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WINNOW Power Cage Review: A Lot of Rack for £331

Jack Atkins

By Jack Atkins, Home Gym Equipment Specialist · Updated 10 September 2026

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WINNOW Power Cage Review: A Lot of Rack for £331
WINNOW Power Cage with Pulley System (WN-896)

WINNOW

WINNOW Power Cage with Pulley System (WN-896)

4.0

Racks under £350 usually make you pick one thing to give up. Either the steel is thin, or the pulley system is missing, or the attachments cost as much again as the frame. The WINNOW WN-896 avoids most of that by shipping a 1.5mm steel cage with 50mm uprights, a plate-loaded high and low pulley, a landmine, dip handles, band pegs and a bag of cable attachments for £331.49 against a £389.99 list. On paper it reads like something that should cost more.

The compromise is real, though, and it is spatial rather than structural. The cage measures 47 inches long by 29.5 inches wide, which is a narrow footprint for a walk-in rack, and 81 inches tall, which is the number that catches people out.

How we review

This assessment is built on WINNOW's published specifications for the UK listing, the recurring themes in verified owner feedback, and our experience assembling and using racks of this construction class. We have not put this specific unit through a multi-year test, so we separate what the manufacturer claims from what consistently shows up in use, and we say which is which.

Who it is for

This is a garage-gym rack for someone who wants squats, pressing, pull-ups and cable work from a single footprint without spending £700. If your training is barbell-based with some accessory pulldown and row work bolted on, it covers everything you need and the plate-loaded pulley saves you buying a separate cable machine.

It is the wrong buy if you have low ceilings, if you compete and lift heavy enough to want 75mm commercial uprights, or if you want a selectorised stack you can change with a pin between sets. Our best power cage UK guide has options at both ends of that.

Check the WINNOW power cage price on Amazon£331.49

Pros

  • 1.5mm steel with 50mm x 50mm uprights and reinforcing ribs, stiffer than most racks at this price
  • High and low pulley system included rather than sold as a £150 add-on
  • 360 degree landmine, dip handles and band pegs all in the box
  • Ten J-hook and safety bar positions plus three dip handle heights
  • Six plate storage pegs, which also add ballast at the base
  • Cable attachments bundled: lat bar, T-bar, tricep rope, ankle strap, handles
  • Walk-in design so you can move side to side inside the frame

Cons

  • 81 inch height rules out garages and lofts with anything under a 230cm ceiling
  • Four-inch hole spacing is coarse for setting bench press safeties precisely
  • 29.5 inch internal width is snug for wide-stance squatting
  • Pulley is plate-loaded, so plates get tied up while you use it
  • Assembly runs three to four hours and the instructions are the usual translated diagrams
  • WINNOW is a small brand, so replacement pulleys and cables are harder to source than for a UK maker

Build quality

The steel is what you are buying. WINNOW specifies 1.5mm wall thickness in 50mm square uprights with added reinforcing ribs, laser-cut holes and a powder-coated finish. Compare that with the 1.2mm tubing common on £200 racks and the difference shows up immediately in how little the frame flexes when you rack a loaded bar hard. Nothing at this price feels like a commercial rack, but this feels like a rack rather than a shelf.

Hole spacing is four inches on centre, giving ten J-hook and safety positions. That is fine for squats, where a hole either side of perfect costs you nothing, and it is the rack's weakest point for bench pressing, where four inches is the difference between a safety that catches the bar on your ribs and one that lets it settle on your chest. Set it with an empty bar first, every time.

The stated capacity is 1,000 pounds, roughly 454kg. Treat that as a static rating from the manufacturer rather than a working number; the practical ceiling for a rack of this construction is well below it, and if you are anywhere near needing that figure you already know you want heavier uprights.

WINNOW WN-896 power cage key specs
External dimensions47" L x 29.5" W x 81" H (119 x 75 x 206 cm)
Steel1.5 mm wall, 50 mm x 50 mm uprights with reinforcing ribs
Hole spacing4 inch centres, 10 J-hook and safety positions
Stated capacity1,000 lb / approx 454 kg (manufacturer figure)
Pulley systemHigh and low, plate-loaded carriage
Dip handles3 height positions, lowest doubles as push-up handles
Landmine360 degree, included
Plate storage6 pegs
Attachments includedLat pulldown bar, T-bar, tricep rope, ankle strap, cable handles
FinishPowder coated, black
Warranty1 year
Price at review£331.49, list £389.99

In use

Squatting inside it is the best part. The walk-in layout gives you room to step back off the hooks and reset, the safeties catch a failed rep cleanly, and the plate pegs loaded up act as ballast so the base does not shift when you rack aggressively. At 29.5 inches internal width a very wide sumo stance gets tight, but a normal squat stance has room.

The pulley is better than it has any right to be at this price, and worse than a stack machine in one specific way: you load it with plates, so a 40kg pulldown means 40kg of your plates sitting on the carriage rather than on your bar. If you own a single 100kg set you will feel that. Owning a few cheap extra plates purely for the pulley solves it for about £40.

Pull-ups run off the top crossmember. At 206cm the bar is high enough for most people to hang with bent knees rather than fully extended legs, which is normal for a home rack. Anyone over about 6ft 2in in a room with a 240cm ceiling will be close to the plaster at the top of a rep. Measure before you order; this is the single most common regret with tall racks.

The landmine attachment is a genuine addition rather than a token, and it opens up landmine presses and landmine rows without a separate corner unit. Combine it with the dip handles, band pegs and pulldown bar and one footprint covers a full programme. You still need a bar, plates and a bench, so budget for those; our best weight bench UK guide is the sensible next stop, and the barbell guide covers what to put on the hooks. There is more home gym kit in our home gym section.

See today's WINNOW power cage price

Assembly and ownership

Set aside an afternoon. The frame itself goes up quickly, and then the cable routing eats the rest of the time, because pulley systems on racks in this bracket ship with diagrams rather than instructions and there is always one pulley that has to come off and go back on the other way round. A second person makes the uprights considerably easier and saves you an hour.

Bolts want checking after the first few weeks. That is true of every bolt-together rack, and skipping it is how a solid frame develops a rattle.

The ownership risk with WINNOW is spares. Frames of this construction rarely fail; cables, pulleys and pins are what wear, and a small brand means sourcing them is not as simple as ordering a replacement part from a UK manufacturer's site. Generic cable ends and 1/2 inch pulleys will fit most of it, but you should go in knowing that.

Two or three strength sessions a week covering the major muscle groups is what the NHS physical activity guidelines ask for, and a rack like this makes hitting that at home trivially easy, which is really the argument for owning one.

Recommended reads

  1. The best power cages in the UK
  2. The best squat racks in the UK
  3. The best weight benches in the UK
  4. How to back squat properly

Frequently asked questions

What ceiling height does the WINNOW power cage need?

The cage stands 81 inches, which is 206cm. Add the height of the pull-up bar you will be hanging from and the space your head needs above it, and you want a ceiling of at least 230cm to use it properly. Standard UK new-build ceilings run about 240cm, so most people are fine; converted lofts and garages with joists are where this falls apart.

Does the pulley system come with a weight stack?

No. The high and low pulleys load with standard weight plates on a carriage, not a selectorised stack. That keeps the price down and means you need plates you can spare, because they are tied up on the pulley while you use it.

Is 1.5mm steel thick enough?

For squatting and pressing what most home lifters actually lift, yes. The 50mm x 50mm uprights with reinforcing ribs are stiffer than the 1.2mm tubing on budget racks. Commercial racks use 2mm or 3mm steel in 75mm uprights, and if you are squatting over 200kg you should be looking at those instead.

Can you bench press safely in it?

You can, with a caveat. The safety bars adjust in 10 positions, which works out at roughly four-inch spacing, and four inches is coarse for setting a safety just below your chest. Depending on your build you may find one hole slightly too high and the next slightly too low. Check the setting with an empty bar before you load it.

How long does assembly take?

Budget three to four hours for one person, less with two. The uprights and crossmembers go together quickly; the pulley system, cable routing and landmine attachment are the fiddly part. Owner reports of confusing instructions on racks in this class are the norm rather than the exception.

What is included with it?

J-hooks, safety bars, dip handles, a 360 degree landmine, band pegs, six weight plate storage pegs, the high and low pulley system, a lat pulldown bar, a T-bar, a tricep rope, an ankle strap and a pair of cable handles. The barbell and plates are not included.

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