Now that I'm used to getting the hooks latched during lifts, and on getting the hooks into the exact right spot on the barbell when doing the initial setup, performance is great. I docked it a star though, as there is definitely a learning curve. It can also still be a pain occasionally, especially when you're struggling on that last rep to get the latches into the holes on the uprights. I have safeties at the bottom of the lift, and that's definitely a must if you either go heavy, or often push to failure. Finding that hole can be tough...That said, I think it's a genius design, and works really well once you're used to it. Value wise, a big part of my taking points off here is dealing with Bulletproof. I got my original unit pretty quick, but they screwed up with boxing my units and they forgot the latch hooks entirely. They took a few days to respond, and then it took almost another two full weeks before I got the latch hooks in hand. It seems like after acknowledging their mistake, they drug their feet "fixing" the mistake. I also ordered the plastic protectors for the latch hooks at the same time I ordered the VTS Lite unit. Those were projected to ship the first week of March, but didn't end up shipping until the last week of February. I realize that shipment windows pushing out are common in this industry, but just know that's something you'll almost for sure deal with when ordering anything from Bulletproof. And none of my order was a "pre-order" by the way (other than the plastic hooks, as they were just out of stock). Build quality I have zero complaints. The powder coat seems good, and the rollers are very smooth. All the adjustable pieces adjust very easily. If you don't need the unilateral aspect of a smith, the VTS Lite is a great alternative to the bulkier VTS. I kind of wish I would have waited for the "VTS Home", but if I did I probably wouldn't have gotten a unit until the end of this year. I'm happy with what I have.

It does sound a little creaky (metal/powder coated carabiners on metal chain will do that, especially when used with a cable machine), but it's pretty cheap. I think the combo of value and function make this a winner for me.

I love the functionality of this, and how it helps relieve strain on my elbows especially. It also helps relieve wrist strain, but that wasn't as big a problem for me for the key lifts this is good for (tricep push-downs, overhead tricep extensions, curls, lat pull-overs). Value is where this one takes a hit. It has increased a LOT in price over the past year or so, and it was already pretty pricey for what it is. I think it used to be around $100 or so on Etsy, and always had a $15 plus markup on Amazon. Now it's almost $170 I think which is insane for what you're getting. I probably could have made my own with some 1" metal pipe from a hardware store, but I ended up still buying one direct from Etsy with some Christmas gift money. It was still over $100, but not the crazy markup on Amazon for it (on top of it continuing to rise in price). It's a shame another company isn't making this for a reasonable price (there's an overseas company making one for almost $300 before not cheap shipping cost I think), but if you can get it around $100, I still think it's a decent deal if you look past how simple it is, and focus on the functionality if gives you. I've heard some people complain about the foam padding. It does slide, but others have said they need more padding due to discomfort, and I disagree. The padding was plenty for me. It is very cheap padding though, so I'm sure it won't last long. That's the only point I took off is I'm sure the foam pads will need to be replaced after a year or so of use.

I love the functionality of this, and how it helps relieve strain on my elbows especially. It also helps relieve wrist strain, but that wasn't as big a problem for me for the key lifts this is good for (tricep push-downs, overhead tricep extensions, curls, lat pull-overs). Value is where this one takes a hit. It has increased a LOT in price over the past year or so, and it was already pretty pricey for what it is. I think it used to be around $100 or so on Etsy, and always had a $15 plus markup on Amazon. Now it's almost $170 I think which is insane for what you're getting. I probably could have made my own with some 1" metal pipe from a hardware store, but I ended up still buying one direct from Etsy with some Christmas gift money. It was still over $100, but not the crazy markup on Amazon for it (on top of it continuing to rise in price). It's a shame another company isn't making this for a reasonable price (there's an overseas company making one for almost $300 before not cheap shipping cost I think), but if you can get it around $100, I still think it's a decent deal if you look past how simple it is, and focus on the functionality if gives you. I've heard some people complain about the foam padding. It does slide, but others have said they need more padding due to discomfort, and I disagree. The padding was plenty for me. It is very cheap padding though, so I'm sure it won't last long. That's the only point I took off is I'm sure the foam pads will need to be replaced after a year or so of use.

There are so many different versions of this bar, and have been in the past, that it's hard to really pinpoint a review on it. The version I have is the import version, and was made about 2 years ago. I got it for very cheap ($180 or so including tax), so my value judgement is more based on the current price of camber bars they offer. The version I have is fine. It looks like the cheaper, super shiny chrome plating, but it's supposedly stainless steel. I haven't had any issues with it flaking, it's just a different stainless steel look than I've ever seen. Performance wise, my only issue is the camber angle. It's funny because as far as how it feels lifting, it's probably better, but the sharper angle makes it a pain to load weights onto. I even have the duffalo block inserts with the Rogue version of the ghost J cups, and it still gives me a heart attack every time when loading the first couple plates on each side as it will slide over to the other side of the rack. I tried it with normal j cups a couple of times too, and it flipped on my with just a 45 on one side, hence my investment in the duffalo blocks. The angle being more steep though doesn't give it full contact with the duffalot block. That in combination with me having a Rep rack instead of Rogue, the angles aren't perfect enough for my piece of mind to use this bar all that much. I did end up finding a hack solution of sorts so the bar can't slide as far over, but it still feels like it's going to flip. It's not worth the potential damage to my car parked right next to my gym. Some of this I think is inherent with all duffalo bars, unless you have a very specific rack, rack width j cup style setup. It still feels great to lift with, but pre-lift, weight loading and unloading can be "stressful".

I got this free (Instagram giveaway, woohoo!), but otherwise there's no way I would have bought this myself. If this weren't built as well as it was, I'd give it 1 star for value. You're basically paying for the R&D of a truly unique design. Don't get me wrong it works awesome, exactly as intended. But you're basically getting a barbell and collars for about double of a great quality Rogue curl bar plus collars. You get some extra convenience, sure, but then again, you also don't get as tight a fit on the bar as they will always rattle a bit (where as a nice collar on a regular curl bar won't). The only "performance" issue I've seen is for weight plates with slightly wider than normal diameters, they can slide right off the bar. True, if you buy a barbell like this, you probably have super nice low tolerance inside diameter plates too, but it seems like they should have accounted for this a little better.

This is great if you want a subjective measure of how fast weights are moving for you during a workout. Once you have enough total sets (I think 3 or so different sets and different weights for each lift), it should give you an estimated 1 rep max. That's great as a starting point (especially if you have a good idea of what your true 1 rep max is), but I think it falls a little short in the long run. I say that because the estimated 1 rep max appears to only be an average to date, or over set periods like a month, 3 months, or a year, that the app offers. So, for example, it wouldn't give you an estimated 1 rep max for that exact training day. That may be a bit much to ask, but that's what I was really hoping for, so I could back into my approx RPE 8 weight that makes sense for that day (or better yet, have the app tell me the recommended weight based on the desired RPE and how the weight is moving in my warm-up sets). You can still use the app and the velocity measurements to help you manage the stress based on how the weight is moving, but it requires you to do more manual calcs or logging. And even that works best if you often do the exact same warm-up wights for each lift. So if the app shows my career best velocity is 0.6 meters per second on my last warmup set at 225, and I'm moving it at 0.5 meters per second today, I should probably take some weight off the bar from my planned sets that day. I think why that falls short is it lists your career best in the app. I go through periods where I'm near that range, but life happens, you detrain, and you're nowhere near your max. So you end up having to take a lot of notes on your average speeds "lately" at certain weights, or go digging through the app, and it takes too much time for me. That's a very long-winded way of saying I think the app could use some work. The unit itself is great though, and it's a fun way to compete with friends in sandbox mode.

Despite almost breaking my face on chest supported rows when I forgot to put the side pin in, this has been a great attachment for me. Crazy enough, it held my weight plus 180 pounds total of dumbbell for a full set, plus for reps of set 2 before I landed on my orbital bone (not too bad, nothing a little surgical glue couldn't fix), and all that without the side pin in. So it's definitely very sturdy, just don't be an absent-minded idiot like me. This thing is built like a tank too. Great finishes, good knurling for its purpose, etc. Functionally, I have no issues either. It supports a lot of different exercises, and other than not allowing a center mounted cable to pass through the middle, it has pretty much everything I could have asked for. That said, I still think this attachment is $100 or so overpriced. Maybe not so much now that tariffs have had such a big impact on overseas manufacturing, but it was this price before all the tariff madness. You have the post-Covid excuse too perhaps, but still seems like this one missed the mark on the price-point.