Review on SELEWARE Cable Machine Attachments For Gym - Non-Slip D Handle And Rotating Straight Bar, Universal Pulley System And Resistance Band Attachment With Rubber Handle Grip For Lat Pull Down Exercises by Alexis Guiney

Very well-made, heavy duty metal rotating straight bar with very comfortable, slightly padded, contoured TPE grips. I think this is a great bar, especially for the price, and recommend it highly. I have other Seleware exercise equipment and they are all well made.SPECSAccording to the manufacturer, the bar comes in 18” and 22” lengths. (See suggestions below on choosing the appropriate length.) My 18” bar only measured 17 1/4” long. The main portion of the bar is a thick 26mm (1”) in diameter. The central rotating part with the eyelet attachment hole is 34mm (1.35”) in diameter. The eyelet has a relatively small 13mm (1/2”) diameter. The bar weighs 843g (almost 2 lbs.), which feels very substantial without being too heavy. It’s made of steel and has a center section that rotates 360º without binding. The finish is perfectly smooth.The grips seem to be made of TPE (thermoplastic elastomer), a rubber-like material. They feel very slightly padded and have a surface pattern of overlapping triangles with rounded corners that, with the natural anti-slip property of the TPE, provides a firm grip. The handle is 37mm (1.5”) diameter in the center and tapers slightly to 34.5mm (1.36”) at the ends.Each grip is 5 3/4” long. The usable portion of the grip before it bulges out is about 5” and the patterned portion of the grip is 4 1/2” long. It should be large enough to accommodate most hand sizes. On the 18” model, the distance between the midpoints of the patterned parts of the grips is about 11 1/2”. The end of the grip is rounded and bulges outward. If you need a little extra length, you can hang one, or possibly two, fingers over the edge of the bar.There is absolutely no smell from off-gassing, even right out of the packaging.ASSESSMENTI judge a bar mainly by quality of construction and comfort of the grip. This bar feels really solid due to the weight and lack of any flexing. I find the handles extremely comfortable and "grippy.” I usually prefer straight knurled metal handles, but I think the slightly tapered contour and slight padding of the grips makes them slightly more comfortable. (I wear gloves, so the difference is probably more noticeable without gloves.)I found the 18” (really 17 1/4”) bar to be nice and compact but not quite wide enough for some exercises where I want my elbows to rest to the side of my torso and, of course, exercises where my elbows are flared out to the side. A disadvantage of this bar is that you can only vary your grip by around 5” whereas with a longer knurled metal bar you have a much greater choice of grip widths.I find the bar works very well with resistance bands. However, because the eyelet is only 1/2” in diameter, it won’t fit the carabiners built into both ends of my Bodylastics bands. So I need to attach them to a third carabiner and attach that carabiner to the bar, which is a minor inconvenience.CHOICE OF SIZEChoosing between the 18” and 22” lengths requires a bit of thought and, unfortunately, the manufacturer provides no guidance. I think the best way to decide is to position your hands along a tape measure as if the tape were the exercise bar, measure the distance between the outside of your hands, and add about two inches (1” for each grip) since you will probably position your hands in the middle of the grip, not at the ends. That will give you a good approximation of what size bar you want. I found that the 18” length (really 17 1/4”) works well if I have my elbows pressed against my abs and that the 22” might be better if my elbows are by my sides, especially if I want to externally rotate my shoulders a bit. Big guys might prefer the 22” length in all cases.I have no hesitation recommending this bar highly though, in retrospect, I would have chosen the 22” over the 18” bar. If you check out the Seleware store you’ll see that they specialize in things like mounting brackets and hooks, so fitness equipment appears to be a product-line extension that’s related to their specialty. Their other stuff has lots of decent ratings, which suggests that they are a real brand that tries to produce good-quality products.