Lat Pulldown Low Row Machine

I was on the fence about buying the plate loaded version over the weight stack version. Man I am happy with my choice the plate loaded version is more functional with the range of motion. I am about 6’2 225lbs. I can hit my lats perfectly, triceps pull down full range motion. If you on the fence buy the plate loaded you won’t be missing out.

First let's start with the Good:

Shipping: The pulldown arrive very quickly. It was on my doorstep 3 days after I ordered it. I was pleasantly surprised by that. Good job BoS for your prompt processing and shipping!

Packaging: Although the boxes were beat up a bit (thanks FedEx), everything (mostly) survived and came well protected in cardboard and bubble wrap. The pads were all intact with no tears and all metal components were oiled up and rust free. Once more, good job BoS!

The Lat-Pull down itself: I tend to be hyper-critical and "nitpicky" according to everyone that knows me. However I can, without reservation, say that the Lat pulldown itself is outstanding! Before purchase I was contemplating either a Used commercial Unit, a similar (significantly less expensive) unit from a competing vendor (rhymes with "Whiten"), or the BoS unit. I chose the BoS unit based on design preferences. I was hoping it would meet my expectations (of being solid, stable, smooth and quiet) - but it actually exceeded them! It is incredibly solid and offers a commercial-grade level of smoothness. If you were blindfolded and placed on both the BoS Pulldown and a Commercial Gym pulldown - you would struggle to pick which was the BoS unit. It's that smooth and solid. I could not be more pleased and cannot recommend it highly enough. But you're probably asking...If I love it that much, why did I only give it 4-stars? I'll tell you why - because I had to assemble the machine (just…

The Lat tower low row from bells of steel has been amazing. it’s extremely smooth, even with no weight on it except for the base plate, it travels effortlessly. There is no issue with the light weight feeling like it barely travels, which is an issue with some such devices. The eccentric and concentric move equally smoothly. The smaller pulleys that attach to the front of the low row don’t spin very smoothly, so I was concerned that there would be an issue when using the low row, but even at 10 pounds the eccentric moves, almost as if it wasn’t attached to anything and just fell with the normal force you would expect with gravity.

Like with pretty much any Non commercial cable machine, there can be an issue with the selector rod hitting the top plate on the eccentric, so you may need to use some sort of a shim underneath the feet of your device to get it perfectly centered, but this does not affect function. It just makes a little sound if it happens to tap the top plate, but you won’t feel a difference in the actual movement.

You won’t be able to do a full range of motion lateral raise or single arm chest fly with this due to the weight stack hitting the top of the machine before reaching full range of motion. The included chain is very helpful to allow for full range of motion for other exercises, but unless you have very short arms, a full ROM lateral raise or chest fly is just not possible.

I am able to get full range of motion leg extensions and leg curls. I do leg…

I just assembled and tried a few exercise selections on the plate loaded lat pulldown/low row. Shipping was very prompt and all pieces were well packaged to prevent damage or missing parts.

Assembly was fairly straight forward. If you have any mechanical knowledge, it’s easy to figure out how to assemble this thing. I agree the instructions could be a little more detailed. It’s more like following diagrams and paint by number basis. The hardware is of Chinese origin and pretty cheap. Easy to strip bolt heads if not careful. My advice, assemble and hand tighten the nut/bolts until it’s all assembled, then go ahead and tighten down after. The unit feels quite solid after it’s all tightened down.

I had to test it after assembly and it seems like it will suit my needs just fine. Thankfully the foot rest plate comes off because I’ve scraped the back of my calves a time or two getting up and out of the seat.