First, a few things to note:
During the design of BOTH the Mammoth belt squat and the kickstand, we followed Fringe Sport Product Design principles, principally:
“Simple universality if possible.”
“The products are supported by great creative, great collateral, and great education.”
While these are great elements, they add complexity to the design, which we explained poorly and supported poorly (e.g., lacking assembly instructions at launch.)
So here are a few things to address.
When assembling the Mammoth Belt Squat, the end user can choose the length of the lever arm and the placement of the weight horn.
If their gym has the space, people generally will want to do two things:
- Assemble the lever arm as long as possible
- Put the weight horn as close to the end of the unit as possible (as close to the human using the unit as possible)
The two above things will:
- Ensure the “felt load” is as high as possible. The Mammoth felt load is as high as 90% (Revolt-style units have a felt load of only 60%!)
- Ensure there is no “pull forward” during the squatting movement (shorter belt squats have this)
For the above reason, if you are using the Mammoth without a kickstand, we typically recommend that people use the “5th hole” (not counting the hole for the eyelet) to install the weight horn.
However, if you ARE using the kickstand, we suggest you install the weight horn at the 6th hole and the kickstand at the end of the lever arm.
Installing at the 6th hole vs the 5th decreases the felt load by at worst ~8% for most users.
Keep in mind that most other units on the market have a felt load of 60%! So the Mammoth still outperforms them by 20%+.
To install the kickstand at the end of the Mammoth, use one of the bolts that shipped with the kickstand to secure it to the Mammoth. For the other bolt, use the hole and bolt from the “stopper.”
Here is a more thorough installation video:
https://youtu.be/zSVlllDBq1g
Now on to some specific assembly issues.
Problem:
Kickstand is too far under the weights:
Solution:
Install it at the end of the Mammoth. Discard one of the bolts from the kickstand and use the rubber stopper to install one end of the kickstand:
Also ensure that the weight horn is installed on the 6th hole:
Your result will look like this:
Problem:
The handle hits my weights.
Solution:
Install the weight horn on the 6th hole. In this case, this “problem” will never happen.
If you do want the weight horn on the 5th hole, don’t despair- there is an easy fix! Load a small plate (like a 5#) on the weight horn first.
Problem
The kickstand hits my weight horn bolt on the underside of the Mammoth, like this:
Solution:
Install the weight horn with only the small washer and bolt head below the lever arm. Install the large washer and locknut on top of the lever arm.
With the above installation, the bolt head will not impact the kickstand:
Problem:
If I “bottom out” on my squats and the kickstand hits the ground hard, it opens up.
Solution:
Fundamentally, the kickstand is a safety device. You should not be bottoming out hard on your squats. For a similar issue- imagine if you were squatting in a power rack and you set the safety bars fairly high- and your barbell was hitting the safeties at the bottom of every squat! You would stop and reset the safeties lower.
Similarly with the Mammoth belt squat and the kickstand, you should not be bottoming out on your squats.
One easy way to remedy this is to use a higher D- ring on the belt:
Another solution is to stand on a plate or something that will elevate your feet (and the end of the lever arm).
Problem:
I installed the kickstand using the rubber stopper and the kickstand rubs against the rubber.
Solution:
Some customers have reported this. It does not affect functionality and will not create any long term problems.
Problem:
No instructions
Solution:
This was a big miss and totally our fault!
Here are some quick-and-dirty install instructions. Better ones to come.
Problem:
The unit does not match the prototype image on the website.
Here is the prototype image:
Solution:
We *did* mention on the website that this was a prototype and some minor changes might be made before we head to production. That said, we are happy to honor our normal returns policy (best in the biz) OR, if the customer feels mislead in any way, we are happy to provide any reasonable solution.
Here is an image of the prototype vs the production unit (note that the prototype unit does not have the springs installed in the below image).
Changes of note:
| Change | Why? |
| Prototype attaches on the sides, and the final unit attaches to the bottom | The attachment design was reworked to allow attachment to ALL lever arms and jammer arms on the market without modification. Also, the attachment mechanism was modified to provide additional safety for the end user regarding: the springs |
| The prototype has the handle on the right side, final unit has the handle on the left side | This was a design choice. There is no clear benefit or detriment to the side the handle is on |
| The prototype has the handle protruding above the lever arm slightly when installed, final unit does not protrude above the lever arm | The handle was shortened to allow greater compatibility and universality for different install scenarios on the Mammoth and other lever arms. A shorter handle also provides a greater range of motion for the belt squat unit in operation |
| The prototype has a golf ball size red handle, final unit has a slightly smaller black ball handle | The red handle is out of step with the other design considerations for the Mammoth and other Fringe products. Black was selected as a design choice. The ball handle was made slightly smaller as a design choice and to allow more universality of installation and a a greater range of motion |
| The prototype handle curves toward the user, final unit handle curves away from the user | This change was made to allow a a greater range of motion for the belt squat unit |
Bottom line- functionality is the same or better than what we had promised. But if you want to return your unit, please do! We will pay shipping to get it back here and we will give a full refund, of course!
If you feel misled in any way, we will make it right- all reasonable options are at the disposal of our customer support! Including a full refund and you keep the unit! Just tell us what you want!