Back Widow

The Back Widow by Flex Wheeler is a wicked looking piece of kit and a fantastic idea. However, the pricing of the piece and some shortfalls in execution leave it with middling value.

What’s Good

Versatility

Like a swiss army knife, the Back Widow packs a lot into a small package. Its primary function is as a cable/landmine attachment with 15 different grip configurations ranging from narrow to medium to “wide”. Simply pull the pins located on the joints of the attachment and rotate the “arms” or “legs” to a new position. While it is a bit awkward to adjust, it is worth the versatility.

It also has a bunch of secondary functionality such as a deadlift jack, dumbbell row attachment, neutral grip pullup bar attachment, and a bodyweight pushup grip. However, with the exception of its use as a deadlift jack, I think they’re really reaching here. I can count the number of times I’ve seen it used for dumbbell rows, pushups, and pullups on zero hands.

Without considering the additional dumb “uses” their marketing team pulled out their ass, the piece is still very versatile in my opinion. Being able to use a single pulldown/row attachment in narrow, medium, and wide grips is just smart. I wish more equipment companies would innovate in this area.

Aluminum Body

The Back Widow is made from aircraft aluminum. This is a premium material and it feels like it. Immediately you’ll notice the weight of the piece or lack thereof. Aluminum generally weighs less than half of what steel does; steel being the industry standard for gym equipment. This means the Back Widow weighs only 9.25lbs when you expect it to weigh over 20. The difference is significant. Additionally, while aluminum is not as strong as steel, the Back Widow’s moving parts are built to withstand 16,000lbs of sheer force. No one should be worried about the strength of this product. Besides its weight and strength, aluminum also offers good corrosion resistance (better than raw steel but not quite as good as some stainless steels) so the Back Widow will look its best for longer.

The downsides to using aluminum are that it is softer than steel and therefore more prone to scratching and denting, and its more expensive than steel. Price aside, as I’ll talk about that later, scratching and denting is something you can prevent pretty easily by taking care of your equipment. Basically, the difference in hardness is a small price to pay to get a light, strong, and corrosion resistant Back Widow. Aluminum is a fantastic choice here.

“Cool” Factor

With a strong resemblence to a black widow spider, there’s no denying the Back Widow looks awesome. They nailed the clean, minimal design which is the exact opposite of what you’d expect in a multi-purpose attachment like this. The web-like writing across the top of the attachment is very aesthetic and the crimson red “eye” pins really pop on the sleek black body. It genuinely looks like something out of a batman movie - one of the good ones like The Dark Knight. I can confidently say it’s the most badass looking piece of gym equipment I’ve ever owned and while I could go on and on about how awesome it looks, you really only have to see it to understand.

What’s Bad

Price

This is what absolutely kills the Back Widow. To ship this piece to Toronto from Rogue, it costs CA$496.80. For that much money, you could buy narrow, medium, and wide grip row attachments, a proper deadlift jack, and still have $250 leftover! $250!!! You could buy all of that two times over for the price of the Back Widow. This thing goes beyond being expensive to just being dumb. If your gym is already outfitted to the nines and you’ve got money to burn, the Back Widow might be for you.

It puts the flex back in Flex Wheeler.

Finish

Unlike the price tag would suggest, this piece lacks in finish and refinement. It very much feels like a prototype. First of all, there’s no UHMW plastic anywhere in sight. This is especially detrimental in its use as a deadlift jack. Without the plastic, you are not only going to dull the knurl of your barbell but you’re also going to scrape the hell out of the Back Widow. The exact same thing will happen if you try and use it for dumbbell rows. I used it as a deadlift jack and as a dumbbell row attachment once, and it noticeably scratched up the finish on the piece. A $500 row attachment should absolutely under no circumstances have such cheap finishing that it gets beat up this quickly.

The second issue I noticed with this piece is that it’s loose. There’s a lot of moving parts in the Back Widow and as a result, things move. When the rotating joints are locked in, they are not rigid. There is some wiggle room and even though I doubt they would ever break, it doesn’t feel like a solid piece of equipment. Beyond the rotating joints, if you use the Back Widow as a landmine attachment you will quickly notice some more wiggle room around the barbell sleeve. As you can see in the images below, I can fit my fingertip between the piece and my barbell sleeve. I tried this with 3 different barbells. They were all the same. Ultimately, it doesn’t feel connected to the weight like a traditional cable/landmine attachment does. It is shaky and distracts from any movement you do with it.

Usability

The Back Widow has some serious usability issues. A big issue I have with the piece is that the knurl is straight up terrible. The handles for rowing movements feature a “scoring” type of knurling that might as well be nonexistent. The only way it could be any worse is if it came oiled. The knurling on the “legs” of the Back Widow is a small improvement over the handles. It is a coated, hill type knurl that is cut shallow and densely. It is by no means aggressive and I would consider it to be the bare minimum for a cable attachment. What really confused me is why they put the “better” knurl on the part of the Back Widow that doesn’t involve the back.

Another issue with the Back Widow is that it doesn’t go wide enough. At its widest setting it is only 25 inches from handle to handle. That is nearly a foot smaller than most wide grip attachments and it’s quite noticeable. In addition to this, the handle is too small; I can’t fit my hand into it and I have pretty average hands. They could fix both of these issues by simply widening the handle and it wouldn’t even affect the collapsed size of the Back Widow.

Overview

The Back Widow is made from premium material, it’s versatile, and it looks wicked cool. It inspires to be a “Back Blaster” and it has so much potential but it’s let down by a lack of refinement and pricing that reflects the converse. Add some UMHW, tighten up the tolerances in the joints and barbell hole, move the knurl to where I’m going to use it, and widen the handles. Until they make these improvements, the only thing this piece will blast is your wallet.

Value Rating: 2.5 / 5 bananas