RitFit PLC01 – Our Review

RitFit is no stranger to leg machines. Its BLP01 is one of the best budget leg press and hack squat combo machines we’ve reviewed.

The PLC01 is its newest leg machine and is its first leg extension/lying leg curl combination machine.

The leg extension/leg curl equipment market has gotten pretty saturated with a number of companies offering comparable machines or machines with their own unique design quirks.

While many of these items have prioritized price savings at the expense of stability or, for the lack of a better term, a more “traditional” exercise experience, the PLC01 presents a commercial-grade adjacent experience that anyone who has worked with one of these machines at their local gym will instantly feel familiar with.

As a perfectly functional piece of home gym equipment (for most lifters) while being relatively easy to adjust, the PLC01 is an acceptable option for home gym lifters who prioritize more niche equipment. Its sub-$400 price tag (currently) puts it in a league of its own and for those willing to spare a couple of hours, assembly is pretty easy.

Let’s take a closer look at my experience with the machine!

Shipping/Delivery

The shipping process was incredibly smooth. Tom received a FedEx tracking number for the machine and was able to monitor its progress over the four days it took to arrive (California to Georgia).

I particularly want to commend FedEx for properly re-routing the machine without any additional effort on my part (Tom made a mistake with the shipping address; Fedex saw that the address didn’t exist and proactively adjusted it to my correct delivery address) or delay.

To my surprise, the machine came packaged in a single box. I appreciate the efficiency in packaging, however, the box weighed almost 100 pounds. My wife received the package at our home and needed to get a hand truck to move it into the garage. Due to the box’s weight and bulk, I would imagine most people would have difficulty moving it on their own from the front door to the garage or basement.

Everything was securely wrapped/packaged, although I experienced three small/minor issues:

• The RitFit logo piece was slightly damaged
• One of the handle caps was missing
• Slight scuffing/damage to the box/packaging (likely incurred in transit)

I want to emphasize that these are extremely minor issues and have very little-to-zero impact on how PLC01 functions.

Shipping/Delivery: 90

Assembly

I was happily surprised with how quickly I was able to assemble the PLC01. Working by myself I was able to completely put it together in just under one-and-a-half hours.

This is especially impressive considering that I just used the two, basic wrenches that RitFit includes in the shipment. If I had used my socket wrench, I may have been able to finish things up in around an hour.

The instruction manual is about 20 pages long and, like many of the other instruction manuals for these types of machines, is almost entirely picture focused. For the most part, these images are pretty easy to follow and putting the machine together is really intuitive. However, there were a few images that were harder to follow and I wish there would have been some kind of written instructions to clarify.

Overall, this was not a difficult machine to assemble and it may actually be one the least complicated pieces of equipment we have reviewed. I have no doubt that anyone reading this would have little trouble putting it together on their own.

Assembly: 90

Construction/Steel

The PLC01 is constructed of a combination of 16-guage and 14-guage steel (these are present in almost entirely equal portions). These ratings are higher (where “higher” translates to thinner and less robust steel) than the majority of other combination leg extension and leg curl machines that list their ratings.

It should be noted that most of the other machines in the PLC01’s price range do not include the steel rating in their product descriptions. It is possible that some, if not many of these have a similar steel rating levels as the PLC01.

Construction/Steel: 60

Stability

Despite not having an overly “low” steel-guage rating, the PLC01 actually has the feel of a commercial-grade leg extension and leg curl machines.

This might be its most impressive qualities.

It achieves an incredibly high level of stability through a couple of thoughtful engineering and design inclusions:

• The machine itself is decently compact so none of the functional areas are “floating” or are, in general, unsupported or less supported
• The plate holder pegs double as storage areas and as “stability-enhancing” mechanisms.

The machine is very stable, even when unloaded. Adding even a plate for resistance stabilizes it even more and keeping a few plates stored on the plate holder peg ensures complete stability for the duration of each set.

Stability: 95

Functionality

The most important thing to remember when discussing functionality is that, at the end of the day, the PLC01 is billed as a, while also being designed to facilitate, leg extension and leg curls, a couple of isolation exercises.

To be more direct, with this machine, you’re not getting something like a functional trainer where you can do 20 different exercises (or probably 100 if you’re creative). Even a simple barbell is more functional than something like this.

However, we’re not comparing this to anything else; we’re comparing it to other leg extension and leg curl machines and against these others, it holds up as expected.

Although we’re technically only comparing the PLC01 to other lying leg curl machines, it should be noted that the (primary) leg curl mechanism is a lying leg curl. I definitely prefer lying leg curls and, to be honest, it takes a bit more design effort to incorporate these into a machine like this. Kudos to RitFit for doing this.

Regarding the actual facilitation of these exercises, both the leg extension and leg curl movements actually “flow” better than I would have expected. This is one of the areas where I believe the machine starts to get pretty closer to being commercial-grade quality.

Considering that the stated weight capacities for either exercise are close to 400, it’s safe to say that nobody would feel limited in terms of possible resistance.

If you look at the advertisements for any of these types of machines, you’ll likely come across some pictures of the models (heh) performing a plethora of subsidiary exercises intending to show the full range of what you can expect to be able to use the machine for. In most cases some of these are legit, but most are…interesting…

I can’t imagine many people attempting to use the PLC01 for a quasi-vertical leg press and I’m willing to bet that nobody is using it for hip thrusts.

The machine does work pretty well for single-leg leg curls, but these are a little awkward to perform, particularly at the beginning of each rep. It also works for decline sit-ups, but I’m personally more inclined to perform GHD sit-ups (a more advanced option of this exercise).

I’m not going to add or subtract points for these additional movements since the vast majority of people will only use the PLC01 for leg extensions and lying leg curls.

One last thing to mention is that the leg pad might be somewhat awkward for shorter lifters (~5’1″ or under). Even when it is adjusted to its lowest setting and with the seat angled further back, it still sits a little higher up on the shins than is ideal. It is still possible to get some good work in, but likely at sub-maximal efforts due to the odd angle.

Functionality: 90

Adjustment

With combination machines (to include things like folding racks), a big, but oftentimes unreported consideration is the time and effort it takes to adjust the machine from one setting to the next. If something is overly difficult or time consuming to adjust, you may as well buy two separate machines.

The PLC01 isn’t the absolute easiest machine to adjust, but it’s pretty close and the process is actually closer to a regular adjustable bench than it is to anything else.

Because the leg extension “seat” stays in the same position at all times, you only have to adjust the back support pad. By pulling and moving its pin, you slide it completely flat to create the leg curl, slightly downward-sloping pad to lie on.

Interestingly enough, this is the easiest part to adjust. I have found that the pin can stick from time to time, but some WD-40 or similar lubricant can fix this, at least for a decent amount of time.

In a similar manner, adjusting the lower foot pad (where you actually extend or curl the weight) is relatively straight forward. I haven’t found that this catches as much, but shorter lifters can run into the problem that I mentioned in the previous section.

Overall, the PLC01 is pretty easy to adjust, although for being such an uncomplicated machine, I am a little more critical on the literal sticking points than I would be on a machine that had more moving parts, pieces to adjust, etc.

Adjustment: 90

Price

Discussing the PLC01’s price is a little complicated, mainly because it makes a difference on how you classify the machine.

There are a lot of glorified adjustable benches that have basic leg extension and leg curl capabilities. Many of these go for under $200. However, these really aren’t dedicated machines and don’t have the same level of functionality, at least for the primary, intended movements, as the PLC01 does.

It is possible to find some combination leg extension and leg curls machines in the $300-$350 range, however:

• There aren’t very many of these
• Almost all of these are of the “seated leg curl” as opposed to the “lying leg curl” variety

It is possible to compare the PLC01 to these machines, but the leg curl experience is very different (personally, I much prefer the lying leg curl).

As far as other, leg extension/lying leg curl combination machines, it very difficult to find any at a lower price point than the PLC01.

Price: 92.5***

***85 (compared to all leg extension/leg curl combo machines)/100 (compared to other leg extension/lying leg curl machines)

Customer Reviews

The PLC01 is a brand new piece of equipment. At the time of this writing, it has only been available for purchase for roughly one week. At the time of this writing, there are only 3 reviews on the RitFit official website and there are only two reviews for the machine on Amazon.

We will update this as more reviews come in.

Customer Reviews: N/A

Customer Service

I personally haven’t had any contact with RitFit, but I know Tom has communicated with them a few times regarding equipment and deliveries.

Every time there has been an issue with an order, he has contacted them and they have been very quick to respond and to fix any problems (to include replacing defective gear pieces, covering both the cost and shipping of the replacement items).

(I also have a sneaking suspicion that they were the ones that actually contacted FedEx and fixed the address/delivery problem).

Customer Service: 100

Who is the RitFit PLC01 really for?

If you’re a home gym bodybuilder, the PLC01 probably has you licking your chops. Let’s take a broader look at who might most appreciate the machine

Those seeking an inexpensive leg extension/lying leg curl combo machine

As we discussed in the “Price” section, it’s not hard to find leg extension/leg curl combos at an affordable price point.

What is hard is finding leg extension/lying leg curl machines at a lower price than the PLC01.

We have an “aspirational”, legit commercial-grade leg extension/lying leg curl machine listed as one of our alternatives, but if you go that route, prepare to shell out about 8 times as much as you would for the PLC01.

Those seeking a more robust leg extension/leg curl experience

In contrast to the point above, the bench attachment leg extension/leg curl option might be appealing to you. These are generally the most affordable options, even if the attachment must be purchased separately.

However, these are not nearly as robust as dedicated machines, nor do they provide the same “experience”, oftentimes feeling somewhat awkward or overly detached from the ground when performing either of these movements, especially when compared to the something like the PLC01.

Not for people seeking a weight stack machine

If you’re more accustomed to, and seeking out, a leg extension/leg curl machine that uses a weight stack as opposed to manually-added weight plates for resistance, the PLC01 definitely doesn’t fit the bill. Prepare to pay significantly more for your machine if you decide to pursue one of these types of machines.

How we tested the RitFit PLC01

Being so quick and easy to put together, I was able to quickly assemble the PLC01 and immediately put it to work.

As I have stated before, I don’t regularly perform leg extensions or leg curls in my workouts, but having spent years performing them in bro gyms, I am very comfortable with these exercises. Having used a number of different machines, I can pretty easily tell which ones “work” and which ones don’t.

We may update this review in the future to discuss more long-term usage content, but for the roughly 2 weeks that I was able to use it for its primary purposes and movements, it worked as expected.

PLC01 Alternatives

The leg extension/leg curl machine market is pretty unique in that you have a few different machine structural options to choose from. Let’s take a look at one from each of the main classifications:

Frequently Asked Questions

It’s not every day that you probably go searching for a leg extension/leg curl machine for your basement or garage. Let’s answer some of those lingering questions you might have:

The RitFit PLC01…a solid addition to home gym “leg day”

As a guy who is much more into CrossFit than I am into bodybuilding, my dedicated “leg day” workouts generally involve things like heavy back squats, front squats, lunges, and split squats. I rarely bring machines into this mix.

However, the PLC01 has grown on me a bit and is definitely a “nice to have” piece of equipment for the home gym, especially considering how inexpensive it is and the fact that it is perfect for performing two of the most popular bro gym leg exercises with.

I can imagine that this will be a hit with home gym bodybuilders who need the leg extension and leg curl machines to target those tough-to-hit muscles as well as more traditional lifters who prefer to strength their legs via machine work. It would also be an excellent tool for rehabbing injuries.

Ultimately, the PLC01 only really took a big hit in its steel rating. If you’re less concerned with steel thickness (especially relative to overall stability), apples-to-apples. this is going to be a tough machine to beat.