight.

So I threw on another pair for a total of 200 lbs on it.

Because bumper plates are thick, they take up most of the weight sleeve.

I might be able to add a thinner bumper plate on there.

I wanted to test how the Rig Roller X did with only one side loaded so I took off all the weight from the right sleeve.

And sure enough it held up.

Didn’t tilt to the left side at all and rolled up and down without any issues.

I then added my Weight It Out thin plates and you can see how much more space I have left on the sleeve.

That’s one advantage these have over bumpers and even regular iron plates.

Rig Roller X vs Loading Pin Pulley Systems

Swinging

The Rig Roller X solves several problems that home gym cable pulley systems come with.

Loading pins free float at the bottom so they swing freely as you exercise.

The Rig Roller X is connected to my rack so it completely eliminates swinging which is HUGE.

It can only go up and down.

Because it’s on the rack, it doesn’t take up any extra space either.

Loading/Unload Weight Plates

The Rig Roller X is just like loading a barbell.

This makes it easy to load/unload weight plates.

With a loading pin I have to remove the carabiner then pick up the plates against gravity.

Not a huge deal but it takes more time and can sometimes be a pain in the ass if the plates are stuck against each other.

Cable Machine Exercises

High Pulley Cable Exercises

With the Rig Roller X being adjustable in height, I can do lots of exercises.

Some cable machine high pulley exercises include pull downs, weighted crunches, triceps push downs, etc.

If I had two rollers, I could even do exercises like cable flys or crossovers like I do with my Ancore Trainer.

Low Pulley Cable Exercises

With the low cable set up there’s also a big variety of exercises I can do.

Here I am doing a seated cable row but I can also do bicep curls, belt squats, shoulder shrugs, etc.

Rig Roller X Alternatives

The Bulletproof Fitness VTS (Versa Trolley System) is an alternative to the Rig Roller X with more options.

It can be used as a trolley cable machine or as individual trolleys with a handle.

It also converts any weight rack into a Smith machine using your own barbell.

Gorila Fitness Cobra 3.0 Cable Pulley Attachment

The Gorila Cobra 3.0 is a plate loaded trolley cable pulley system made for 3″ racks.

This comes with upper and lower pulleys for more exercise versatility and works with both 5/8″ and 1″ holes.

Pros & Cons

What I Like

• No swinging: I can yank the cable as hard as I want without any swinging

• Fast loading/unloading: Loads just like a barbell, no carabiners to take off

• Saves fingers: Less likely to crush my fingers loading the sleeves horizontally

• Save space: Fits on the rack so it doesn’t take up any extra space

• Smooth motion: Rolls smoothly up and down the upright

• Weight capacity: Has a high weight capacity, the cable I use would be my main concern, not the roller

What I Don’t Like

• Initial set up: Took me longer than I expected. Here’s a tip, connect two bolts on the same side before you put it on the rack so you only have deal with the other two. I tried to do all four bolts at the same time and it was frustrating. My pain your gain.

Rig Roller X Discount Code

Only place to buy the Rig Roller x at the moment is directly from the Time Under Tension website.

And you know I’m hooking you up with a 10% discount code.

Click here and use coupon code SHREDDED at checkout for the discount.

Rig Roller X Review

I like what Time Under Tension has done with the Rig Roller X.

Took out the pains seen with home gym cable pulley systems and loading pins.

It moves smoothly, doesn’t take up any extra space, and can be used at various heights for a lot of exercise variety.

The home gym cable pulley system has gotten an upgrade.

Check Out The Rig Roller X

Rig Roller X

4.7

No swinging

4.8/5

Fast load/unload

4.7/5

Smooth motion

4.7/5

Weight capacity

4.7/5

Saves space

4.8/5

Check Out The Rig Roller X

Shredded Dad

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