The Monster Cave 2.0

We bought the Monster Cave for a family Christmas present at the end of 2023. Here are a few highlights and lessons learned: * The photos you flip through on the website are stocked with add-on accessories. What you get for the base price is the rack and the weight stacks on each end. * There are a couple of reviews regarding the weight stacks being loose and rattling. I agree that this is the only part of the Cave that doesn't seem to be built to last forever. Everything else is solid. * The additional storage panels on the end require a set of "sidewinder brackets" for each panel to offset the panels outside of the weight stack. The storage panel by itself is useless, you have to order pins, hooks, and storage accessories a la cart. * We ended up with a shopping list of items/ extras required to complete our original order. Rogue has been unforgiving with additional shipping costs (so get your order right the first time or be ready to pay $$ for shipping for anything that wasn't clear via your initial web order).

I could not believe the quality and presentation of this equipment. As me and a contractor were assembling, I made the joke that this thing will be in a museum 1000 years from now. Buy it right, buy it once. Very impressed!

I bought this on Black Friday in November 2022 and it just arrived Feb 10th. When it arrived getting it off the truck was a challenge. This delivery was to a residential and the long pallet it arrives on is awkward. Assembly is 3 days with 2 people. I ordered the KB shelf and plate shelf. The KB shelf doesn't work alone. It requires the plate shelf for a base, that is not mentioned on the web site both are single post mounts. The sidewinder plate mounts I ordered is actually just brackets with no hanging plate another misleading item. But all that aside it is very sturdy and clean. I look forward to many years of use.

I was debating getting the 30" panel width vs. 43" panel width and was swayed towards the 43" panel width by some of the earlier reviews. I'm glad I did as the 43" wide allows you able working room and it would be really hard to load up the bar inside the rack with the 30" side panels. I got the 30" full rack and I'm glad I did as it allows me to bench and squat from the rear rack. Note that when racking on the rear vertical inside the full rack, the single post shelf JUST clears a standard plate while mounted on the 2" sandwich J clips but is about 0.5" too close so if you plan to bench/squat from the rear you can only mount a shelf low to the ground. If Rogue made the rear crossmembers 9 inches instead of 7 inches a kettleball shelf could be mounted anywhere with no issue. Some folks here complain about the slingers being too short on the 90" tall uprights but this can easily be solved by using the 2 ft nylon extension that comes with the rig.

Rogue customer service was awesome as always. Moving both CT-1 into the house was a pain and they discourage you from taking anything apart. After studying them in my garage for 2 weeks, I figured how to remove the weight stack (it was easy) and it MUCH easier to maneuver. lifted both CT-1 frame in the house myself with my wife handling the pulley head. Only complaint is that both CT-1 are built to be on the left side. The weight stacks are not labeled on both sides but because I took it apart, I was able to flip each weight so the labeling would is visible and not facing against the wall. The handle for the right CT-1 is still facing the wall and cannot be flipped to be better optimized (pic4). Really wish rogue made the handles to face the center!

The Monster Cave is amazing. The lat pull down works very well, 300 lbs. more than I will use. It is expensive but we’ll worth the price. The entire family is using it. I have no complaints, the wider the cave the better if you want the best storage options. The build quality is amazing. The customer service is also exceptional.

I have had the monster cave with the CT 1 towers for several months and have been very happy. No complaints. I think they are worth the money if you have the room for them.

I had a PRX rack prior to this. I wanted something that was not wall mounted and wanted to replace my loading pin and pulley for any lat or extension work. This unit is solid. The hardware is serious and was packaged and delivered safely. The only gripe about the setup was it comes with 20 different sets of instructions for each component or add on. It is not one big instruction manual so I had to go back and remove bolts and move the top slingers if I was adding the front pivot slinger, which I was. The only other gripe I had was I got the full 30 inch rack so I will never be folding it in. It still comes with the folding hinges. It should come with a solid 9 inch bracket instead of the swivel hinge. Other than this small issues this rack is amazing. The weight stacks are smooth, the hardware solid, and quality high. The J Cups are amazing and the safety strap system also great. This rack is something my young boys will hopefully use when they get old enough to lift.