Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 – Budget or Bust?

The big manufacturers of home gym equipment have historically distanced themselves from benches that take attachments. I blame Crossfit personally, because they had such a strong anti-machine methodology, but I also give Crossfit the benefit of pushing the barbell in front of more people than ever before. You win some, you lose some. When I first saw the Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench, I was excited. We finally had one of the big guys drop a bench that could take attachments. So it instantly was added to my Review Pipeline Voting to see if others were as interested as I was.

It showed up recently, with the leg roller and leg developer, and the preacher curl pad is on the way soon. This is the most developed adjustable bench attachment line-up from any of the main home gym companies. But will it sacrifice anything to get there?

The Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 is now on the Review Pipeline.

Transparency Note

Bells of Steel sent me the Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench along with the attachments, for free, for review purposes and to be part of my eventual Adjustable Bench Showdown. Bells of Steel also sponsors my Garage Gym Competition, and they have provided me an affiliate link.

Using this link gives me a small kick-back and costs you nothing. The funds help manage this website, my YouTube, and the various things I do in the home gym community. I appreciate your support.

Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 Overview

The Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench is now on their second version, which has some MINOR updates around laser cut numbers, white stitching, and premium vinyl. This is Bells of Steels flagship adjustable bench, with marked ladder adjustments, a more widely preferred tapered front seat, grippy vinyl, and vertical storage. It also comes in three different color options, black, blue, or purple. And can be purchased in a few different attachment configurations. The bench does NOT accept attachments by default, instead requires an adapter added to the front (more on that in a second). But this adds the ability for a leg developer, leg roller, and preacher curl.

Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 Specs

• Brand: Bells of Steel
• Made In USA: No
• Dimensions While Flat: 55.5″ Length, 26.25″ Width, 18.1″ Height
• Pad Width: 11.8″
• Pad Thickness: 2.4″
• Recommended Weight Capacity: 1000lb
• Weight: 94.3 lbs
• Steel Thickness: 11 Gauge w/ Powdercoat
• Warranty: 180 Days For Wheels & Upholstery, Limited Lifetime for Frame
• Assembly: ~25 Minutes

Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 FAQ

I’ll build this out as questions come in.

Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 Shipping & Assembly

The Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench comes in a few boxes, assuming you get the attachments. The box was filled with your typical packing assortment to attempt to protect the bench and everything from damage.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to have worked. We have some scrapes and scratches out the gate. Hard to tell if this is from shipping, missed at the warehouse, or what. But definitely noticeable. Compared to the packaging of the REP Nighthawk, Bells of Steel has some room to improve in their packing department.

The assembly instructions were a blown-out schematic. Luckily, assembling a bench is fairly easy. But if this is your first, it might be a little less straight forward. Again, there is room to improve here compared to a number of the other companies on the market. Freak Athlete has their video walk throughs for assembly. REP has labeled various parts of the bench and has detailed instructions. Bells gives you the minimum.

One issue I ran into during assembly, was with the adapter. You attach the front name plate with the handle during the basic bench assembly instructions. Then when you get to the attachment adapter, you have to take the name plate and handle off. So it added a couple steps. This isn’t terrible, it was just two bolts. But there should be a step that says “If you bought the adapter, skip this step” or something similar.

Overall, the shipping and assembly process was adequate, but lacking.

Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 Features

Bells of Steel is well known for being a quality budget offering. Meaning that their prices are going to come in under what MOST companies can do, but their quality is going to be just barely shy of that. Attempting to nail that sweet spot for a lot of consumers. This is a reason I believe why their shipping and assembly process is a little less fancy than others. They are cutting a few corners to shave the price for you.

We see this in the bench design as well. We get white stitching for some aesthetic POP in the colorway and that beloved grippy vinyl and dense padding ready for heavy lifts. But we have a much more plain powdercoat (that we have already seen start to scratch), and we have more metal on metal contact throughout the bench.

Ladder Adjustments

The bench can angle from 0 to 85 degrees, which is very similar to the REP Nighthawk, but it does it in inconsistent jumps. 0 to 20, then 20 to 35, 35 to 45, etc. The ladder system is also 100% metal, with the support arm also being 100% metal. This means with every adjustment, you are likely digging away at that powdercoat.

The ladder system also does not have the rear catch, meaning that the support arm can freely fly around and come loose. This becomes a problem in the next piece.

Vertical Storage & Mobility

The Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 has vertical storage, and wheels. CHECK! A big win over a number of the benches in my roundup. And this is something that once you have a bench that stores vertically, you never want to go back to one that doesn’t. The problem is that we are missing two pieces that really improve the mobility of a bench from vertical storage, to moving around the gym.

First, is that ladder catch. Because this isn’t there, when you move the bench it can get a bit squirrelly. Second, is that there is no post in the back supporting the headrest. This not only adds to stability in the flat position, but also makes it so the bench doesn’t essentially try and go into a decline position. Just in taking pictures after assembly, I already found this to happen a number of times, leaving me to hold onto the bench while trying to get the ladder situation fixed, while it was wheeling around.

Attachments

100%, the attachments are the golden egg here for the Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2. As mentioned, Rogue, REP, Titan, none of them have so far made a widely available adjustable bench with a line of attachments. Bells stands alone here.

What is pretty obvious out the gate though, is that the Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench was designed with attachments as an after thought. I mentioned earlier that the handle and name plate on the front have to come off, for the attachment adapter to be put on. Unfortunately, this means the handle and name plate never go back on the bench. Meaning there is no front handle, to wheel the bench around with. Another knock on the mobility and storage of this bench.

Leg Developer

The leg developer for the Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench is a pretty basic leg extension and leg curl option. You have a number of height adjustments with a pin, it is plate loaded, and has some solid rollers throughout. The leg developer functions with bolts, opposed to bearings, which is typical for a bench attachment. They also angle the weight pin UP a bit, which should improve the tension in the starting position. Compared to the Freak Athlete Hyper Pro however, there is no adjustment options for the leg rollers for either the leg curl or leg extension pieces to adjust for taller or shorter athletes. Almost guaranteed my daughter struggles to use this.

Key considerations will be how stable this is, since there is only one connection post, and the entire unit hinges from one bolt.

Leg Roller

The leg roller for the Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench is meant to give you some sit-up options. Because the bench does not technically decline, this is NOT a decline sit up, nor could it be used for decline bench work, or anything similar to this. This is essentially a lock down for your legs for crunches.

Preacher Curl

I’ll update with a picture of the preacher curl when I get it, but this looks very similar to the Powertec Levergym attachment I used before. This could be good, or bad, depending on how the Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench has improved on it. I prefer machine preacher curls to barbell or dumbbell options, but the Powertec model needed a lot of tweaks. It has been a solid several years since I used it, so maybe this particular version has had the kinks ironed out. Fingers crossed, because I would really love to have this be a mainstay in my program.

What I’m Looking For In The Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2

There are a few key pieces that will make or break the Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench.

First, the bench itself needs to be a good bench. Most people aren’t going to own multiple adjustable benches just because one is a good bench and the other has some attachment. So the bench, on its own, needs to be a good bench. The Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 NEEDS to check the boxes on being a good bench for the basics. Heavy barbell bench, incline variations, DB work, and more.

Second, it needs to be designed for a home gym. Big beefy benches are badass, but if I need to haul your brick house of a bench up and around and over stuff, I’m probably going to hate it. It needs to store well. Move well. And then store well again. It needs to handle the weather, being beat up, kicked, stuff dropped on it, and come out the other end looking like nothing happened. Out the gate, the Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 struggles a bit in this category. So it will need to make up for it in the third category.

Third, the attachments need to rock my world. Ok, I’m honestly not looking for them to be revolutionary, just to get the job done for various athletes. Again, I’ve got me at 6ft, my wife at 5ft 6, and my daughter is 8 years old. Can we all use this? Can it handle my beefiness and 550lb squat legs, while also adjusting to my daughters size and strength levels? If the leg developer and preacher curl are knock outs, this could push the Buzz-Saw Heavy-Duty Adjustable Bench over the line.

Other Options On The Market

REP Nighthawk Bench

REP Fitness has been the Home Gym Bench LEADER for quite some time. They took home multiple awards over on Reddit r/HomeGym for their benches, and a huge number of my home gym reviewer pals have sang their praises for years.

They have taken one of their most popular benches, the AB-4100, and built on it to improve stability, versatility, and overall experience. AND it now takes attachments, like their upcoming Leg Developer.

Check out the REP Nighthawk.

Prime Shorty

The Prime Fitness Shorty Bench has been in our garage for awhile. It has a number of attachment options, and they recently released the Smart Arm that integrates with this bench as well. It might just be the most well accessorized adjustable bench on the market, and is one of (the only?) the only benches that is Made In The USA that takes attachments.

Check out more on the Shorty Bench here.

Inspire SCS

The Inspire SCS Bench is no longer available as Inspire has stopped making the original FT2. We will still include this in the round up, as their leg developer is one we have used for years with the FT2 as it integrates into the cable stacks.

Check out the Inspire FT2 Review here.

Powertec Workbench

I freaking LOVED my Powertec Levergym, but their bench was always just OK. My understanding is that they are hard at work building a new one, and this has me very excited. I’m hoping it will be done and available in time for this comparison and showdown.

Wide Body Bench

The Wide Body Bench is going to be a really unique one. Mostly because, no one else has done a detailed review on it. This is because they don’t send out equipment for free, and they don’t offer an affiliate program. Don’t worry, my Newsletter peeps voted for this bench during my Review Pipeline voting. Which means I’m going to pony up the cash to grab it and the attachments so I can share those good details with all of you. It has a Chest Press, Chest Fly, and Bicep Attachment. Which makes it pretty wild.

Check out the Wide Body Bench.

Ironmaster Super Bench PRO V2

Ironmaster might be the original kings of adjustable benches. When I started my home gym over a decade ago, Ironmaster was kicking butt with the original Super Bench. Yeah, they’ve been killing it for that long. Their line up of attachments includes a lat tower, leg developer, preacher curl, and a lot more. They by far have the MOST attachments available. And the Ironmaster benches always were solid benches. This one is going to be a tough competitor.

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✅ I’ll have a full review on the Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2 here and then will have a comprehensive Adjustable Bench showdown over on my YouTube channel. If you have something specific you’d like answered, let me know.

Want to snag Bells of Steel Buzz-Saw Bench V2? You can check it out at this link.