My experience with swivels..

[Pegasos]

After the short time i have been practising the speedbag, i have reached some conclusions as to my swivel preferences. First of all, i really hate the chain link swivel. In one of my platforms, a really cheap one, a chain link swivel came with it and i can say i am not happy with its performance.

I have only used the U-type swivel, in my other platform, and it is pretty good, but still, sometimes i find that it spoils the direction of my rebounds. So i guess this means the only one i haven't tried yet is the ball hook type, which is recommended by many people in this forum as i see. The problem is i can't find it, i m looking for international shipping. All i see in ebay is this plastic type, and i don't really want to use anything plastic in my speedbaging..

[Crapsterface]

i know what you mean about the chain link. i hav a chainlink from wieder and its about 30 + years old. it was my dads. and i havnt found a chain link thats yet matched it. I bought a brand new one from select and it just plane sucked. there was alot of play in it. and the title one i bought wore out in like 5 days( was not made with good metal) it was ok for the first bit. iv yet to find a good new chain link. this is what i did until i find somthing i like better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHleTX6gR6k

and of course the shorter the link the better. i used the weider link bcause it was the shortest i had. i actually really like this because its fast

[goju]

Hey peg, you got a few options.. you can either buy this .....

http://www.fitness-equipment.com/acatalog/Fitness_Equipment_Speed_bag_Hanging_Systems_30.html

or you can use a everlast chain link housing and take the plastic ball from the everlast plastic housing and put into the metal chain link housing. Thats what im using atm, which is alot faster than the full plastic combo, but not as fast as the full metal combo. Or you can do what Ukspeedbag has done and get a ball bearing..drill it and put it into a metal housing. hope this helps

[Tim]

All i see in ebay is this plastic type, and i don't really want to use anything plastic in my speedbaging..

In all honesty a plastic ball hook is better than a metal chain link. The plastic isn't so bad. I prefer metal, for the sound mostly though.

If plastic ball hook is all you can get, it's still better than chain link !!!

[Crapsterface]

I think it comes down to personal prefrance. I certainly dont like any of the new chain links iv tried. i would take a good qualty chainlink over a plastic ballhook. but i like the plastic ballhook better then any of the new links iv tried. i gues they just dont makem like they did in the old days. or you can do what i did and attatch a chainlink to the eye of the ball and remove the hook. it really shortened it up. and sped it up. and u still get all the direction that the ball hook offers.

[juanantoniomartin]

Plastic vs metal

The old metal everlast ball swivel I searched hi and low for is sitting on a shelf since my son prefers the quiet speedbag experience the plastic swivel offers.
Myself I prefer metal and thats what I have on my platform. Ive had the Boxing Gear's® Speed bag Swivel - precision ball Swivel (Steel) for going on 2 years now and would recommend it to anyone seeking an all metal ball swivel.
BTW I'm not a fan of the chain link or U as they are too restrictive.

[Tim]

The old metal everlast ball swivel I searched hi and low for is sitting on a shelf since my son prefers the quiet speedbag experience the plastic swivel offers.
Myself I prefer metal and thats what I have on my platform. Ive had the Boxing Gear's® Speed bag Swivel - precision ball Swivel (Steel) for going on 2 years now and would recommend it to anyone seeking an all metal ball swivel.
BTW I'm not a fan of the chain link or U as they are too restrictive.

I'm wondering how well the Boxing Gear swivel holds up over time. Any way you can post some close up pics of it? I'm wondering if it wears in all the same areas as an everlast model ball hook.

[Biff]

Recently, while at RealGymm's place, I hit on a U swivel. There is a huge difference, IMHO, between that and the S-hook. The U works great in one plane, but as soon as you want to go in a direction other than 180 degrees, good luck. There is not the true 360 degree capability of the S-hook. When trying to go from FDP RDP to SDP, the bag would not "cooperate." I had a ton of breakdowns when attempting this. Of course, some of it was "user error", but the majority was caused by the swivel.

Another issue I saw was that the bag itself would "jump" around on the U-bolt and needed to be taped in place to minimize the movement.

I'm sure if I practiced enough on it, I could adapt, but it's the S-hook for me. I happen to use the Watkin's model as well and I am happy with it. My only concern now is that Fitness Equipment doesn't have any short hooks in stock (and hasn't for the past several months).

[juanantoniomartin]

Photos of Boxing Gear's® Speed bag Swivel

Hey Tim sorry for taking so long . Here are the photos of my Boxing Gear's® Speed bag Swivel at about 2 years old.

Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year!
John

[Tim]

Hey Tim sorry for taking so long . Here are the photos of my Boxing Gear's® Speed bag Swivel at about 2 years old.

Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year!
John

Thanks! Looks like it's hold up very well.