Best Lat Pulldown Machine? Bells of Steel Lat Tower Low Row Review

[@GlucksGym]

Should we review the plate loaded version?

[@scrappylifter8318]

Yes, please. I have the plate-loaded pulley attachment on my BoS tall residential power rack. It feels heavier than when I used stacked pulleys at commercial gyms. I'd really like to know what weights I'm actually moving.

[@Harry_16710]

Yep

[@eoleksiak]

Absolutely

[@Beau23y]

Yes

[@YasirLat]

That would be good. I am interested in the different cable length, you can work with (weight stack against plate loaded). This weight stack looks a bit too high.

[@mikalcopeland123]

Gluck's ability to turn anything into innuendo is pretty much the entire reason I'm here. It's way too impressive.

[@GlucksGym]

If I'm honest I try to behave in these 😂

[@mikalcopeland123]

@@GlucksGym booooo. Unrelated, I couldn't convince you to do some more engineering deep cuts into equipment could I?

[@andrewstearns9276]

The meeting scene was great! I’m still laughing. 😂😂

[@GlucksGym]

hahaha I thought that one came out well

[@BELLSOFSTEEL]

Appreciate another great review my man! We have a leak, how on earth did you find out what we did during our meeting to destroy the competition?

[@GlucksGym]

😂 I knew it! It definitely wasn't Minh...

[@babygiantbarbell1014]

Looks like a solid option. The thigh pad moving that much is not ideal, but I do like the vertical pull capability off the low row. Great review!

[@GlucksGym]

You could tighten the hand knob on the pad but I never do. I probably should've shown that in the video though.

[@albertfischer8804]

Good to see the Mrs. right back at it in the gym.

[@GlucksGym]

She's cleared and ready to return!

[@AirForceVeteran2024]

Great review! I just purchased by BoS lat pull down and gave you a shout out on their website survey!

[@sarahlayton5301]

We just might pick one of these up! Thanks for the review!

[@kylelssu44]

It would have been nice if they would have just labeled all the bolts and washers, etc. I bought this, and overall it's worked really well for me, I think it was slightly better than the Titan version as you had mentioned. Also, I've been able to set up my landmine attachment near the base so it works well for that. Keep putting out these great videos for us!

[@GlucksGym]

Yes that would've helped. I def have a few bolts in the wrong places.

[@Andrewhammonds123]

Great review! I would be very interested in the plate loaded version

[@rodolfomedini9931]

Thank you congrats on the baby!

[@GlucksGym]

Thank you!

[@Rothy34]

Top notch editing on this vid! You have a great editor, Gluck!

[@michaelpietrzak2067]

Great review. I wish Bells would release a belt squat add-on utilizing that low pulley. As it were, I think I will diy one as Kaizen has some nice examples.

[@javiersgym]

Took me half the video to realize you were reviewing anything with the shirt on. 😉 Do love the vertical pull nonetheless

[@GlucksGym]

BB shirt makes anyone look big.

[@joecowan3719]

I am looking to upgrade my Valor BD-62, wish the height was 2 inches shorter for my basement. Oh well, once day I will find the Goldilocks one. Fun review as usual, thanks!

[@SBOutrich]

I love mine. And for most of there equipment they make KZbin videos on how to set up which made install super easy.

[@scooobyj8714]

That’s a good review. I think it is cool that they include a gym pin even though it is cheap.

[@GlucksGym]

Yeah it works fine I was just messing around

[@dashriprock5720]

@ 7:20 Exactly what I noticed. The pully is behind the knee pad instead of over or in front. So many machines have you pulling at an angle including Rogue.

[@derrik5329]

Id love to see a lat pulldown with the weights turned 90 degrees so that you are facing the labeled faces of the plates and pin so you can adjust the weight while sitting and not having to lean over. Also it could make the foot print smaller which is always a premium in home gym spaces

[@BJerrell]

Powertec makes this

[@alharris8861]

Hey nice, you went full time. Congrats dude

[@ISWIMWITHFISH]

This maple guzzling moose lover also has an igloo and travels by snow dog. Thank you very much, Gluck! 😅

[@GlucksGym]

You guys have really progressed up there!

[@BrandonSchwartz1]

That subtle “for most people” search 😂

[@sig108432]

Have you reviewed the plate loaded version?

[@bigdude382]

Ordered the plate loaded version Tue, will be here tomorrow. 3 days from order to door. Hopefully in another 8-12mnths I'll upgrade to selectorized. From what I see on their site, I'm assuming, it comes with nylon pulleys as they have an aluminum upgrade listed for the lat pulldown. I would expect after paying almost $1,000 it would already have them but I ordered some red anodized ones off Amazon, same ones I got for my Mikolo cable stack. They work great do far.

[@rabajr911]

I’ve been eyeing Bells newish pulley towers paired together as a squat stand to save some space. Any info would be appreciated haven’t been able to find any reviews on them yet. Love the content keep it up!

[@GlucksGym]

I've been debating reviewing those as well. I'll look into it

[@ak-zw8jv]

I looked into them because thought it would be an awesome option but like this it's 2.3x2.3 so you are limited on attachments.

[@GlucksGym]

@@ak-zw8jv yeah, really wish they'd change that especially with the Hydra already being 3x3

[@chrisschneider1746]

I have a Rep 4000 rack, 6 post. So Ares slots right in if I want. But so does their Lat Pulldown for 1/6th the price. I know cable machines are different... but how different. So far I've just been doing barbell workouts so I'm not sure what the exercise tradeoffs are and am I doing to get annoyed in 6 months by a pulldown's limitations vs. cable?

[@BasementBrandon]

Love the BDL shirt but not as much as the Macho Man tank 😂

[@GlucksGym]

I have a collection off shirts but nothing makes me look as big as yours 😉

[@LukesGarageGym]

Love the shirt!

[@GlucksGym]

Brandon's shirt makes everyone look big

[@tjittestorm6371]

Try the ATX Trinity! That really is a beast of a machine.

[@takedown6470]

Attach the lat machine to the wood beam behind the lat machine. That would take away any wobble. I have a custom plated loaded lat machine. Had the base made with 2 x 6 square tubing. And my bars that I have are hydraulic bars with brushing.

[@GlucksGym]

That would but that's it's something I'm going to recommend people have to do in a review. I try to do these from the perspective of an out of the box experience rather than having to do mods as not everyone would have that ability.

[@Metalhead6520]

How’s the quality of the seat and thigh paf material?

[@steverapos3904]

The gym pin is for micro adjustments - I thought it was a nice touch since a regular gym pin is much heavier (1.5 pounds vs. 5 pounds) so you don't have to use 10 pound increments. This is especially useful if you are using for other accessory work. Secondly, a normal gym pin is actually kind of pricey - this is a nice touch.

[@GlucksGym]

Yep, it's definitely for micro loading. Sometimes I let a joke get in the way 😂

[@steverapos3904]

@@GlucksGym you are the man, sorry if it came off as a critical comment - we are all here to enjoy your quirks!

[@GlucksGym]

@@steverapos3904 it was more that I realized how I framed it that I didn't actually explain why they include it. No offense taken

[@timfritton469]

Looks great, but I'm too cheap... I've been eyeing Titan's plate loaded single pulley tower, hoping to be able to rig it up for lat pulls and rows, along with every else. Would love to see you review that!

[@GlucksGym]

Bells has one too. Maybe it's time I looked into a few of those.

[@timfritton469]

@@GlucksGym I've looked at Bells' too. There are lots of reviews already for Titan's, but only like 1-2 for the Bells one. Might be a good one to do.

[@ronbondoc4986]

Awesome review! Do you notice the low row cable slide out of the pully if you decide to pull left or right ?

[@GlucksGym]

I had mine side out before but I'm not sure what I did to make it happen and it didn't happen enough that I investigated why

[@markhalstead2386]

Would love to have the space for a dedicated lat pull-down, but Ares works fine for me. When we build the next house, I will have more room.

[@StonedRambo01]

Great review! Any idea when the Manticore racks are coming out?

[@GlucksGym]

Last I heard they have some models at their HQ but were still deciding on finishes and some tweaks

[@futbol1972]

The thing about titan is that the seat gets in the way of doing other exercises with low tow. I think I like the powertech better since u can swivel seat out of the way or BOS since seat does not get in the way

[@TotalBodyTraining]

Hey does the cable rub against the seat when doing Upright Rows and bicep curls?

[@bobbyhunt3009]

Great piece and as always Great job by U stud Did I see that right, over 4k for Rogue's lat pulldown to your door. Oh good gracious, imagine what a home gymowner could get with 4k. Rogue, what are u doing to us

[@GlucksGym]

It's probably close to that (I don't remember exactly) but it's much closer to a commercial quality piece whereas I'd say this feels home gym quality

[@bobbyhunt3009]

@@GlucksGym it's sharp, give em that but too steep IMO when others out there are sharp too. I looked into the cost of building one even with the polish added and the mark up is scary. They only need to sell a small number of them to make mucho dinero

[@joelmcdaniel2343]

Does seat fold out of the way or come off quikly

[@jimbin-yp8kw]

Have you ever tried the rogue or the sorinex lat pulldown? I am trying to decide between the 2. Any advice?

[@fwiffo42]

I’ve used the Sorinex version before and it was nice, but it’s annoying switching from the high pulley to the low pulley because you have to disconnect the high attachment and connect a cable to the top attachment point to use the low pulley. If money and space were no object, I’d get the Rogue. The biggest downside with Rogue is the size and the fact that it ships fully assembled so unloading and moving it into your space can be more difficult.

[@Ash_4949]

My favorite exercise is cable lateral raise. Can you do that on this machine?

[@fwiffo42]

Great review! I have the version 1 and have a lot of the same complaints. That being said, overall it’s still a great piece for the money (though I did get mine for about $200 less I think). The other one in this price range I looked at besides Titan was Fray’s. But they were out of stock and I heard horror stories from people who ordered from them. If I was looking now, I’d also consider the one from Crandall Fitness. It looks very similar to the Bells and Titan models. I’m not sure what the tubing size is, but I think it’s 3x3 with 5/8” holes.

[@tadleyironwood7595]

How long are the plate horns on the plate loaded version? Anyone know..also should have a way to do leg extentions on the low row pully

[@Spark0872]

Great video. Where can I get one of those “Bar Don’t Lie” shirts?

[@GlucksGym]

That's Basement Brandon's shirt. He's released them a few times in limited quantities.

[@extrasmack]

Don't know if it counts for anything, but 444th like. They could release a 3x3 "deluxe" model priced closer to Rogue and keep the standard at the current Titan-slayer price point.

[@GlucksGym]

Some say the 444th like is the most important one. I think Bells competes very well in the budget space and if Titan can do it for this price maybe Bells can to?

[@HughLeFitness]

I'm more interested in the UA joggers TBH lol. Where did you get them?

[@GlucksGym]

hhahaha, Wynie gets me almost all of my workout clothing so I'm not entirely sure.

[@joelmcdaniel2343]

What about power tech how good is there latt pull down?

[@thesummoning14]

What’s the attachment you are using at 5:05?

[@GlucksGym]

That is a Gym Pin pro d handle with Angles 90 grips. I think my code still takes 10% off (Gluck) but they're not cheap.

[@jaybrodi9029]

Hi Gluck. I need a barbell primarily for OHP in my garage. What is the best bar available for this? STAINLESS STEEL OHIO POWER BAR?

[@clb121781]

Great review, as always. Definitely some missed opportunities by Bells. 3x3 1” hole tubing is the future.

[@GlucksGym]

Would've been nice with the 3x3. Idk the it should be the future, I still think it's overkill but it's too late to change that now 😂

[@clb121781]

@@GlucksGym It is “overkill” from a strength standpoint. The versatility of 4 way 1” holes is where it really shines. You get a lot more bang for your buck!

[@GlucksGym]

@@clb121781 yes but there's not really much of a reason 5/8" can't have equal 4 way hole spacing and with Rep changing the 4000 to equal 4 way others may be forced to follow suit. I get it's a cost savings which combined with a few others things keeps those racks a little cheaper but still. In a different world maybe everyone doing 3/4" hardware would've been a happy middle ground? Who knows

[@clb121781]

@@GlucksGym I wouldn’t feel good using a 5/8” leg roller, for non split squat movements,with just one pin. That’s the advantage of 1”. 1 pin, no additional brackets to limit placement. Did rep go to 4 way 5/8”?

[@justinrees2400]

Paying for a full weight stack for 2 back movements is STEEEEP

[@GlucksGym]

It's worth it for the curls

[@djaric]

Look at all those Drink Spotter mounting holes on those uprights.

[@futbol1972]

Iam thinking of moving my titan lat pull down along wall to attach a dip station to the back of it, also I wanna attach landmine to the legs and also attach my symetey crossover bands to the uprights. However my titan lat pull down machine does not has holes all the way up

[@jerseyjim9092]

For those that have this, how is it shipped? I'm assuming since its over 500lbs, its not UPS or FedEx.

[@crowynsthervil3245]

Have you ever shared your opinions on the best lat pull down combos?

[@steverapos3904]

Looks like BoS was targeting hardcore users with that high weight stack - got to think that with a still pretty heavy 200 pound stack the cable length would probably be no issues despite the 1 to 1 weight ratio.

[@GlucksGym]

Unfortunately once Rogue made a 300 lb stack everyone else had to follow. In reality the vast majority don't need that much weight but that's not how advertisements and the internet works.

[@applecorer7705]

Sad you don't have ATX Fitness sold in the US, their lat pulldown low row LSW750 seems nice for a cheaper price

[@GoreckiFit]

I think most companies do a poor job with instructions. Gotta love the diagram and mislabeled bolts 😂

[@YourFavoriteLibertarian]

I felt like the whole time you were using the bells of steel lat/row, your Ares was staring at you saying "Dude. Seriously? I'm right here." Was that just me?

[@GlucksGym]

Hahahaha that legitimately made me laugh

[@preston0808]

Where can I get that dual pulley connector at 2:04 ??

[@GlucksGym]

That came with the Ares from Rep

[@andresmaldonado7356]

I literally was just looking at last towers and stopped once seeing cost of the quality ones offered by several companies including Bells of Steel

[@GlucksGym]

Yeah the selectorized ones have really shot up on price. We may review the plate loaded version.

[@GavinBrown]

1:25 New wall poster for your shop? Or 0:31 if you want to retire...

[@futbol1972]

It looks like u can probably do belt squats there?

[@GlucksGym]

Didn't think of trying it but there's a possibility

[@meisdetermined]

Nice shirt. :)

[@GlucksGym]

The shirt makes me look 4x bigger

[@rodolfomedini9931]

The 2.3" tube by itself will have me go titan at the same cost. BUT the vertical pulls is attractive.. bells 3.0 at 3x3 please

[@Bigspanish83]

My only complaint is the cheap padding & seat

[@bickfordfitness5544]

What about for a private training studio? So definitely not a home gym but nowhere near the volume of us as say a Planet Fitness

[@GlucksGym]

Would work very well in that setting

[@joemomma707]

Your videos are the best!!! Question. I was thinking about getting the rep 5000 with the ares or Athena. But I don’t like that the movement for the lat pulldown and back row isn’t the same as an isolated unit like this. Do you have a better recommendation for an isolated lat pulldown and row? If so, which is it? Maybe one that has the row better?

[@GlucksGym]

All of these in this price range (ok I'm probably generalizing too much) have very low low rows. Bells stand alone is better than some others like the Ares for example where it's definitely low and can be a little awkward but still functional but they all have their quirks. Even Rogue's you're still on the ground so unless you're going Prime you're battling similar things. For all the Ares issues or Dual Athena with their lat low, it's hard to beat the space savings but a good dedicated unit will always be better

[@whatishappening8851]

LOL 8:25 - got me

[@GlucksGym]

I have to face reality with why people are here 😂

[@HeCoversMe]

I hate it when my rod just hangs there with no where to go haha. I thought you would grab on to that one oops grab on to that one ha I need to stop thanks Gluck

[@marksimmons5839]

So it looks like Fray Fitness puts out a 3x3 version of this... Im not sure how tall this unit is but Fray's is 95"

[@juandominguez6069]

I am also looking at the fray fitness lat pulldown. Not yet which one to pick.

[@carps_gym]

🥈

[@GlucksGym]

That needs to be changed to a second place medal, Baylee wins again.

[@carps_gym]

Ha ha. When I commit it said no comments🤷🏻‍♂️

[@marksimmons5839]

Almost First!!!!

[@GlucksGym]

Someday I hope it's thousands of people competing for that first comment, that would be wild.

[@SteveKelly1]

the algorithm has nothing on this comment

[@GlucksGym]

algorithm buster

[@massiminimakes]

Wearing his shirt and second on the Patron list. How much did Brandon have to pay for that privilege?

[@GlucksGym]

Hahahah a fortune. It's just reverse order of who joined atm.

[@WalkingLegacy]

Best latpull down machine is Rogue LP-2

[@bigdude382]

My plate loaded version came today, absolutely horrible assembly instructions

[@baylee0831]

first

[@GlucksGym]

Is that two weeks in a row?!

[@surviveitforbeginner]

I won't buy anything from Titan, the customer service is horrific!

[@williegarcia3945]

I guess it's hit or miss because they have always been good to me

[@surviveitforbeginner]

@@williegarcia3945 have you ever had a problem with one of your orders? If they took care of you that’s great, but they where total trash when I had a problem with one of the 16 items I ordered($3200.00 in total) they refused to help me and all it would have cost them was $35 in return shipping.

[@Skkj0802]

They should copy the rep adonis.