Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar Review
Overall
User Review
( votes)Summary
The Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar is the company’s take on the classic bar. They’ve added a cable attachment and narrowed the bar compared to other options on the market, and the result is a capable and fun-to-use option for your home gym.
Pros
- Excellent Price.
- The grip Distance is Excellent.
- A narrow bar makes it easier to maintain your center of gravity.
- The Knurling feels good.
- The cable attachment adds additional exercises.
- It’s rackable.
- It has a good balance throughout the bar.
- The bar is light for the bar type, allowing for lower-weighted exercises.
Cons
- Non-standard sleeves mean regular collars don’t work with the bar.
- The weld points are not great.
I’m a big fan of Swiss Bars, and the Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar is no exception. I’ve been using a lot of Bells of Steel products recently, and I really enjoy the company’s Competition Bumper Plates and Dead Bounce Conflict Bumper Plates. The company builds solid products that are offered at excellent price points, and that’s increasingly hard to find in the gym products industry.
So what is there to love about the product? At just $199.99 with free shipping, the Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiff Bar is a steal for specialty bars. That’s especially true when you add in the included cable attachment section.
Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar Design
Let’s start with the basics. The Arch Nemesis Swiff Bar features a cambered design with multiple grip points that allow for various muscles to be worked during bench presses, curls, pull-downs, and much more.
The grips include a narrow option that is just 12 inches, a middle grip that spaces the bars by 20.5 inches, and a wide grip at 29 inches.
The grips feel great in my hand’s thanks to a knurling that is aggressive enough to maintain a strong grip but smooth enough to keep from tearing into my hands. The company calls it a mild knurl, and I agree with that assessment.
The actual bar is shockingly small. At just 76″ in length, 7.5-inch inches in width, and a depth of 5.5 inches, it looks and feels like the little sibling of bigger bars.
In comparison, here’s the Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar versus the Titan Fitness Rackable Multie-Grip Camber Bar.
As you can see in the comparison photo, the Titan Swiss Bar offers a different grip pattern but the same number of grips. I thought I would miss the alternate hand placement, but the Bells of Steel bar makes up for that change by providing a slimmer design.
The slim design (pictured below) allows me to find my center of gravity more easily than wider bars. If you’ve ever grabbed onto the top or bottom parts of your handle grips on other Swiss Bars you probably know how it feels to have your center of gravity shift without notice. The smaller grip on this bar makes that mistake almost impossible to duplicate.
You might notice that the sleeves on the Bells of Steel option are not nearly as wide as the Titan Fitness option. It’s important to note that they are made from steel tubing, so they are a few millimeters smaller than regular barbells. For that reason, standard 2-inch collars will not fit the sleeves.
Check out my Proloc collars review if you are in need of non-standard collars. Proloc collars provide a solid grip and a magnetic backing for easy storage on your metal rack or gym shelving. This isn’t a big deal for me since my EliteFTS SS Yoke Bar also requires non-standard collars, and I already have a bunch on hand.
Check out the collar on the right-hand side, and you’ll notice more gap than you would typically find on an Olympic-style bar with 2-inch sleeves. That extra gap can cause the weights to shift more than I would normally like. However, my Proloc 1 collars solved that issue and provided an excellent overall experience.
Even if you don’t purchase this specialty bar, be sure to check out the Proloc 1.
- The PROLOC 1 Collar is made from high strength nylon.
- These collars fIt any bar with a diameter ranging from 1.937″ to 2.007″ (Fits most bars, Fits all olympic bars) Compatible with Olympic bars and Powerlifting bars as well as most logs, cambered bars, Swiss bars, and safety squat yoke bars.
- The strength and durability of these collars can last in the hardest gym environments for years.
- Sold in sets of TWO.
A Rackable Swiss Bar
I love that this Bells of Steel Swiss bar is rackable. I use a Rogue RM-4 rack and the 3×3 design often means certain products don’t fit on my Monolith attachment or within my J-Cups. That’s not a problem with this Bells of Steel specialty bar.
Whether you’re placing down your Swiss bar after a set of curls or you want to bench press with the cambered design that will protect your shoulders, this bar delivers an excellent all-around experience.
I will note that the rackable area is smaller than many other bars, which means you need to place it down with precision. Most of the time, that precision isn’t a huge deal, but during a heavier lift when you are exhausted there may be a little reason for concern.
As a 42-year-old guy, I have to say that two weeks in and the Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar already feels like one of the best tools in my arsenal toward safety. I already squat with the ElitFTS SS Yoke Bar and perform deadlifts with my Rep Fitness Open Trap bar, so as you can imagine, safety is a big consideration in any product I use.
My range of motion (ROM) has increased substantially since I started using camber bars, and now that same ROM is available for use with my lat machine and even some functional trainer movements. If you want bigger gains, you should consider owning a great Swiff Bar with a solid camber.
Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar Specs
| Measurements | 5.5″ x 7.5″ / 140 mm x 190 mm |
| Max Capacity | 600 lbs / 272 kg |
| Bar Weight | 24lb / 11kg |
| Knurl | Mild |
| Length | 78″ / 1981 mm |
| Grip Handle Distances | Narrow: 12″ / 305 mm | Middle: 20.5″ / 521 mm | Wide: 29″ / 737 mm |
I know that the 600-pound capacity might scare away some powerlifters but let’s be honest for a moment; for 99.99% of users, that limit is far more weight than will ever be used in a garage gym.
Bells Of Steel Swiss Bar Cable Attachment
While I just shared the main specs for the bar, there’s one component I might love more than anything else the bar has to offer; the included cable attachment.
I spend a lot of time with my Powertech Lat Machine, and the Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis bar adds a new element to my pull-downs, curls, and more.
The attachment is located directly in the middle of the bar and attached via a carabiner. I have carabiners for all of my Lat Machine, and Functional Trainer handles, which made attaching the bar easier. I do wish Bells of Steel, however, would have provided a carabiner with my bar.
Because the bar is slim, performing pulls down with an alternative grip is easy, especially when bringing the bar to my chest. The camber also means I can activate a deep stretch on pull-downs, thanks to the additional space provided by the bar.
The attachment is made from solid steel and appears to provide a strong weld, much like the rest of the Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar. I will admit the weld points aren’t as clean as some other brands, but they are very solid, and I tend to beat up my gym equipment almost immediately after removing items from their packaging.
I have to return to the knurling featured across each handle on this bar. It provides a nice grip, as I mentioned before, but it’s not overbearing, which makes this bar a great option for cable machine use.
If you’re in the market for a budget-friendly Swiss Bar with a solid camber, the Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiss Bar is a no-brainer. For $199.99, the price is solid, and so is the overall design.
Check out more user reviews on the official Bells of Steel Arch Nemesis Swiff Bar product page.
