Force USA assembly
Fifteen hundred pounds, four wooden crates, left at the end of your driveway.
Force USA say the G20 takes about six hours to assemble. Their own retailer tells customers to expect two days with a helper. That gap is the whole story of this machine.
The delivery is a job before the assembly is a job
A G20 Pro ships at approximately 1,525 pounds including the crates, the packing and the pallet, and it arrives in FOUR wooden crates on a freight truck. Individual crates run to around 500 pounds. Shipping is curbside, which means the driver is not obliged to get any of that further than the end of your drive.
So before a single bolt goes in, somebody has to move half a ton of crated steel from the kerb into the garage, in pieces, without dropping a weight stack on a foot.
Then comes the build. Force USA say around six hours. A reviewer who assembled a C20 and timed it reckoned eight to nine hours working straight through, not including unboxing. Another described it as a full weekend. And Force USA’s own retailer tells customers that most people assemble the full machine over the course of two days with the help of one person. When the manufacturer and their retailer disagree by that much, plan for the retailer’s number.
What it really takes
Manufacturer, retailer and reviewers, side by side.
| Model | Time | People |
|---|---|---|
| Force USA’s estimateAll tools and hardware included, which is true and welcome. | ~6 hours | 1 to 2 |
| Their retailer’s estimate"Most customers... over the course of two days with the help of one person." | TWO DAYS | 2 |
| A reviewer who timed a C20Straight through, and NOT counting unboxing. | 8 to 9 hours | 1, mostly |
| Another reviewerWorking methodically, in a garage. | a full weekend | 1 |
| Force USA’s pro installationReported at around $800. | a service | them |
| Getting the crates off the kerb1,525 lbs across four crates. Curbside delivery. | before any of the above | 2 to 3 |
Force USA now offer an interactive 3D assembly guide in their free app, which is a genuinely good idea and much better than the printed manual reviewers complained about.
What to know before it ships
Buy the Lat Row upgrade at the same time, and fit it FIRST
Force USA are explicit about this and it is easy to miss: they strongly recommend buying the machine and the Lat Row Station upgrade simultaneously, and setting the Lat Row up FIRST for the best fit. Add it later and you are partially dismantling a thousand-pound machine to get it on. This is an ordering decision, and you make it at checkout.
Changing your mind costs about a quarter of the machine
Returns on a built or opened unit carry a 25 percent restocking fee within the first seven days, rising to 35 percent from day eight to fourteen. On a machine around the $6,000 mark, that is well over a thousand dollars to undo the decision. Combined with an assembly that eats a weekend, it means you want to be sure before it ships, not after.
Assembled, it is not going anywhere
Over a thousand pounds in the finished machine. A reviewer’s verdict was simply that once assembled, it is not moving. Decide the exact spot in the garage before you start, allow for the swing arm if you have one, and put gym flooring down first rather than wishing you had.
Ceiling height, and the pull-up you cannot do
Force USA specify a minimum ceiling height of 8 feet 2 inches to perform a full pull-up with your head above the bar. Standard American basement ceilings are often lower than that. Measure before you buy.
The 2:1 pulley ratio confuses everybody once
On the functional trainer, a 2:1 ratio means selecting 100 pounds on the stack gives you 50 pounds of resistance. It is not a fault, it is a design choice that doubles cable travel and gives finer increments. But people load the stack, pull, and think something is broken. It is not.
Before the freight truck arrives
Measure the ceiling. Measure the footprint. Then measure the route from the kerb to the spot, because four crates are coming and one of them weighs 500 pounds.
Decide on the Lat Row upgrade now, not later.
Lay the gym flooring before the machine, because it will not be moving off it afterwards.
Line up help for the day, or line up somebody who does this for a living. Force USA’s own installation service exists for a reason.
Why people hand this one over
The G20 is a genuinely excellent machine, and reviewers who fought their way through the build say so warmly: commercial-grade steel, smooth cables, eleven stations, four hundred exercises, and it replaces a gym membership.
But it is half a ton of crated freight, two days of assembly, an instruction manual reviewers wish were better, and an object that becomes permanent the moment it is finished.
Force USA charge around $800 for professional installation. That number tells you what they think the job is worth, and they are not wrong.
What an installer does
- Gets 1,525 lbs of crated freight from the kerb to the garage, in one piece and in one visit.
- Assembles the machine in the right order, including the Lat Row upgrade first if you bought it.
- Sets it in exactly the right spot, because it is not moving afterwards.
- Routes and tensions the cables properly, which is what makes the machine feel like the machine.
- Torques every bolt, and tells you which ones to re-check after a month of use.
- Removes four wooden crates and a pallet.
Get it built by someone who has built one before.
Tell us your ZIP and what you bought. Installers near you will quote you directly, and you deal with them, not with us.
Questions people ask
How long does a Force USA G20 take to assemble?
Force USA say around six hours. Their own retailer tells customers most people take two days with a helper. A reviewer who timed a C20 build said eight to nine hours straight through, not including unboxing. Plan for two days and be pleased if you finish early.
How is it delivered?
Four wooden crates on a freight truck, with a total shipping weight of about 1,525 pounds, and individual crates up to around 500 pounds. Delivery is curbside, so getting it into the garage is your problem unless somebody is arranged to do it.
Should I buy the Lat Row upgrade later?
Force USA strongly recommend buying it at the same time and installing it FIRST, for the best fit. Adding it afterwards means going back into a machine that weighs over a thousand pounds. This is a decision to make at checkout.
Can I return it if I do not like it?
You can, but a built or opened unit carries a 25 percent restocking fee within seven days and 35 percent from day eight to fourteen. On a machine near $6,000 that is a very expensive change of mind, which is worth knowing before you spend a weekend assembling it.
Why does the weight feel lighter than what I selected?
The functional trainer uses a 2:1 pulley ratio, so 100 pounds on the stack produces 50 pounds of resistance. It is deliberate: it doubles the cable travel and gives you finer weight increments. Nothing is broken.
Installers.org is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Force USA. Force USA is a trademark of its owner, referred to here only to describe the assembly services that independent installers on this directory provide.