Budget Cable Tower & Squat Rack Combo: Bells of Steel Cable Tower Review 

Ignore my sound dampening echo blanket in the mirror and subscribe instead 🤪

Really appreciate the honest review and feedback as always Adrian!

Thanks for reviewing the cable tower - I love seeing review of things I already own LOL I emailed you a while back to ask about the cable tower, and you said it was made from the same parts as the Bells' other stuff you've reviewed, so we bought one. It replaced a plate-loaded machine, and for me, having a stack is definitely worth the extra bucks. It's SO compact it fits in a corner of the dining room.

These cable pulley towers are game changers. I would say that after getting adjustbale dumbbells and an adjustbale bench, buying one of these should be everyones next buy. I love my plate laoded one sooo much (Not bells of steel but basically same)

I wasn't expecting you to review this piece, I just finished setting up mine (double plate loaded set up) and am currently taking a bathroom break before I try it 😂. I already see a few areas they cut corners though and I haven't really put any weight on them yet, but I'm still hoping I enjoy the hell out of it for the next few years.

Bells should work with Matthew Porter to bring out some of his attachments for it. Great review. I just assumed it was 3x3 and I wish it was taller as well.

It would be incredible if BoS sold a cross members that allowed you to have various lengths between the stacks to make a more legitimate cable cross set up. Plus with a cross member you could attach their deluxo Globe Pull up bar and have a really legit set up

*Pause video to read Gluck's notes* "Pull Through: No issues. I'm not sure I can do these on camera, my male viewer base might get too excited." LOL

That "leg exercise thingy" was a good one. I hope no one was hurt filming that.

@10:36 I have this setup (both are the weight stack version). You can avoid this issue if you offset the "feet" when you're building the towers. Since they'll be offset, you MUST bolt it down for stability, but this isn't an issue for squats or any other movement if you do. IMO, these must be bolted or attached to the wall regardless because they really aren't stable otherwise so this is a non-issue.

I've been eying up the plate-loaded version for a while. Looks like today is the day! I just ordered (using your affiliate link, of course). Decided to splurge and get the upgraded pulleys. I know it has its limitations, but for the price and footprint, it seems pretty awesome. Also excited to try out some of the DIY options from Kyle at Kaizen Gym and Matthew Porter in order to make it even better. Thanks for the honest video!

I would love to see a review of the rep wall mounted Athena please.

great review, youre always so balanced and fair. I really look forward to your Rep Adonis review!

Great review. Those are good compact options. I think it is great that BOS keeps sending you stuff even when you are giving them tough love.

I’m excited to see your take on the all in one trainer

I have one of these with a weight stack and I use it 3-4 times a week. Love it. Very smooth and plenty versatile. Also, no need for the back upright if you're bolting it to a wall stud. My only issue is they don't sell a compatible seat or anything to hold your legs down for lat pulldowns, but supposedly they have something in the works. Also the odd sizing means you're not going to find any accessories from 3rd parties so what you see on their site is all your gonna get.

I have the original version of the plate loaded ones attached to my titan T-2. I upgraded to the metal pulleys and wish I would’ve saved my money on that. Also, it’s a little tricky storing weight on my rack without it getting I the way of something. But other than those two things, I’ve been really happy with it. I would love bells to make a foot plate attachment for it to make rows and pull downs easier.

Love the shirt Gluck!

Thanks for this review bro! I've toyed with the idea of upgrading from my cheap Valor cable tower to the BoS selectorized stack version, but I just can't justify the extra cost. I love the functionality a cable tower brings with such a small footprint, but a cheap plate loaded one does the trick for what I use it for-- which is mostly lighter accessory exercises. I love it for lying lateral raises, face pulls, unilateral flyes, wrist curls, etc. My Rhino + UPS handles the rest of my heavier cable work.

Always happy to see a Mighty cameo!🐶

Thanks for the review. I have 2 of these with weight stacks and I agree with every point you make. Mine are bolted to the wall 60 ins apart across a corner of the room and IMO used like that they are an unbeatable functional trainer. Because of the tiny footprint of each one, I have room for a cardio machine and storage in the corner between them. Try THAT with other trainers! Don't even think of making them into a squat rack, like you say that's just a bad idea by Bells. Also get two or go home.

Just purchased using your link! I have been DIYing my cable work for a few months now and excited to get this piece. Considering getting a few extra crossmembers and an upright to mount it to off my rack to make it fit seamless to the side of my 6 post

Genuinely believe think these are the best items in the BoS catalog and a great value. Some shitty build instructions, a bit of QC issues (one of the selectorizor rods in my two towers arrived completely mangled and the holes didn’t line up w/ the weight plates), so still a long way for BoS to go to catch up with the Rogues and REPs of the world, but once you get past those things they were great adds.

Yeah I have the front feet moved off center, still stable, can get my bench in.

Great review. Have this BoS plate-loaded version and it fits well in my basement gym. I also offset the front feet, and screwed into a wall stud it is solid, but was wondering about this issue if I add a second tower. Only reason I haven’t yet is I am waiting on a review of the BoS all-in-one first to see if I can just get that instead and free up a ton of space by getting rid of my power rack.

I got so hyped thinking this was for the all in one trainer haha, still haven't seen anyone review it yet. I'm patiently waiting!

I like my plate loaded set quite a bit. I plan on upgrading pulleys one day but the lower starting price was nice. I moved the feet out 1 or 2 holes so that I can get under the squat bar easier. My rack is bolted into the wall and the floor with the pull up bar as a brace so there is no stability issues. My ceiling is 81' 1 3/4" tall and this rack fit so perfectly that It basically touches. The height was the biggest thing I wanted out of this rack.

Great review as always! You guys are by far the best channel for home gym content out right now. Wish they used more standard sizing like 2" x 2" + 1" holes so you'd have a lot more places to get attachments. But otherwise seem like a decent product for someone just wanting a cable tower. I've seen someone mount one on each side of their Mikolo 3" x 3" Power Cage to get a pretty sweet budget 3" x 3" rack setup with a wide cable crossover which is neat. Also, do you think could bolt the front feet in a different position so that they went out to the sides more and didn't get in the way as much when using it as a squat rack? Would only be viable/stable when using two towers attached together like shown in this video but it may improve the half-rack use case if it's possible. Lastly, on an unrelated note, any chance we'll see a review of the Keppi Bench 5000? Really want to see your take on that thing since it seems like one of the best values on the market!

You can easily offset the feet so they stick out less. They'll stick out more on the other side, obviously. But it would give space in the middle which is what is important.

I bought a the single tower with the weight stack about a few weeks ago and I love it. Do agree about the flies and I also wish that the tower was a little taller. The instructions were mehh. I forgot to put the solid plate under the weight stack. Hopefully nothing bad happens. I had the lat pulldown/seated cable row attatchment that was plate loaded and really didnt want to have to go looking for plates when I wanted to do an exercise. That's the main reason why I went with the weight stack. I also love the ability to do a 2:1 and 1:1 pull ratio. I prefer to use the 2:1 for lighter isolation exercises as it seems smoother.

Good to see you compare the two options here and be honest about what works well and what the limitations are. I’m also glad you added text about making the feet offset. I think that’s a must if you want to use a pair like a half rack. The pronunciation of Adonis reminded me of some missteps by other reviewers 🤔

I have a friend who made a functional trainer using the functional towers that Titan offers, and it works👍

Another great video on a product I've been very interested in. It honestly looks like a great option EXCEPT for one of the biggest concerns I had not thought about: safety when stepping away from the rack like for squats. That alone has changed my interest from "90% going to get this" to strongly reconsidering. That was a good catch so big thanks for bringing it up. Looks like I'm back to considering the dialed motion products on a Titan x3 or something.

I think I'd rather have a lat pull down/low row for the money and space. And yes, I would definitely be tripping over those feet. Great job pointing those practical things out.

5:30 you said doo-doo 😂

Just got to use the Titan Single Stack, the BOS upgrades still seems like a great value and addition to any home gym.

I have that same bells of steel setup love it except the doing chest flys is a pain. I would like to see you review the New Titan Nemesis Trainer!

great review! if you get two and use jcups/spotter arms in the front, is there a rated weight limit, say for benching when wall mounted?

Bought two of these weight stacks and put them opposite of each other to make a cable cross over. Best decision ever. They’re about 84inches apart so it’s great for chest flies and other exercises. Would definitely recommend over the setup in this video if you can do it. For the price they need to add numbers to the uprights. BoS shipping is fcking horrible though. They also need to offer smaller feet.

can't wait for the all in on trainer review. Could you film yourself doing incline bench press with it? Im scared the bench would hit the center post

These are so close but I think they missed the mark by not going to a 2x3 or even better the 3x3 tubing to open it to so many more attachments. But still a great value for the money.

Id cut off one of the legs on each side where youd trip over them walking out for a squat. They’re unnecessary with the cross bar joining the stacks.

Not really something I'm in the market for atm, but great review as always!

Hi Gluck. Id like to see a review of the body solid pro select weight assist dip/chin up machine. Im on a weight loss journey and so far down 55lbs. imnow 221lbs from 276 still to heavy for dips or chin ups. I saw this machine on a RU-vid video and curious about it as it would allow to do do these exercises while assisted . Thoughts? Thank you for the great content Jim

Any plans to review the Ancore Pro or Exxentric KPulley Go? Looking for a more portable, smaller cable solution personally.

My biggest issue is I want 3x3 uprights to make my other attachments fit. I want their seal row pad, but I'd like to use it on both the tower and my Monster lite rack.

Not related to this video but I was wondering if one would have to disassemble an olympic dumbbell rod to lubricate the sleeves as you would for a barbell. Is it possible to disassemble it and if yes is it necessary?

For the bottom legs, you can move them to the outside (there's holes for it). Contacted BoS and it's made for that, so it wouldn't be in your way when doing squats or rolling the bench in-between.

Reps wall-mounted Athena looks to be similar to the BoS plate stack versions. Any thoughts on the WM Athena? Doesn't seem to be much out there for reviews and looks like it could be a good option for a Do-It-All piece of equipment for a space challenged gym. Any thoughts? Enjoy your content! Thanks!

Is that back stabilizer upright something that you could use to bolt into say a Rogue Monster Lite with one of their cross members?

Do these cable towers line up with the manticore sides with the 5/8ths keyholes to make a functional trainer like the athena (although Athena is better)

Would you consider reviewing the GETRXD FUNCTIONAL TRAINER SINGLE COLUMN WEIGHT STACK 2000 and comparing it to the bells of steel cable tower?

i have plate loaded & nylon ones are shit, lot of resistance, i finally shelled out for aluminium pulleys and there is night & day difference between them. if you looking to buy BOS tower make sure you budget for aluminium pulleys in near future 🙂 if not right away

I've been a big fan of mine. I bought two selectorized ones with the back upright and they have been the most useful equipment I have so far. However, the height limitation on them is a bit annoying for tricep pushdowns specifically. Other than that one exercise it's been fine for me (I'm 6'0 as well) To anyone getting this I would also recommend getting PlateMate magnetic weights so you can increase the weight in smaller increments than 10 pounds.

Review Bells of Steel new plate loaded functional trainer.

I’ve been very heavily looking at the selectorized all in one 👀 how long till that review drops ? I really value your opinion and don’t wanna get it before watching but I’m also impatient

Do you think this would bolt to the side of a Rogue 90” SML 2?

Are you going to be reviewing the BOS Dreadmill? They have pics but no video, and it's not so intuitive when looking at it...

Plz review the plate loaded all in one trainer from Bells!

does it come with 1 or 2 inch plate posts? i have 400lbs of 1 inch weight plates and dont want to have to buy another 400lbs in 2 inch plates lol

The glorious rings stealing a cameo

Bells has a ton of options in pulley systems these days.

Would love to see the Voltra compared to single stacks like this and the new Rep one coming out.

Im torn between this one and the titan version

Will you check out the titan nemesis 300 lb stack? I’m not gonna buy it or anything, I just haven’t seen anyone review it…

How do you think it stacks up against the Titan wall mounted cable pulley tower? I see Bells is about $70 more expensive for the plate loaded version, so kinda similar price range.

Are these compatible with a Manticore Rack ?

i got one plate loaded at christmas with the intent to get another to have a 2 sided rack

Is it possible to load 20 kg plates (450 mm diameter) on the plate loaded version if it is wall mounted? It looked like they went over the back upright?

Can you do a review for Extreme Jacked Up Rack? Thanks.

It appears the front feet have multiple holes, can you not separate them more (since some stability it taken care of by the pull up bar) and have more space to squat/setup the bench?

I think the feet thing can be easily fixed right? Have bells of steel just add more holes at one end and you can move the feet out a little bit.

Are you planning on reviewing the all in one trainer they make?

🥇

Pop open the pulleys and spray with silicon spray.

How to do lat pulldowns on this?

OK but the million dollar question is: if someone buys the aluminum pulley upgrade kit, how close to the feel of the weight stack version can we get to? Inquiring minds need to know! Lol

"Do Do" hehe

60x60

Also his job to model for them

I gave this a like, mostly for the dog joke.

Can you add lever arms to it and review that?

Review the rogue tower 😂

TBH I am not a fan of Bells products. When I compare quality/price vs the competition I just dont feel they compete. paying almost 1,200 for the selectorized version when compared to the REP Athena doesn’t make sense IMO. Now you have to have a power rack for the Athena so maybe thats where the separation comes in for Bells. Thanks so much for the review. Love the channel.

Fwiw, the ironmasters super bench pro slides perfectly between the feet. That said, i ordered 2, plus j cups, pull up bar, and safety spotters. The powder coat on the towers was damaged in identical spots on both towers, the j cup coating was chipped, and the powder coat can about an inch into the pull up bar. Those issues coupled with the terrible directions and also terrible assembly video really gave me a bad taste for Bells as a company.

Once you go stack you never go back.

One of these days Im going to find something under 80 inches tall :/

Wait, is it “A-dough-nus” or “A-Don-is”?

Uh-dough-nis?😂

I just came to read the hateful comments of losers who live in their mom's basement.

How exactly did you say “Adonis” at the end of the video? Bro needs to review correct pronunciation of the Greek Gods 😂

Butt wink😉😆

third