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Duonamic: A Different Kind of Pull-Up Bar

Duonamic has designed one of the best portable pull up bars on the market. We tested their system along with their new hangboard apparatus.

Portable pull up bars are typically designed for easy installation and removal. They allow the athlete freedom to exercise without having to build a home gym. Unfortunately, the term “portable” is a bit of misnomer. At three-feet across and a 20-centimetre depth, conventional portable bars are difficult to transport.

Setting up the Duonamic Eleviia – photo by Ilya Sarossy

Portable workout gear just isn’t that portable. In the past, it has been difficult to move home gyms around whether you are hanging them from door frames or otherwise. They have weird angles that make them difficult to pack away and are ultimately more frustrating than they are worth.

Even in climbing, portable hangboards are awesome, but require a weight bearing hook. As such, it can be difficult for the travelling climber to maintain their training.

The Duonamic Eleviia:

To combat this portability problem, Duonamic has designed the Eleviia Arms. These arms are effectively two polymer-based C-clamps that open on a spring. The spring allows the user to open the clamps and position the rubberized ends on any door frame. The weight is spread across four separate points. By dispersing the weight over such a large area, the door frame is protected from damage. This is important as many portable pull up bars crease the walls around the frame.

Portability:

The Eleviia is the most portable pull up bar solution. It is easy and it packs away into a space smaller than a laptop. This is due to the fact that the arms are less than a centimetre thick. This is essential for a person that is travelling with their pull up bar. The device is easy to install, uninstall, reinstall and carry around. In this way, it can be argued that the Eleviia is one of the the few truly portable designs on the market.

Features:

The Duonamic Eleviia has two handle-types available: the classic pull-up bar grips and the Powrholds grips. For suspended core exercises and for pull ups, the classic grips are ideal. They are comfy, stable, easy to install and durable.

Comfort is important. Some portable pull-up bar designs feature a narrow grip that becomes painful with use. This can quickly become annoying for the aspiring athlete. Duonamic’s thoughtful design ensures that the grips do not rotate and are of a comfortable diametre.

The durability of this design appears equally well thought out. As calisthenic exercises require long, high repetition-based sessions, the importance of durability cannot be overstated. Duonamic does well to ensure that their design is as strong as their athletes.

The Powrholds Hangboard:

Duonamic’s hangboard setup in interesting. Similar to the Metolius Rock Rings, the two grips hang apart from one another. Though the rock rings are portable, they can be difficult to use on-the-go. They rotate making it difficult to hang on a flat edge while using them. Additionally, they do not connect to anything you would typically find in a hotel room. As such, they are best suited for gym use.

Tension’s Flashed Board is an excellent portable hangboard, but it still requires a weight-bearing structure to hang off of. Most hotel rooms do not have a weight-bearing hook. Though it is an incredible product, it is not ideal for maintaining a travelling climber’s finger-strength.

To address this issue, Duonamic designed the Powrholds. This hangboard does not rotate due to cord-gripping notches on the sides of each device. As such, it is possible to replicate hangs between repetitions. A consistent training edge is necessary for effective fingerboarding. Additionally, the Eleviia arms attach to any double-sided door frame.

The hangboard also comes with two magnetically inserted buffers. These allow the climber to adjust the depth of their set up. It is adjustable between around 40 millimetres and 20 millimetres. It uses magnetic blockers to ensure a standard edge size, though additional blockers would be required for small-edge training.

Additionally, the grips are wrapped in texture making it easy to complete pull ups. This allows the climber to train both strength and finger-strength without having to switch out the grips.

Hangboarding with the Eleviia – photo by Ilya Sarossy

Weaknesses:

Overall, this is a great design. It will not replace your bolted-to-the-wall hangboard, but as a tool for body-weight pull ups or calisthenics, it is exceptional. For hangboarding while travelling, it is incredibly useful. It could even be used in an office as the rubberized device does not crease door frames.

The greatest weakness of the device is found in weighted exercises. The weight limit of the device is 250 pounds. This is problematic if you weigh more than that. It also an issue for those looking to complete weighted pull ups at home. Our gear-tester, for example, would be limited to bodyweight exercises exclusively.

Additionally, muscle ups, and one-arm pull do not appear safe. One arm pull ups are potentially dangerous if you weigh more than 125 pounds as it could strain the device.

Overview:

The Eleviia Arms do their job well. At $139.00 CAD, they do cost more than many other pull up bars on the market. If you buy the Powrholds as well, that price will increase by another $109.00 CAD. With that said, these prices do include shipping and these devices do offer a function that is unique to their platform. No other device currently available provides the same level of portability and exercise variety.

If you get the travel package, the total cost of the set will run you $260.00 CAD. For this price, you will receive the Eleviia, the Powrholds and the Travel Bag. Ultimately, the question becomes, “Is it worth it?”

If you are constantly travelling, definitely. It is an exceptional product that can eliminate finger-strength loss while you are away from the gym.

 

Featured Image by Duonamic.

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