Bowflex 1090 SelectTech Dumbbells

They get the job done. I’ve had these for many years and they work for dumbbell movements. They’re bulky and fragile; don’t drop them or you risk breaking one of many tiny plastic bits that hold the actual weight plates to the handle. Replacement handles from third parties are available, and I have one. Can vouch that they work, but I still have to make sure I pay attention when lifting weight out of the cradle - plates slide off on their own now. If I was looking for a full dumbbell set or something more space saving I’d go with Reppins but these do the job until they don’t work any longer.

Had these for 8 years now and no issues whatsoever. They are bulky and tend to bump into each other on certain exercises due to the fixed length of each dumbbell. There are surely more compact and faster switching options on the market in 2026 but they are by no means a bad choice.

The aggregate score around 3.00 is fairly warranted. In the long run of it all I would say the dial system saves the performance side of this dumbbell. They got it mostly right at the beginning. It’s easy to adjust and feels good. The rest of the market left the behind tho. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a half decent product. I got these for free from my FIL. The dimpled knurling is annoying and painful, but I imagine it is an upgrade against the rubber one it comes with. I would throw a curveball and say I would recommend these if you have no other options and they come across your FBMP for crazy cheap, or if they have it on sale at your local Target or Dick’s Sporting Goods.

These were my first adjustable dumbbells. Ultimately got rid of them. I have read that there is a recall on the ones I had because weights could fall off during use, never happened to me but motivated me to get rid of them. I also read that they break easily. I never had any unexpected drops with mine, although did bail from a couple failed benches. Mine didn't break, but I always worried they would. I think the big weakness is the whole mechanism. It's constructed such that even if you lift the minimum weight, the dumbbell has to bring its whole frame with it, so is probably poking 8-10" out on both sides of your hands. Gives some weird momentum.

Bowflex SelectTech Dumbbells are not great because many of the components are plastic and can break easily.

We got them essentially for free, so that's the only reason I'm rating these so high on the value. And during the Pandemic you took what you got your hands on. as others noted the handles suck and benching with all the weight on them could actually hurt a bit. at the same time the coating made the grip quite slippery for rows. Very flimsy construction and a few of the weight inserts lost the plastic covering of their lip, so they can randomly fall outta your handle on an exercise now. We are pinning for the Reppin to actually get a Kg version to replace them, but in the meantime (Lmao of course an hour later I see they actually have them for Pre-order now, guess who's gonna order some Reppins?), we got ourselves a secondhand hex dumbbell set. They hardly get any use now.

I can't believe I'm admitting that I own anything Bowflex, but here I am, telling complete strangers...on the internet. First of all, they were a great deal and fixed dumbbells cost a small fortune and take up real estate. They're not very useful for pullovers, skullcrushers, contracting your pecs at the top of a press or much of anything really since the frame is the same size for any weight that's selected. The handles suck, you can't even call it knurling on them. I guess they're good for curls, but we only use them for lateral raises since curls are strictly forbidden at our gym. They've survived being left outdoors for over 5 years, including two major hurricanes, so that says something I guess. Don't pay full price for these, get Reppins or something similiar.

The best word I can use to describe these is clunky. I've had them 5 years now and they do a job that I'm happy with. They were the cheapest option at the time, and I feel like the tech for adjustables has come a long way since then so if I was going out to market for another pair I'd likely look elsewhere. It would've been nice to try them before buying them. Others on the market look much sleeker and more comfortable. For example, when doing incline press, the edge of the dumbbell touches my shoulder but in a way where I'm hyper-aware of it and feel like I need to adjust where I'd naturally lift them. I've shown that in the review picture. The handle shape is not straight but a bit convex and the knurling is a bit awkward. Since the handle is on the thicker side, the micro plates are a pain to get on (note I have no comparison because I have only ever used them with this dumbbell). When changing the weight there is a noticable click which is nice, however sometimes it clicks but isn't actually set so you end up pulling the whole thing out badly. My biggest critique is that these are 10-90lbs, but are labelled in kg. So we go from 4-7-9-11 etc. up to 41kg. I get we don't use freedom units here in the UK but I'd rather they manufacture in kg and label correctly or stick to the lbs labelling.

I purchased back in 2015, with upgrades from average joe innovation on the dials and handles these were great. I never dropped them so I didn’t have to worry about breaking them. Adjusting weights was easy and quick. The only downfall was if re-racking at wrong angle a weight plate would come out, causing you to pretty much reset the dumbbell to fix it. I sold them only because something newer and shinier came out.

I bought these over 15 years ago and despite all of the plastic, they are still in good shape. Adjustable dumbbells have come a long way since I purchased them so while these have served me well, I certainly wouldn't recommend buying them today as there are just too many better options available. Not much to say about these that hasn't been said a million times, they offer a good weight range with 10lb starting weight and 5lb increments up to 90lbs. They adjust very quickly but you do need to spin dials on both sides. Reracking into the cradle can take some effort as they need to more or less go straight down to prevent binding. The big drawback of this style of dumbbell is the size of the dumbbell remains fixed no matter what weight you've selected so the 10lbs are the same size as 90lbs. The only other issue is that some weight selections can feel imbalanced. For example, when you select 40lbs, the 2 innermost plates are loaded, and it makes the dumbbell feel much different than if you bump up to 45 where it adds weights to the outside edges giving it a much more balanced and natural feel.