Conquer Vertical Climber vs MaxiClimber Review

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The Conquer Vertical Climber is often referred to as a more affordable alternative to the hugely popular MaxiClimber. That’s because they feature a very similar design, which manages to support a low-impact, total-body workout, even with limited workout space.

So with both climbers providing a similar rock climbing action, which represents better value for money, and are there really any differences in terms of design?

In our Conquer Vertical Climber review, we’ll be taking a close look at the design features, warranty coverage, exercise options and more, to help you decide which is best for your own home workouts.

About Conquer Equipment

Unlike the Maxi Climber, which is very much a standalone product, the Conquer Vertical Climber forms part of a much larger collection of products, produced by Conquer.

Although the Vertical Climber is one of their bestsellers, they also offer a range of indoor cycling exercise stands, bike tools, and adjustable bike repair stands.

As for customer service, Maxi Climber list a street address, email address, contact number, and social media profiles. For Conquer we were only able to find a contact form on their website, which could be something worth bearing in mind if you’re concerned about after-sales service.

Design and safety features

The main priority with any vertical climber is stability, which is why Conquer have fitted their climbing machine with 4 anti-skid rubber feet to prevent unwanted movement during your workout.

The base frame also opens to a width of 37 in. across when in use, creating a solid ‘A’ frame capable of supporting up to 250 lbs, which is a similar weight capacity to the MaxiClimber.

To help prevent your feet from slipping, the foot pedals have also been coated with a textured rubber finish, similar to the one used for the anti-slip feet. These pedals are also wide enough to support a wide range of foot sizes, and positioned at an angle that improves traction while climbing.

Isometric height-adjustable grips
As with the MaxiClimber, the Conquer Vertical Climber features two sets of handles; one static and one moveable.

The moveable set obviously provides the greatest benefit, as it engages your upper and lower body muscles for a total body workout. This includes your biceps, shoulders, lats, and core, as well as your calves, quads, and hamstrings.

But if you’re looking to isolate the lower body muscle groups, you can hold onto the static handles and still experience many of the same benefits. In fact, this feels very much like an intense stepping workout, with a greater range of motion than most home steppers can offer.

Assembly and setup
One major benefit with both of these vertical climber machines is that they’re relatively lightweight, making them easier to move around once assembled.

The assembly process itself is also incredibly straightforward, with 90% of the MaxiClimber arriving pre-assembled. This means there’s no need to contact customer service or spend more money on professional in-home assembly services.

Calorie burn and step count display
From most of the pictures online it looks like the Conquer climbing machine doesn’t include a digital display, but it actually does. Although it’s nothing like the level of feedback you’ll find on a treadmill or elliptical, you can still view your time, number of calories burned, and a step count.

With the MaxiClimber, this is used to provide feedback on your step count and number of calories burned, although accuracy is a point of contention.

It’s widely accepted that you can’t provide universal feedback for the number of calories someone burns in a set amount of time for a given exercise. There are simply too many variables that can influence the number, such as age and weight.

Unfortunately the MaxiClimber console doesn’t provide you with any way of inputting your age, or any information on the formula they use to calculate the number of calories burned.

The step count however is much more useful and accurate, and acts as a useful way of measuring your progress during each workout. This is definitely something you’ll find useful with the Conquer Vertical Climber as well.

Comparison: Conquer vs. MaxiClimber

After reviewing each vertical climber in detail, it’s clear that there are very few differences, except the price.

At the time of writing this review, the Conquer climber was available for under $100 on Amazon, whereas the MaxiClimber was priced closer to $200.

To put this in perspective, Sunny Health and Fitness have also started offering a folding climbing stepper, usually priced at just over $90. But although this is a similar price to the machine from Conquer, it doesn’t offer any form of moveable upper body grips, so there’s no upper body workout option.

The MaxiClimber and Conquer machines also both use a single locking pin to secure the base frame in its A-Frame position. When you finish your workout, if you want to fold and store the climber, you can simply remove this single bolt and bring the two frame sections together.

Due to the climbing motion, you’re going to be targetting exactly the same muscle groups (legs, glutes, back, arms, core), and both machines give you the option of using static or moveable handles.

The Maxi Climber is listed as a vertical climber that gives you a total body workout to help you lose weight and tone your body. Likewise, the Conquer Vertical Climber is a vertical climber that provides total body workout with comprehensive low-impact aerobic and anaerobic exercises to burn calories and fat and give low-impact muscle toning.

Based on the hundreds of positive reviews we’ve seen for each climber on Amazon, there’s also very little difference in build quality, with both products maintaining a high number of 5 star ratings.