Lubricating Bullworker X5

[Guest guest]

Got my Bullworker in the first half of 2008 and the left end (with

the gauge numbers facing me) has always seemed to bind. Out of

frustration a couple of weeks ago, I grasped onto the tube and with

the left end on the floor, I pushed down, trying to loosen the area

where it would catch. I was surprised (and alarmed for a second) that

the free end slipped off of the tube. I thought I had broken the

Bullworker but when I removed tension, everything fell back into

place.

This led me to thinking on how I could lubricate it. I was hesitant

to spray something between the tube and handles, especially something

oil based. I live in a sandy area and didn't want to use something

that would accumulate grit. At the hardware store, I found an aerosol

spray called " Blaster TDL. " It's a dry lube with PTFE (Teflon) that

they claim is safe for plastic and delrin. I repeated the motion that

I had done earlier to separate the end from the tube and sprayed the

TDL stuff up into the handle and down into the tube. I did this for

both ends of the Bullworker. After wiping off the residue from the

tupe not covered by the handles, I tried it out. Both ends move

smoothly now.

Something interesting though, I no longer register as high on the

guage for some exercises as I did. Because the left end would bind, I

favored having the ring on the right side. Since there was uneven

movement between the ends, the right side would give a higher reading

than the left. Now that the end travel is more equal, it makes sense

that the power reading would be a little less than when one end

traveled more.