Mikolo M4 V 2.0
The Mikolo M4 Version 2.0 is a Half rack, a functional trainer, a Smith machine, with a Pullup bar, landmine, dip bars, plate storage, and attachment storage.
A quick back story – Last year - in 2024 – reviewed their 2024 version of the M4. To say that I was not a fan – is an understatement. In fact, I said that I had ZERO interest in ever working with MIKOLO ever again. So what happened?
I saw that they have recently stepped up their game releasing new much nicer products like the ANIBUS and that BASTET bench – and then they took consumer feedback and released updates to those products (ANIBUS 2.0 and a BASTET BENCH 2.0) --- all within a year (as far as I know) of my review.
They appeared to be stepping up their game as I watched from the sidelines. THEN they reached out to me to tell me that they took MY FEEDBACK and created the Version 2. Of course I want to review a product that I essentially helped them design (PAT ON MY OWN BACK). I think everyone deserves a shot a redemption. SO – here we go!
VARIATIONS
I want to point out that there are 3 variations of the MIKOLO M4 V 2.0 .
STANDARD: Plastic Pulleys. Plate Loaded Functional Trainer.
ULTRA: Aluminum pulleys, Plate Loaded Functional Trainer
ELITE: Aluminum Pulleys, with 2 x 132 LBS Weight Stacks
I have the ELITE package. Let me also disclose up front – yes Mikolo did send me the M4 for free (in exchange for the review) but as you will see -- that does not change the outcome of the review.
MEASUREMENTS
Let’s start off by me giving you some of the high-level measurements because if it will not fit in your space – then you can just keep scrolling.
87” tall (website says 87.5”)
71” Deep
47 1/8” Wide as measuring from the outsides of the front uprights
74.8” Wide if measuring off the length of the Smith Machine Barbell
SHIPPING & ASSEMBLY
FEDEX delivered it – and all the boxes arrived in good condition. It came in multiple boxes, and ALMOST everything was is really nice condition except for a few tiny scratches on some components – but nothing that is cause for concern.
The only issue I had was that I did have some slightly dented uprights. During assembly, this prevented me from sliding the trolley down the top of the uprights. However, I was able to add them by sliding them up from the bottom of the uprights. The dents did not affect the performance of the equipment, and is not noticeable after assembly.
It took me about 10 hours to assemble this by myself. I found the instructions to be a little lacking on some steps where they tied to cram what should have been multiple steps with detailed pictures into ONE step with one picture. However, there is an assembly video that I was unaware of at the time. Had I used that video this would have gone a lot faster. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/Pv6z_Q85oWY?si=STo3Xp706JQWQdPz
Now let’s go from top to bottom from the front to the back covering each component and talk about the good and bad along the way.
PULLUP BAR
It is a multi-grip pullup bar allowing for pronated grip, a supine grip, neutral grip, …wide and narrow. Bottom line: It does the job.
It also has an anchor point for adding TRX straps in the center.
The M4 Version 1 had Rubber grips on the end. I didn’t hate them or anything – I just prefer not having them since over time they can loosen up/stretch over time. Further, the Version 1 had knurling on the neutral grip position only – but now there is knurling in 3 grip positions: neutral, angled, and wide.
The top surface of the pullup bar stands at 86.25” Tall. Be sure this height will accommodate space for your head before purchasing.
My only issue is that it is 25.4mm thick (by my measurement). Therefore, it is not as comfortable as it could be. I would prefer something 28mm or greater – because the thinner the metal the more it is going to dig into your hands. 25.4mm is not terrible, and certainly not a deal breaker for me.
FRONT UPRIGHTS
The Uprights are 2” x 2” – just like the Version 1.
One of my biggest gripes of the Version 1 – was they were advertising it being 14-gauge steel – but it actually had very thin metal being used as the front uprights. In fact, I measured it somewhere between 16 or 17 gauge (FYI: the higher the number, the thinner it is).
The Version 2 is also advertised as 14-gauge steel….BUT I actually think it is THICKER than 14 gauge. According to my little steel measuring tool (as seen in the video) it does not fit in the 14 gauge slot, however, it was loose in the 1/8” steel slot. Therefore, it is somewhere in between those two settings. It may very well be 13 gauge (or 12?). This is a HUGE improvement.
Just like the Version 1 – the Version 2 has 1” holes. However, unlike the Version 1, instead of 4-inch hole spacing – the Version 2 has 2-inch hole spacing. This is offers 34 different holes for you to set your J Hooks, Spotter arms, etc. IN OTHER WORDS you get MORE HOLES. This is awesome – since that let’s you really dial in the ideal height for the given exercise for your height, arm length, etc.
Speaking of the J Hooks and Spotter Arms, they have also been improved. Instead of a little plastic covered hook – you get taller “sandwich style” beefy J HOOKS, and beefier spotter arms. The J Hooks stick out 5.2” from the front surface of the rack, and the Spotter Arms have 19.625” of loadable space - leaving you with 14.425” of clearance on the Spotter Arms. Personally, I think that this spotter arm length is sufficient for most people.
The J Hooks have an advertised 1000 LBS static load capacity when used as a pair, and the Spotter Arms have a static load capacity of 800 LBS when used as a pair. This is per my e-mail correspondence with the company (FYI: the website currently says its 1000 LBS capacity for the J Hooks and the Spotter Arms capacity is not mentioned).
When you set the J-Hook above the Functional Trainer trolley, the HIGHEST thy can be set at is 68” high (as measured from the surface of the J-Hook’s barbell pocket down to the ground. If you set the J-Hook below the Functional Trainer trolley, they can go as high as 64”.
You can set the J-Hooks above the trolley because the cable is fairly close to the upright. There is SOME SLIGHT interference with the barbell path…but nothing significant – so this should not be of any concern.
The minimum height for the spotter arms is just 7” off the ground as measured by the top surface of these spotter arms to the ground. The supplied Spotter Arms can go that low since they are so LOW profile. Now since they are so low profile – the weight capacity is slightly compromised – since something this low profile has very little “buttressing” as you find with most heavier duty Spotter Arms.
POWDER COAT
The Powder coat is okay. I would say it is on par with everything that I have ever received from MIKOLO, SYEDEE, GMWD, RITFIT, MAJOR FITNESS – all the “Budget-friendly” brands. Nothing great – but not terrible. Based upon the scratches that I have put on it already this is not going to hold up against a lot of abuse for years to come. However, it is in alignment with the price point as compared to other all-in-one racks in this price range.
FUNCTIONAL TRIANER
I have the ELITE Version 2 with TWIN 132 LBS weight stacks. The weight stacks also have weight horns to add more weight is 132 is not enough…OR to add incremental weight if the next plate in the stack is too much for the given exercise.
You can also get the Plate loaded version. The plate loaded version has weight horns that are 7.75” long.
Whether you get the plate-loaded version or the one with weight stacks - it has a 2: 1 ratio. By that, I mean that 100 LBS will feel like 50 LBS. The 2:1 ratio means you have a smoother operation than a 1:1 ratio, AND you double the length of the maximum cable travel…which is approximately 93”.
The highest it can be set is right here – where the center of the ball at the end of the cable is 76”” from the ground…..or all the way down here where the ball is approximately 14” from the ground.
The D handles do not have the cheap plastic grips that the Version 1 had. The Version 2’s D Handles have RUBBER grips. No complaints. I know that knurled metal handles are what is sexy right – but these feel great, and will definitely do the job.
The Version 2’s Front Upright trollies uses a Plastic lining instead of rollers. his design does have some degree of friction – I would prefer rollers for smoother experience….but I it is certainly not terrible. The pulleys being used here have vey smooth bearings…and it feels great! Overall, I am very pleased with the functional trainer – although I do some critiques:
No hole for the selector pin on the head plate. The Selector pin is magnetized – so you can just lay it on top of the stack – but nicer stacks have an offset hole for you to add the selector pin to head plate.
Stickers – You get 2 packs, but I want 4. I want to be bale to add the stickers to both sides of the stack.
Plastic cover on guide rods for stack look like they are on the “cheaper side”
The weight horns on the weight stack are only 4 3/8” long. I would prefer them to be longer.
Biggest gripe: When you put a plate (even 10 LBS) on weight horn – it is imbalanced and cannot function. If you do add plates you need to be sure that you add identical weight amounts to both weight horns so that it is balanced to achieve optimal smoothness. The reason for this is: there is too much “slop” between the guide rods and the holes in the weight stacks.
SMITH MACHINE
The Barbell shaft is 30 mm thick (according to my measurements) shaft which is power coated and has some pretty decent knurling for a smith. Knurling is not SUPER important on a SMITH as it is on a regular barbell – but this certainly does feel nice.
It weighs 36 LBS (35 LBS according to the website), it is 74.8” LONG, and has an advertised 800 LBS static weight capacity. The sleeves have 11 13/16” of loadable space.
It is smooth as hell. NO KINKING like the Version 1. This is nice. They definitely made this 1000 times better. It feels great!
The Highest it can be stored is 73.25” from the ground as measured from the bottom of the barbell. This is awesome since if you are less than 73.25” tall you can walk underneath this easily without having to duck to change the weight on the functional trainer or to grab your stored attachments.
As far as Range of Motion is concerned, it can go from 76.75” from the ground (again as measured from the bottom of the barbell) and it can go as low as 17 1/8” from the ground. As a result, you still can’t deadlift with it, unless you stand on something. However, it can certainly go low enough for barbell rows.
It has 12 Pegs on each side for you to set the Smith Bar and the Smith Safeties
My only critique is that these rubber sleeves on the barbell’s collars could have been higher quality. Mine were a little chewed up.
One of the biggest improvements they made is they spaced out the functional trainer guide rods and the smith machine more. On the Version 1 if you had 450mm plates on the Smith machine and 450mm plates on the functional trainer they hit each other. In case you don’t know: 450mm is the diameter of all bumper plates and most 45 LBS iron plates. Therefore, you had to remove plates from one component to use the other. However, that issue is now resolved. AWESOME!
PLATE STORAGE
I love that this has weight storage horns on the sides instead of the rear. This design allows you to push the rack closer to the wall to save space. Just note that 450 mm plates will only fit on the two bottom weight horns. On the top weight horn you can only store smaller plates – this is going to be Iron 10 LBS, 5s, 2.5s. Iron 25s and higher cannot go here – because if you did then you cannot add 450mm plates to the weight horns on the functional trainer’s trolley. They even added this “Change Plates Only” sticker to let you know this.
Each storage weight horn one provides 8” of length
Now While I love the Storage weight horns on the side – they are not high end…and they look SLIGHTLY better than the V1.
OTHER ATTACHMENTS
Aside from the J Hooks, Spotter Arms, and D Handles that I already mentioned, you also get the following:
4 x band pegs
Land mine attachment
T bar row handle
Rope Attachment
Dip Bars
Lat Pulldown bar
Straight bar
Ankle strap
6 x barbell clamps
“3-in-1 Pad” (Thigh Pad, Foot Plate, and a Step).
I wish that they would have made the attachment point on the Lat pulldown bar rotate like they did with the straight bar. However, all these attachments are nice as far as “free” attachments go – so no major complaints
ATTACHMENT STORAGE
The V2 has both 4 hooks across the top to store your attachments -- and they added this crossbar to store your dip bars, J hooks, and Safeties when not in use. I love this. The V1 did not have this cross bar – so this is a huge improvement.
The only attachment that has no storage feature is the 3-in-1 Foot Plate. If they added 2 more holes (with 2-ich spacing) – then it could also be stored on the rear crossbar.
BARBELL STORAGE
You have storage for two barbells.
They repositioned the barbell storage brackets to the REAR of the rack and made them beefier/sturdier. They also added a plastic lining to prevent the cup from scratching up your barbell. This is a great improvement.
Summary
The M4 Version 2.0 has:
Improved pullup bar
Improved uprights
Improved smith machine
Improved functional trainer
Improved attachment storage
Improved barbell storage
Every major gripe I had on the V1 is now fixed. As I pointed out – it is still not perfect – but it is lightyears better than the Version 1 – and is in my opinion – definitely NOW a contender for your hard earned dollars.
Now if you got this far – you are probably wondering what’s under the tarp in this review’s video. Last year I also did a head to head-to-head comparison with the RitFit M1 2.0 and the Mikolo M4 Version 1.0…and yes the RitFit M1Version 2.0 was the obvious winner. However, now the competition is a lot tighter between these two models. Could the Mikolo M4 VERSION 2.0 beat out the Ritfit M1 Version 2.0 ??? This video is up NEXT in my queue – so be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel to be alerted the moment that that VIDEO drops.
Shopping
If you are interested in ditching your commercial gym this revamped All -In-One rack is a very nice option. I think that you will be very pleased. But for god’s sake do not pay full price. Use PROMO CODE “DBL” to save an extra 5%. And if you are going to purchase any Mikolo products – I would greatly appreciate you using my Mikolo affiliate link located down in the video description below – all you have to do – is click the link and then shop as normal. When you do – I get paid a small commission which helps fund running this channel – so that I can continue offering this free service for all by brothers and sisters in the home gym community. Much appreciated!
BUY FROM MIKOLO: https://mikolo.pxf.io/jevNg0
MIKOLO PROMO CODE “DBL” SAVES an EXTRA 5%
BUY VIA AMAZON: https://amzn.to/4osABNJ
