In the home gym community, there’s been some confusion over why the incredibly popular Bells of Steel Industrial Rackable Trap/Hex Bar was discontinued.
So, at HomeGymCon 2023, I tracked them down to ask why they discontinued one of their most popular products.
About Bells of Steel
Bells of Steel is built around providing home gym owners with the most cost-effective, functional home gym equipment.
One of their most popular items is a trap/hex bar that features longer sleeves, making it rackable and compatible with bumper plates.
So, you can imagine that many home gym owners were disappointed when they announced it was discontinued!
Watch: Bells Of Steel On Discontinuing Their Rackable TrapBar
Why Did Bells of Steel Discontinue The Industrial Trap Bar
It comes down to one issue that us home gym owners are definitely familiar with: shipping costs.
In order to be rackable, the trap bar had an extra-long sleeve that made it hard to ship. The company found that too many of their bars were getting damaged because the oversized boxes were getting destroyed by the carriers.
To help solve this, Bells of Steel polled customers to find out if they’d be willing to pay more for shipping to get their product undamaged. Unfortunately (but understandably), the answer was no.
Even though the extended length was a huge benefit, people did not want to pay for high shipping.
Therefore, they decided to discontinue the rack in exchange for a smaller design. The smaller design fits in a box that can be delivered quickly and inexpensively.
And while the discontinued trap bar is definitely a loss, the new short design is one of the least expensive trap bars on the market. It has quickly become a best seller.
Will Bells of Steel Come Out with a New Rackable Trap Bar?
So, the issue comes down to shipping, which is determined by carriers like FedEx and UPS. Companies like Bells of Steel do not have direct control over this issue.
However, they have a lot of ideas for future products and could re-release an extended bar if things change. They also are releasing a new line of fitness equipment that lets you customize options, which I am excited about.
So, this rackable trap bar is going away for now, but you never know what innovative gym equipment it might be replaced with.
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