Century VersaFlex Stretching Machine Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought on accident both this stretcher and the Pro Leg Stretcher by Timas. I kept both for purposes of this review. My kids and wife have used both. The bottom line is that the Pro Leg Stretcher by Timas is a better machine, but is also slightly flawed. First I will discuss the Century VersaFlex STretching Machine.
The VersaFlex comes in like 50 pieces. Instructions are horrible. The pictures are too small and poor resolution. They are on different page than the written instructions. The pictures of the bolts are too large, not actual size but 110%, making it difficult to figure out which bolt is which unless you get a ruler. The handles that go at the end of the legs are not pictured or discussed adequately. I was still able to put it together in about 1.5 hours.
I am 5'11". The legs are too short by like 6 inches. Gimme a break. It would only have cost a few dollars more to make the legs longer. Now, my legs hang of the end, so all stretches are done with my knees bent and the end of the leg support digging into bertween my calf and ankle. I was going to make my own longer leg pieces since I have a wood shop, but now will likely give this unit away and keep the superior Pro Leg Stretcher.
The teeth on the ratchet assembly dont hold very well. If there is a lot of tension it will just close. The ratchet assembly is cheeply made and I can see why it is unreliable and multiple others have reported the cables breaking. The ratchet on mine is kockeyed and only engages 2/3 of the gear. Worse, the ratchet assembly has about 5 degree increments only. This is way too large.
The machine is rather large in that it is about 2 feet tall, and the legs dont close all the way but only to about 30 degrees making it take up more floor space than necessary. This also makes it more awkward to get into.
The VersaFlex has an angle gauge that is poorly positioned so the user cant read it very well. It is also off by about 15 degrees. (This is bad but the Pro Leg Stretcher has no means of measuring how far legs are spread).
With all these shortcomings it will still give you a powerful stretch. My stretch has improved faster than with no machine. I am extremely unflexible and it is hard for me to get in conventional stretching positions but this makes it easy to stretch.
Now on to the Pro Leg STretcher:
Wow. This one came fully assembled. The legs are long enough for me (5'11") but are still too short if you are much taller (but still way longer than the VersaFlex). Unlike the VersaFlex the vertical leg pads dont rotate. This is bad because the pad end tends to dig into my mid thigh a little bit. The wheel used to make the stretch is essentialy infinitely variable whereas the VersaFlex is in about 5 degree increments. Trust me, 1 degree change when you are near your pain threshhold is HUGE. You can eak out extra stretching power with the Pro Leg Stretcher that you cannot do with the VersaFlex because of this infinite variability rather than waiting a week or more for the next 5 degree increment. The back folds down on the Pro Leg Stretcher and the legs come completely together making it take up about half the floor space and half the height of the VersaFlex. While it is substantially better thant the VersaFlex, the Pro Leg Stretcher would be improved by makeing the vertical leg pads rotate and removable (like on the Versaflex) which would make it more comfortable and be able to slide under the bed. Also, there is no way to assess the amount the legs are opened. I am going to attach a tape measure from the end of one leg to the end of the other so I can better follow improvements. With these changes the Pro Leg Stretcher would have gotten 5 stars.
The VersaFlex gets only 3 stars for its many shortcomings.
UPDATE: After a couple months of use I now realize it is easy to follow your improvement with the Pro Leg Stretcher. Just start with it all the way closed, and count the number of turns you can do with the wheel. At 11 turns it becomes painful for me, and can slowly go up to 12 and a half now. Yeah, that is not degrees of leg opening but it does let you follow your improvement easily and reliably. I gave my Versaflex away, it remained clearly inferior.


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