I Put the Speediance 2S Through Its Maximum Weight. Here's What Happened.

The Post That Started This

Someone in the Speediance Facebook group posted that their lat pulldown felt wobbly on the original Gym Monster. That got my brain turning, because I'd never actually tested the 2S at its ceiling weight. I've been lifting on this machine for weeks. Lots of reps at working weights. Never once thought to put 260 pounds on the cables and see what happens.

So I did. And I want to tell you exactly what happened, because the result surprised me.

First: Wobble Is Usually a Setup Problem

Before I even got to the max weight test, I want to address the wobble question directly. Nine times out of ten, wobble on a Speediance is a setup issue — not a machine quality issue.

The weight stack has to be locked in the center. There are little lock mechanisms on both sides. When I first got the original Gym Monster, I had them locked at the edge — which doesn't do anything. The machine was wobbly until I figured out they had to be centered and locked. Once locked correctly: no wobble.

The surface also matters. On carpet, it's more wobbly than on tile or concrete. I moved the 2S to my office, which has carpet, and the first week it was slightly less stable than it was downstairs on tile. Not dangerous, but noticeable. Something to know.

The Weighted Vest Problem

Here's the thing about testing 260 lbs on a lat pulldown: I weigh 200 lbs. The machine would lift me up before I could pull it down.

So I grabbed a weighted vest. Loaded it up front and back — which is an adventure in itself when you're trying to maximize the weight. My strategy: pre-load the back weights, then put the vest on and slot the front weights in while wearing it. Otherwise it's too heavy to manage while getting it on.

I jumped on the scale with the vest: 242 lbs. Set the machine to 130 lbs per side (260 total). Grabbed the bar, got up into position, pulled as hard as I could.

Got about halfway down. Then the machine pulled me back up.

240 lbs of me plus vest, pulling as hard as I could, and 260 lbs of cable resistance won. I didn't even get a full rep.

Round Two: Two Weighted Vests

I went and found my second weighted vest. Piled both of them on. That put me at approximately 280-290 lbs total, between body weight and gear. I am fully aware this is insane. I was within my 30-day return window, so if the machine broke, at least I had an exit ramp.

I grabbed the bar. Got set. Turned the weight on.

This time I got it down. Got it to shoulder height, then all the way to my lap on the second attempt. Two ugly, straining reps at 260 lbs on a lat pulldown. Not a training record. More like a structural test of both the machine and my tendons.

The machines? Zero wobble. No movement. No give in the cables. Nothing creaking or shifting. At 260 lbs with me straining against it with two weighted vests, the 2S was utterly indifferent. The fans didn't even kick on at audible levels.

For reference: when I used to do max effort pulls on the Tonal, the fans would spin up like a jet engine. You could hear the machine working. The 2S handled 260 lbs on a lat pulldown and barely noticed.

The Part That Actually Blew My Mind

After the weighted vest test, I took the vests off and just grabbed the bar at 260 lbs while standing.

At 200 lbs bodyweight, the machine picked me up off the floor.

I locked my arms in, turned the weight on, and went straight up the wall. Knees sliding against the drywall, feet off the floor. The machine was doing pull-ups with me as the weight. At 130 lbs per side, against a 200-lb man, the machine didn't budge. I went up — not it.

I did it a few times because it was genuinely impressive. You could hear me hit the wall at the top. (I may owe my wall some spackle.)

For anyone who's questioned whether these machines actually deliver the advertised resistance: at 260 lbs, I had to get my bodyweight up to nearly 300 lbs to even pull the cables down. That's real weight. Full stop.

The Tonal Comparison Point

The Tonal maxes at 200 lbs total resistance. At 185 lbs bodyweight, I could feel the Tonal trying to lift me — but at 200 lbs bodyweight, it struggled. I'd go up maybe an inch and then it would drop me back down.

The 2S, at 260 lbs against my 200-lb body, didn't drop me. It picked me up. That's not a small difference in capability. For anyone doing heavy lat work, heavy rows, or any pulling movement where you might approach the machine's ceiling — the extra 60 lbs matters.

Smart Handle Setup Note

While I was testing all this, someone had asked about the Smart Handles. One thing worth knowing: turn the Smart Handles on before you start your workout, not after. If you launch into Free Lift and then connect the handles, the machine has to wait for them to pair before it can enable the weight. Doing it in the right order saves the awkward waiting.

Settings That Matter for Max Pulls

A few things to know if you're going to push the machine toward its limits:

**Strength assessment first.** If you skip the assessment and try to enter max weights manually, the machine caps you at 220 lbs on manual input regardless. The dynamic modes — Stamina, Gain Muscle, Strength — will go above 220 based on your assessed 1RM. But the Customize box is capped. This trips up a lot of people who think the machine can't do 260 when it actually can.

**1RM setting.** Make sure your 1RM setting for unilateral exercises is set to "both sides jointly use the latest 1RM." This keeps left/right loading consistent. Otherwise the machine tracks left and right arms as separate athletes, which can lead to mismatched weights and confusion.

**Unlimited Sets.** Covered this in a separate post, but: turn it on. It's the setting that allows the machine to update your 1RM when you do extra reps. By default it's off, which is wrong.

The Bottom Line

The 2S handled everything I threw at it. Max weight. Two weighted vests. Me going for a ride up the wall. Cables at full tension on a carpeted surface. Zero wobble, zero give, no concerning sounds.

If someone posts that their Speediance is wobbly, check the lock position on the weight stack first. If it's locked properly and still wobbly — film it and post it, because that's not normal.

I went in expecting to find a limitation. I found a machine that, for anything a 200-pound person can actually lift, has more capacity than I'll likely ever need. At 1.2 million pounds logged and counting, that holds up.