Dragon Door KB experience

[lois2013]

As OGs in the game, I would like to express my newfound support for Dragon Door. Think what you want about the DD & Pavel StrongFirst split, has no bearings on me and I suspect for most of you too.

Back in 2007 I was introduced to KB training and the RKC trainer I worked with used Dragon Door/RKC KBs. They were top notch and beyond my price point as a 20 something. The shape and feel felt right for me. I know bell preference is subjective.

Fast forward 2024 and the KB game is saturated with small to large companies with marketing dollars. There are cheaper alternatives too with mixed bag of quality. I hear Dragon Door bells may have mixed quality as well.

However, a few things won me over: 1) guarantee for year or money back (yes I know shipping back is on you and prohibitive), 2) John Du Cane himself emailed me back when I had question. Iykyk. 3) shipping was fast. 4) quality is awesome e coat.

Previously I’ve been ordering made in USA Rogue e coat KBs because shipping was fast and price was average but quality has been so bad, in my experience, that I’ve had at least 5 bells replaced by customer service.

I guess what I’m saying is that if you can swing it, pun intended, invest in quality and service and you can’t lose.

 

[larsan]

@lois2013 I consider myself to be somewhat collateral damage when it comes to the DuCane/Tsatsouline split.

I made a polite comment on the DD forum after I read they had parted ways that I would follow Pavel wherever he went. I had no idea at the time as to the acrimony that apparently led to their split.

I found the next time I tried to get on the forum, I had been banned. That, for me, was treating a good paying customer like shit. I had purchased numerous books and 3 pairs of bells from DD along with a few other items. I was a polite and encouraging presence on their forum. Let’s face it. At that time, they were the shit for hardstyle kettlebell training.

That is the reason that hell will freeze over before I will ever buy another product from Dragon Door.

 

[lois2013]

@larsan Oh man, thanks for sharing your experience! That’s rough way to have back turned on you after years of support. I retract comment on split not affecting most folks.

 

[larsan]

@lois2013 I hope my experience was an outlier.

 

[karyn]

@lois2013 Bought my first pair of 54s in 2004. Two years later a pair of 72s. Two years after that a pair of 88s. My six DD KBs have been great. It's probably just familiarity but other KBs never seem right for me. I lost touch with DD over the years but appreciate what they did for my fitness system.

 

[lois2013]

@karyn Sounds like their bells served you well. I can tell mine will as well. And yes, I agree, they seem right for me as well. The window size is perfect as I don’t like larger opening on Rep Fitness that my brother bought.

 

[googs]

@lois2013 I distributed DD bells in Australia before and after the split. I've still got my originals from my first ever shipment from 12kg to 32kg in pairs for my home gym. Apart from being a bit dusty they're still almost brand new. (The 24s have definitely had the snot beaten out of them). This group of bells was used daily in my gym for years, at something like 20 different HKCs and RKCs over a few years, and are still in good condition.

That wasn't always the case. In 2010 DD were looking for a Chinese manufacturer to save costs. Prior to that their bells were made in the USA, which was a major selling point for them, and one of the reasons their bells were so costly compared to others. The coating on these bells, especially the Russian Reds if anyone remembers them, was incredibly coarse and newbs often had a lot of hand tears. (This was always particularly evident at events back when we tested the snatch first as it would often be hot and people would over grip the bell and wreck their hands in the first 5mins of a 3 day event). The first lot of Chinese bells they had, they rolled out at CK FMS and the coating was not what it should have been as it hadn't been set at the right temperature and we were all ending up with black smears all over us from the coating rubbing off the bells.

Then they got it right and that first batch of e coated bells was amazing. But then that factory had some issues and they changed factories and it went a bit all over the place. Within the same shipment of bells you could have bells that were beautiful and others that would literally be rusting in the box as the coating had already come off.

Then they switched to a smoother coating because people think a smoother bell is better, but it just makes them more slippery. At home we have a pair of the women's 16kg bells with the slightly thinner handles for my wife that has this coating and I can't stand them.

I just need to touch on people saying, "Oh, I bought a book or two off DD and was a loyal customer" so people can understand some commercial realities. The $200 or whatever you spent over years isn't what makes a good customer. A good customer is someone who goes and spends $1500 to go to an RKC, buys a 1/4 container of bells for their gym (maybe $3000), tells all of their friends and clients and ends up sending a dozen of them to RKC events (and then they buy their own bells etc too), and then keeps going to a bunch of events at $1500 each time, and then posts about all of this constantly on social media. You talking about the 3 different purchases you made over a period of years is like someone claiming the cup of coffee they bought from a restaurant 5 years ago makes them a good customer. You being on their forum and saying you'd leave them after using their information for years for free via the forum, is not the action of a good customer.

 

[lois2013]

@googs Thanks for the history! I love my new Dragon Door bells. I hope that last comment wasn’t directed at me as I really like the bells and will be buying these for my use. The e coat is the right amount of tack imo to not be slippery. I started this thread because I’m now a fan. I’m not distribution level nor is that my business/way of living.

 

[thoughtkeeper]

@lois2013 It was obviously directed at @larsan n his ban from DD forum back wen it existed. You ain't a loyal customer either tho just cause u spend a few hundo buxx n do a free ad for DD on reddit. U need to spend at least $10k n recruit new blood into the MLM cult to b considered as loyal. Get 2 werk

 

[lois2013]

@thoughtkeeper Fuck that noise. I’m a working class guy with a family, former fighter, ain’t got to tell me about getting to work. I’m a positive guy sharing positive experiences and I invest when I can and where I get great quality and service from businesses. See it as a free ad is a suspicious way of viewing the world. I see it as sharing my experience.

Edit: no time for MLM BS either.

 

[wordsinthewater]

@lois2013 I pity the fool who uses hard style bells over competition bells.

 

[jackier293]

@wordsinthewater I don't know... I really like my 92 kg cast iron kettlebell.

 

[lostanlooking]

@jackier293 I didn’t know you had one of those

 

[jackier293]

@lostanlooking The super beast is fun! Best part: got it for $200 on fb marketplace and it was only a 20 min drive.

Someone left it when they moved out of an apartment and the next renter could barely lift it.

I keep checking fb marketplace for more monster KBK bells but I don't think it will happen again...

 

[lois2013]

@wordsinthewater LOL! I had full set of Valery Fedorenko’s original bells back when he was building AKC certifications. Took the class at Zach Evan Esh’s Undergound strength gym in Jersey. Those were awesome and I trained GS for years until I sold them when I moved. My preference however has switched to hardstyle bells as has my training.