As someone who has built a pulley station from scratch, I probably would have forked out more initially for the aluminium pulleys knowing how quiet they sound in your video. If you bought it with nylon pulleys, I would say wait till they wear out and then replace it for better quality ones, rather than swap them out right away as you'll probably never use them again. If you use the machine enough that they wear out, then you'll definitely justify getting your money's worth with aluminium ones.
I replaced my pulleys with aluminum and so glad I did! The pull is definitely smoother than the stock nylon wheels. I’ll add that the cheapest I found aluminum wheels was on Walmart marketplace.
Thanks man! I actually have the titan and upgraded it to new pulleys. 100% worth it. It feels like the commercial grade pulley machines at the gym. Altho now I'm a bit jealous that I didn't get a bells of steel outright then replace them. 😂
I'm surprised that the aluminium pulley has made such a difference. I would have thought the most noise would have come from the weight plate carriage going up and down rather than those of the pulley. Smoothest weight carriage I've seen is "elitefts QUICK SHIP Lat Pull Down". Not many videos on it, but i'd be interested in videos in future if you experiment with UHMW, and matters of low friction.
The new pulleys look great, and if they make the system feel smoother… so worth the cost in my opinion! By the way do you have stickers with your logo? I just got a used functional trainer and want to cover it in stickers of channels I like watching?
Whichever type of pulley you have, I recommend lubricating the bearing. I bought the same aluminum pulleys to upgrade my titan T2 lat attachment. Noticed a big improvement after spraying some white lithium on each side of the bearing and spinning it while horizontal to ensure it got in there. Also tried some dry film lubricant spray, but it didn't work as well as the white lithium grease spray.
Thanks for the review of these! I have a bells of steel cable tower and it’s been great. The upgrade to aluminum is on my list but I’m saving my money for a pair of the 120 pound Pepin adjustable dumbbells which are going to run around $2000 🙈
ok, here's the math. if each pulley has a capacity of 500lbs then your total capacity is... 500lbs because once you exceed the capacity of any one of them then it breaks and you're done. just like a chain is only as strong as its weakest links so to is a pulley. sure there is a way of putting them together for big numbers, but some of these are setup by themselves... like hat one in the back for sure
Thanks! I’ve been using my DIY wooden pulley tower for a while and now decided to recruit my welder and build more solid steel version. If you were building your own pulley system, would you copy the design of the machines you got? Or would you improve something?
I would combine the concept of the Bells tower with the upright with holes, and the pulley slider thing I am currently working on. In my head, they two pair perfectly.
At $9 a pulley I'd consider this upgrade... but at the current price of $21 the value just isn't there. Especially since I'd have to replace pulleys on two towers. However I'll definitely be looking for price drops so I can do this upgrade.
@@KaizenDIYGym it did help. Just th4 functional trainer has a ton of pulleis and would be expensive. I would like more smoothness, so it did help answer that question.
So I have a titan x3 rack and I was thinking about adding the titan wall mount tower to it. The way the titan and bells of steel mount look very similar. Do you think the bells of steel can mount to the x3 rack?
Great video! About smoothness, is bells of steel with aluminum pulleys mush more smoother that titan with aluminum pullies? You said that bells of steel has better build up quality but does it seriously affect the smoothness?
Great video! one question about your DIY rack attached lateral raise: do you feel the resistance is very unconstant throughout the moment? since it does not have a cam disc.
Back and forth on the aluminum upgrade. If I’m not mistaken, the Titan pulley wheels are 90mm, correct? The best deals I can find are for 88mm wheels. Do you think they’re interchangeable?
@@KaizenDIYGymSo I scored all 13 pulleys for $115 off eBay, which I thought was a great deal. I do think they are slightly wider, as it was a tight fit in places. Biggest issue is the 2 pulleys at the very top toward the front of the tower. They are fixed at an angle, and I immediately noticed they rub together. Tried to grind them down with a dremel and even tried wedging them apart to gain clearance. As of now, they rub ever so slightly, so I’m hoping they naturally wear down over time.
I have a similiar "china" dual pulley available in Germany. I have some clicking bearings and some with dents. Do you think changing to high quality bearings (around 40€) will have a similar effect than switching to alumium pulleys (ca. 150€). Noise ain't a concern for just the feeling when pulling.
PSA: I purchased some 88mm Bells of Steel pulleys for my Titan Fitness v3 cable tower - but they DID NOT FIT!!! The center max width of the BoS pulleys are a couple of mm too wide, unfortunately. However, I did MAKE them fit by very slightly prying apart the sides of each steel pulley well (ie where pulleys mount) using an adjustable crescent wrench… slowly but very firmly… until I could tap them in. I’ve been using the new pulleys without any issues, no rubbing etc.. for several days now. The difference is VERY significant for light weight movements (eg. lateral raises), especially on the eccentric. It feels effectively frictionless now. There was a very noticeable amount of friction with the stock pulleys. Some of them wouldn’t even spin freely in their own (without a cable) when testing them. Bad idea, Titan. When I bought the tower, I didn’t think I cared too much about resistance or efficiency (just use less weight, ya sissy!), but then I realized resistance on the ECCENTRIC is the real issue. If you’re doing heavy movements like rows, pull downs, belt squats etc.. the friction doesn’t matter because the added resistance is a fraction of a fraction of what you are pulling. But if you’re pulling 10 pounds and are focusing on controlling the eccentric, the friction will do too much of the work for you. A 10 pound lateral raise might feel like 13 on the way up, but only 7 pounds on the way down. That friction is cheating you out of your gains, guys! 😮 Get real pulleys on your cable towers, y’all!
Hey kaizen I was wondering if you can show how to connect the diy leg press to the lat tower attached to your rep rack. I have the same thing however I have a titan t3 rack and a titan leg press the first version. Any ideas will help. And it can be a cool video idea.
Check out the end of this video: ru-vid.comUvT7hT5Z7SQ it's not a walkthrough on how to set it up, but it'll get you started. I'll plan on making a "set up" video as well.
I bought 2 of the Titan towers for a total of $360 in 2021 which feels like a great deal now. So I will probably just keep the plastic pulleys until they fall apart bc I want to maintain the value. But if I were putting a new rig together I would strongly consider 2 BoS towers, a crossmember, and a bunch of attachments. Seems like an economical way to have a very versatile luxury power rack. Especially if you spring for the aluminum pulleys. I use the towers 2-4 times a week.
I have a titan with the upgraded wheels. Worth the upgrade for it performs way better. I fo agree that you should buy the wheels while on sale or you would spend just as much as the tower itself
I have a question that bothers me, does the diameter of the pulley change anything in the mass that we lift ? Thanks j’ai une question qui me turlupine, est-ce que le diamètre de la poulie change quelque chose à la masse qu’on soulève ? Merci
Great video dude! I’ve been looking into getting a couple of these towers. I love your belt squat idea. Also love the Protest The Hero famed album cover 🤘🏼
After watching your DIY cable belt squat, I'm thinking about selling my powertec leg press and buying a bells of steel cable tower with the weight stack and turning it into a belt squat station. Do you think your titan fitness belt squat setup will work for the bells of steel cable tower? I'm hoping to use it as a dedicated belt squat and as a regular cable tower. Would love to see more videos on the bells of steel tower. keep up the great work.
Yeah, it would definitely work. Plate loaded towers are better for belt squats, in my opinion. With the stack version, you have to lift the entire stack up if you want to start the belt squat from the standing position. The DIY belt squat platform I made will totally work with the BOS tower.
I’ve got a rebranded titan unit and seriously considering investing in the upgrade wheels. My only worry is the cabling. Have u seen any issues with the cables as mine seems to have minor fraying under the outer coating. Thanks for the constant inspiration :)
I know this is an older video and you made a better solution for the belt squat buddy and its downsides. However I made one of the belt squats (love it) and I just pull the pin on the tower raise it up and clip out and then clip back in from the top and as I descend into the hole of the squat I pull the pin on the tower and get it down to my starting position and lock it. Honestly works great and I don’t find a need to build another diy to “hack” that starting position.
That’s an overpriced piece of climbing equipment but it inspired me to make this: fandfsteel.com/collections/partnered-kaizen-gym-products/products/f-f-steel-kaizen-pulley-multiplier-combine-multiple-cables-in-one
Great idea when you used 2x4 or 2x6 for those butterflies any chance of giving up your angles ? I'm a 66 year old paraplegic I've been working with free weights for 45 years thinking of purchasing one of these machines, i figure it would easier on my joints Great video !! Thanks Richard
Great review as usual!! I've been going back and forth between the BOS and Titan version for a while. I was psyched that the Titan has the capability to load 1" plates because I have quite a few of those old suckers. BUT it clearly seems like the BOS version is superior in every other way. What did you use to mount to your wall? I have a Titan X-3 rack that I could mount it to but I will likely mount it to the wall. Thanks for the awesome content!
I bought those exact pulleys on Amazon and they were not as smooth as my old plastic pulleys on my 25 year old wate-man plate loaded cable machine. typical Chinese junk imo can’t speak on behalf of the bells of steel pulleys
Sounds like we got different batches. Every aluminum pulley wheel I’ve even purchased has been silky smooth. I’m not sure where Bells sources their pulleys.
I've been impressed with every video I've seen that features the Bells of Steel pulley tower. It's just so obviously superior to the Titan. Titan at one time offered a design that included the dual guide rods, but got rid of it in their version 3 for some reason. You can tell that there's some friction between the single guide they use and the bearing that slides up and down. Nowhere near as smooth. I was thinking of actually swapping out the plastic pulleys on my Titan rack-mounted attachment, but now I'm a little on the fence.
Yeah, I’m sure Titan did it to lower the cost. While Bells is definitely superior, I bought the Titan used for $150 and for that it was a good deal. Being able to add attachments to the BOS tower opens up a world of possibilities.
Whats the difference between solid pulley wheels and the hollow ones you used? I've seen both for sale. Not sure which to buy as the nylon ones are solid
I cracked a pully on my Rep PR5000 lat pull down system. I just ordered pulleys from Rep and they where $9 full retail including shipping. With tax shipped for 2 of them (I ordered an extra just in case) $19.08
