BowFlex Results Series 1090 SelectTech Dumbbells

This is the 552 taken to 90 lb, and two specification changes come with the range.

Knurled hand grips instead of non-slip moulded ones is the more important of the two. At 90 lb per hand, grip is what fails first, and a moulded surface under a sweaty palm is not enough. Knurl bites. It is the same reasoning that puts stainless knurl on PowerBlock's heavier blocks and moulded TPR on the light ones.

Three years of parts warranty rather than two is the other difference, and on a dial mechanism carrying 90 lb that extra year is a meaningful signal.

Seventeen settings from 10 to 90 lb is a wide ladder, though note the increments are coarser at the top than a PowerBlock Pro 100 EXP's 2.5 lb steps — BowFlex publishes the count rather than the ladder, so ask for the selectable weights if fine progression matters to you. It also starts at 10 lb rather than 5, so it will not cover light rehab or lateral raise work.

Everything else carries over. The dial is still the fastest weight change available; the trays are still part of the system and need to be somewhere reachable; the stand is still a separate purchase.

At 90 lb per hand the dumbbell itself is a large object, and the same caveat applies as to the 552: this is a mechanism, not a solid casting. It is not a dumbbell to drop. If your training involves setting heavy dumbbells down hard, the Ironmaster Quick-Lock — which expands to 120 or 165 lb and invites dropping — is the more durable answer.

BowFlex notes that individual weight settings may vary from stated values due to manufacturing tolerances, without publishing a figure.