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Step 1
Go to local retail sports and fitness shops to examine in-store equipment. You can get a good idea of build quality of various kinds of pull-up bars by going to sporting goods stores or fitness shops. Stores like Dick's Sporting Goods carry a wide range of pull-up bars that you can examine. Look primarily for a bar that has the fewest moving parts. The fewer the connections, the fewer places where the bar can fail.
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Step 2
Determine what kind of pull-up bar you want. A doorway-mounted pull-up bar tends to cost less money than a free-standing pull-up bar. The advantage to a doorway-mounted bar is that it is more portable and takes up less space than a free-standing bar. The disadvantage to the doorway bar is that it usually damages the doorway, frame and molding, regardless of manufacturer's claims and the specific style of doorway mount used. This is because screws are usually used to drill into the door frame to secure the bar.
A freestanding-bar's disadvantages are two-fold: expense and space. These are not mounted to anything, and are thus free standing. They take up a lot more space (anywhere from 3 to 4 square feet up to 5 to 6 square feet). They also tend to be much more expensive than their doorway counterparts. -
Step 3
Verify that the pull-up bar will work for your home. Ask the store if you can buy the bar and take it home to try it out. Many stores will allow you to return items that you either don't want or can't use provided that it is in salable condition (the store can put it back on the shelf to be sold to someone else). For example, if you purchased a doorway-mounted bar, make sure that it fits in your doorway. If you cannot buy the bar to "try it out," you can also take down the measurements and specifications of the bar, go home, and verify that the bar will work in your home.
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Step 4
Check online to see if your model of pull-up bar is available, and purchase the cheapest version or your model bar that you can find. Almost any pull-up bar available in a retail store can be purchased on the Internet for a cheaper price since there is no or little overhead if the store is primarily an Internet-based store.
