Archive - Product Reviews RSS Feed

Ivanko COT-1.25 Olympic Barbell Compression Collar Review

February 9, 2012 in Product Reviews with 4 Comments

Ivanko COT-1.25 Olympic Barbell Collars

I don’t know how people can squat without collars.

If you’re like me, you might wobble out of the rack into position before squatting. When doing this, I find that if I don’t have barbell collars securely clamping down on the Olympic plates, those plates will start shifting from side to side.

When I was training at Fitness First Rama 3 in Bangkok, the sleeves on the barbells was smooth (in other words, there were no ridges), and the only collars available was those spring collar and the L-screw Olympic collars, pictured below:

screw oly collars

I normally used the screw style Olympic collars because they held tighter than the spring collars, but they would come loose on a regular basis, especially if I was lifting heavy weights, or performing deadlifts where I lower the weight back on the ground before doing another rep.

If I’m squatting a heavy weight, the plates would slide away from the center slightly and I would have to adjust the plates and tighten the collars in between sets.

One time, the plates on the right side of the bar shifted so much that it was half way from falling off!

While deadlifting, every time I completed the rep and put the barbell back on the floor, the plate would shift. Sometimes it would shift a little, but other times the collars would actually come loose, making the plates shift a few inches away from the center of the bar and I would have to stop, re-adjust the plates, tighten the collars and then continue with my set.

Needless to say, this constant readjusting of the plates and tightening of the collars was a pain in the ass, and added unnecessary friction to my workout.

I’ve tried doubling up on collars, but this wasn’t always possible because other people would be using them. Also, I didn’t want to be the jackass in the gym hogging half of the collars.

Also, it’s not entirely effective because during deadlifts, the plates will shift out of place even with 2 collars on each end of the bar.

Being fed up with this, I decided it was time to INVEST in my own barbell collars.

What Lead Me To The Ivanko COT-1.25 Barbell Collars

At the time, I was training in Bangkok and walked to the gym from my condo. Because of this, I wanted barbell collars that were not only super strong, but light enough so I wouldn’t sweat any more profusely than I already did in 30+C weather while carrying them around.

I did some research online and considered Olympic barbell collars such as Muscle Clamp and Lockjaw collars. They were light weight because they were made of plastic. But being made of plastic, I was concerned that it would not be as effective in holding a lot of weight as I wanted.

After seeing this video, my suspicions were confirmed.

Also, this video lead me to look at the Ivanko compression collars, which I ultimately ended up buying from Amazon.

Ivanko has a few types of compression collars, ranging from a massive 2.5kg (5.5lbs each) to 1.25lbs collars (totaling 2.5lbs). I went with the smaller version because it would be a lot more convenient carrying them around. And I believe they’re the ones shown in the video above.

At the time, they offered 2 versions of the COT 1.25 pressure ring collars. One was chrome plated, and the other was black oxide. Luckily I got the black oxide version (they look manlier) because Ivanko no longer manufactures that model.

How It Works

There’s a curved metal plate lining the inside of the collar called a “compression band”.

When you tighten the T-bolt, the compression band clamps down onto the bar.

Since the compression is distributed along compression band, it’s very tight and unlike other barbell collars (such as the L-screw collars where the screw digs into the bar), it doesn’t damage the bar.

Below is a picture of the Ivanko COT-1.25 collars untightened, and tightened:

Ivanko COT-1.25 Olympic Barbell Collars

What I Like

T-bolt collar. This makes it easy to spin from any direction.

I know the weight of my collars. They Ivanko compression collars weigh 1.25lbs each, so that’s 2.5lbs in total. With other collars, I’m not sure of the weight.

Extremely tight and secure. Weight plates don’t move, period.

Doesn’t damage the bar since the pressure is distributed throughout the interior ring.

Easy to tighten. I don’t need to apply much force to tighten the collars securely, compared to the L-screw collars.

What I Don’t Like

Prone to rust if not taken care of. I left these collars in a basement for a few weeks and it started to show some corrosion. This would not be an issue if I got the chrome plated version instead.

###

If you’re annoyed like I was where the barbell collars are not tight enough are coming loose during a heavy set, the Ivanko compression collars are a worthwhile investment. It certainly was for me, because I no longer had to adjust the plates and re-tighten the collars in between (and during) a set. My workouts were smoother, and I can focus on lifting the weight rather than if the barbell collars are coming loose or not.

While Ivanko doesn’t offer the black oxide version anymore (according to their website), I’m sure the chrome version of the Ivanko COT-1.25 works just as well, and is more resistant to corrosion.

They also have larger (and probably stronger) models of the compression collars. They are the COT-2.5 (which is a larger version of the COT-1.25), the CO-2.5KG and COC 2.5KG.

Microloading with Rogue Fractional Olympic Plates

January 25, 2012 in Product Reviews with 2 Comments

Rogue-Fractional-Plates.jpg

If you’re on a training protocol (such as Starting Strength, StrongLifts 5×5, or Texas Method to name a few) which instructs you to add weight to your lifts on a regular basis, then there will come a time when you WILL get stuck.

In other words, there will come a point where you cannot add any more weight to the bar, even though you can complete 3 sets of 5 reps (Starting Strength) at a particular weight.

This usually happens when you try to increase the load by 5lbs (and on lifts such as the overhead press or bench press, simply because there are less muscle groups involved in those exercises compared to the squat or deadlift).

The smallest Olympic plate at a gym is typically 2.5lbs. Adding 2.5lbs to both sides of an Olympic bar increases the load by 5lbs. What this means is even with the smallest possible weight available at a gym, it will be difficult to keep on progressing simply because 5lbs is too big of a jump.

To illustrate this, let’s imagine someone named “Bob” who can squat 200lbs, and overhead press 100lbs (both exercises for 3 sets of 5 reps). He’s on the Starting Strength training program, so linear progression (a fancy way of saying “adding weight every time you train”) is the name of the game.

For Bob’s next training session, his plan is to squat 205lbs and overhead press 105lbs.

The squat, going from 200lbs to 205lbs represents a 2% increase.

Whereas the overhead press, going from 100lbs to 105lbs would be a 5% increase.

Which do you think would be easier?

The 2% jump in weight for the squat will probably be manageable, however, a 5% jump for the overhead press would prove more challenging to achieve 3 sets of 5 reps. In fact, the extra 5lbs on the overhead press might be too much, and Bob might not even reach a set of 5 reps. He’ll hit a wall and plateau.

I’m sure this is a familiar story…I’ve experience the same situation myself many times (at different weights).

So how can Bob keep on progressing and continue to get stronger?

In my experience, there are 2 ways to keep on getting stronger (assuming that sleep, diet and recovery are fine):

First, is fight at the weight you’re stuck at until your can complete 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever set/rep scheme the training program calls for).

What I used to do is use the weight I’m stuck at and work at it week after week until I could finish 3 sets of 5 reps. Sometimes this would take a few weeks; I would struggle at completing just 1 set of 5 reps, and maybe only hit 4 or 3 reps during the next 2 sets. After week or so, I would eventually hit my target of 3 sets of 5 reps. But here’s the thing: using the same weight over and over again really kills the momentum of getting stronger every training session.

The other solution is micro-loading with fractional plates.

Rogue Fractional Plates

Rogue-Fractional-Plates

At first I was hesitant to buy the fractional plates from Rogue Fitness simply because it was so damn expensive for such puny weights! ($65 for only a total of 5lbs of Olympic plates).

I’ve read people making homemade fractional plates from chains, but I decided on fractional plates from Rogue, simply because the cost of going to the hardware store to buy the chains, cost of the chains and buying a new kitchen scale to weigh these chains would cost more in time and effort.

These tiny weights have made a big impact on my training. Now, instead of trying to increase the weight by 5lbs, I can increase the load with as little as 0.50lbs.

There are 4 different plates:

  1. 0.25lbs x 2 = 0.50lbs
  2. 0.50lbs x 2 = 1.00lb
  3. 0.75lbs x 2 = 1.50lbs
  4. 1.00lb x 2 = 2lbs

I like the fact that I can go from 0.50lbs to 5.0lbs in half pound increments. I also like that each weight is represented by a different color (I’ve seen some fractional plates that are all one color – chrome).

Carrying Fractional Plates Around

Rogue-Fitness-Fractional-Plates

I used to take 2 sets of the Rogue fractional plates with me to the gym. At that point, I’ve found that I could still make progress by increasing the load by 2.5lbs (that’s 1.25lbs on each side of the bar), so I only brought half of the set with me: the 0.75lb red plates and the 0.50lbs blue plates.

An extra 2.5lbs in my gym bag wasn’t too much to ask.

I weaved the strap of my fanny pack inside the 2” holes of the fractional plates, and carried it over my shoulders. I probably got some weird looks (”why is that big short guy carrying baby weights?”), but I’m not interested in what other people think…I only want to get stronger!

Impact

Rogue-Fractional-Olympic-Plates

My goal is simply to get stronger, and microloading with fractional plates have helped me reach person records in all my lifts. After all, a 500.5lb deadlift is bigger than a 500lbs deadlift.

The Rogue fractional plates has helped the most with the overhead press and bench press, especially early on where a 5lbs increase became too big of a jump.

Psychologically I think it helps as well. Hitting a wall and getting stuck at a weight for weeks on end sucks. Especially when before it felt as though linear progression was going to happen forever (I wish!). Even adding 0.50lbs to the bar kept the momentum going and the belief that I am getting stronger…a little bit at a time.

What I Didn’t Like

What I didn’t like is that on some of these plates, somehow the paint has chipped off and the metal has show signs of rust.

RogueFractionalPlates1

RogueFractionalPlates2

I’m not sure how the paint chipped off, and I’m not sure if it’s even possible to prevent paint from coming off any weight lifting equipment for that matter since you’re banging metal on metal all the time, but the rusting is probably my fault, since I stored them in a humid basement.

In the future I may end up painting over this rust with some rust resistant paint from Tremclad or Rustoleum.

Overall

If you’re serious about getting stronger, then the Rogue Fractional Plates are among the best investments you can make. Tiny increment in weights as low as 0.50lbs will break plateaus, get unstuck and ensure that you’ll keep on progressing and keep on getting stronger.

At first glance it’s seems like a significant investment $65 for a total of 5lbs.

But if you’re like me and you’re pushing yourself to get stronger and break personal records, you’ll probably use fractional plates on every other workout (at least) for the rest of your life.

So $65 for something that will last years and get a lot of use over the course of your life is definitely a bargain.

Check it out here: Rogue Fractional Plates

Alternatively, there’s the Iron Woody fractional plates. The non-metric version is a bit cheaper than Rogue’s (probably because it’s not made of the anti-tank metal that Rogue uses), but I’m sure it’s just as effective.

Amstaff TR023 Power Rack Review

January 19, 2012 in Product Reviews with 0 Comments

The Amstaff TR023 is the Canadian version of the Force USA F-PC power rack with band attachments. I bought it from FitnessAvenue.ca, but it’s also available on Amazon.ca.

It’s inexpensive, almost perfect for my needs, but has some flaws.

Amstaff-TR023-2

Here’s my review:

Introduction

I’ve debated about getting the Amstaff TR023 power rack or one of the Rogue Fitness power racks (such as the R3 or R4) for a long time, but finally decided on the Amstaff.

Rogue Fitness equipment is awesome, but I took a risk with a unknown brand.

Here’s why:

  • It’s cheaper (probably because it’s made in China)
  • Includes dip bars, whereas Rogue sells it as a separate attachment (Rogue Matador)
  • Includes monkey bars for chin ups & pull ups
  • The width of the Amstaff rack is wider (50.5” compared to 43”). I’ve found that I would have to be extra careful with racks that are too narrow. There’s been a few time where I would re-rack the bar from the squat, and almost catch my pinky in between the bar and J-hooks. Also, because the Amstaff rack is wide, I could perform wide stance squats inside the cage, allowing me to make use of the safety pins.
  • 2 pairs of J-hooks (compared to 1 pair for the Rogue R-3 and R-4)
  • 8 band pegs for band work (compared to 4 for the Rogue rack)
  • The stabilizer bar on the Amstaff rack is positioned so that you won’t hit your foot/shins while you’re setting up or racking the bar during the squat. The Rogue rack looks like it would be in the way if you squat.
  • Doesn’t need to be bolted to the ground. I don’t have the tools to bolt a power rack onto the concrete floor, so this would be an additional cost. Also, if I decide to move my rack, it would be a pain to un-bolt, and re-bolt the rack elsewhere, along with having to repair the basement floor, which I do not know how to do.
  • The height of the rack is lower (the height of the Amstaff rack is 84”, or 7’. The Rogue power racks are 90”, or 7’6”). I was going to have my home gym in the garage, but after finding out that the garage floor was sloped, I decided to move it to the basement. The ceiling of my basement is too low to accommodate the height of the Rogue power racks

With these points in mind, I went with the Amstaff TR023 power rack.

Initial Impressions

I was pretty excited to get the power rack, since it’s a must-have piece of equipment for any home gym.

It arrived in separate boxes which was well packed.

Amstaff-TR023-box

Amstaff-TR023-box2

Assembly

Assembly was pretty easy. I was able to put it all together myself in about 2-3 hours.

Amstaff-TR023-before

Amstaff-TR023-before3

Amstaff-TR023-assembly

Amstaff-TR023-1

The worst part about assembling the Amstaff TR023 power rack was the assembly manual. The pictures and text quality are clear, but the instructions looks like it was translated from Chinese to English. Check out the picture below to see what I mean:

Amstaff-TR023-manual-front

Amstaff-TR023-manual-front

Amstaff-TR023-manual-back

Amstaff-TR023-manual-back

Some Details

After I finished assembling the rack, the first thing I did was take my Olympic bar that I purchased from Kijiji (eBay’s version of Craigslist) and put it inside the rack.

IT DIDN’T FIT!

Amstaff-TR023-widthNote: B&R bar is the top bar. The Kijiji bar is on the bottom.

Amstaff-TR023-width B&R-bar

Amstaff-TR023-width-barbell

The width of the Amstaff TR023 rack (50.5 inches) is wider than the shaft of my Olympic bar, which is 50 inches.

It turns out that the Olympic bar I had wasn’t even made to standard specifications. The spacing in between the collars for an Olympic bar should be 1310mm, or 51.57 inches in length. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbell). (So if you’re thinking of buying a used barbell from Craigslist, make sure take measurements first!)

At this point, I had a good reason to purchase a new barbell (I am now a proud owner of the B&R bar from Rogue Fitness, which fits inside the Amstaff TR023 power rack).

But now that I have a bar that can fit inside the rack, I can write a detailed and accurate review!

Using the Rack

Even though I have the B&R bar which fits inside this power rack, it appears to be too wide for my liking.

For the B&R bar, the spacing in between the collars is 51.57 inches. Since the Amstaff TR023 rack is 50.5 inches wide (NOTE: It’s listed as 51 inches, but I measured it to 50.5 inches), I only have 1.07 inches to work with!

That’s a little more than 1/2 inches of “wiggle room” on each side of the rack.

The good part about this is that it’s not difficult to center the bar with the rack. With power racks that I’ve used in the past, sometimes I would need to shift the bar 5-6” to get it centered. With the Amstaff rack, I only have to move the bar a fraction of an inch.

The bar part is that since I don’t have much space move from side to side, I have to be extra careful when taking the bar out of the rack, and putting the bar back onto the J-hooks.

When taking the bar off the J-hooks for a set of squats, sometimes I wobble out of the rack, moving the bar from side to side. With power racks that are more narrow, it is possible to do this without the 45lb plates hitting the side of the rack. With the Amstaff TR023, I need to walk straight back before setting up my stance for squats.

Also, because the cage is wide, the width of the safety pins are wide too. Meaning that my body needs to be centered with the rack when I squat, or else the collars would hit the safety pins once I descend to the bottom.

When placing the bar back onto the J-hooks, again, my body (and the bar) needs to be nearly centered with the rack or else I would hit the collars onto the J-hooks. This can be difficult after a heavy set of squats, when you’re out of breath, seeing stars and barely have enough strength to walk the bar forward.

Lastly, I was planning to do standing overhead presses inside of this power rack, but because of the width of the rack, sometimes I would hit the top of the rack with the 45lb plates.

Although it’s usable, the width of the rack forces me to be extra careful. Still, I would prefer a little wiggle room just in case.

Stuff I Like

Pin Holes

Amstaff-TR023-1.5inch-pin-holes

The hole spacing is about 1.5 inches apart. Other power racks I used in the past had hole spacing of 2-2.5 inches. This is awesome because I can adjust the height of the J-hooks for bench press & squats to the right height.

There are 42 pin holes from top to bottom. Although I won’t be using most of them, it’s nice to know I have that option.

Frame

The frame is 2.5”x2.5” and feels solid.

The blue and black colour (or “color” for you readers from the US and A) combination looks pretty cool!

J-Hooks

Amstaff-TR023-j-hooks

There are 2 sets of J-hooks (total of 4). This makes it convenient because I can set a pair of J-hooks for squats, and another one for bench press, meaning I don’t need to take them off and put them back on ever time I change exercise.

And according to the product description, the J-hooks should be able to hold 1000lbs. I won’t be approaching that weight anytime soon, but it’s nice to know that these hooks will be able to accommodate any weight I can lift.

Monkey Bars

Amstaff-TR023-monkey-bars

There are 2 bars that run parallel to each other, and another set of bars that are angled (See pictures below). I like the angled set of bars when doing pull ups & chin ups because it feels more natural, and isn’t painful on my elbows as straight bar pullups & chinups.

The knurling on the monkey bars aren’t as aggressive as I expected, since it’s covered in blue paint.

Amstaff-TR023-monkey-bars-fatgripz

Amstaff-TR023-monkey-bar-fatgripz2

Amstaff-TR023-monkey-bar-fatgripz3

Although there isn’t a fat and skinny bar like the chin up attachment on the Rogue power racks, I’ve attached a pair of Fatgripz to mimic a thicker pullup bar.

Expansion

I can purchase additional attachment for this power rack. They include lat pull down/low row combo, pec dec, and cable cross overs.

Dip Attachments

Amstaff-TR023-dip-attachment-2

Amstaff-TR023-dip-attachment-4

I’ve read somewhere that “dips are the squats for the chest”, so I wanted a power rack that included a dip attachment.

The dip attachment for the Amstaff power rack are sufficient.

There are 2 bars that attaches itself the same way as the J-hooks. When attached, the dip bars are parallel to each other.

The padded handles on the dip attachment comes off quite easily. I’m not sure what these handles are made of, but it doesn’t offer much in terms of padding. Also, it looks as though the dip bars are hollow.

I haven’t tried performing weighted dips on these yet, but they hold up quite well with my body weight of 190lb.

Band Pegs and Band Peg Holes

Amstaff-TR023-band-peg-holes-bottom

Amstaff-TR023-band-peg-holes-top1

Amstaff-TR023-band-peg-holes-top2

There are 8 band pegs with 8 spring collars to keep the pins in place on the rack.

18 pin holes on the bottom, and 15 on top.

I haven’t incorporated bands into my training (yet) and I don’t have any bands to test out the band pins. But it’s great to know I have a wide option of holes and 8 band pegs to work with once I do.

Stuff I Don’t Like

Power Rack Width

(See above).

No Plate Storage

It doesn’t have plate holders attached to the rack, but at this price point, it’s no surprise. That means I’m going need a weight tree. I ended up getting 2 CAP standard weight trees, which I review here.

No Numbered Pin Holes

The pin holes are not numbered! Other versions of this power rack (Force USA) has numbers on the side of the rack to show what pin hole you’re using, whereas the Amstaff TR023 has none. A bit of a pain when I’m trying to set the left & right J-hooks and safety pins at the same level. In the future I’ll probably end up buying a metallic marker and writing in the numbers myself.

Overall

The Amstaff TR023 power rack is almost perfect.

It’s half the price of a Rogue power rack, and has a TON of features. The only issue I have is the width of the rack. It may not be a problem with others, and I think I’ll probably get used to using a wide power rack over time.

The Amstaff TR023 is great value for money, even if this is not a well known brand.

Burgener & Rippetoe (B&R) Men’s Bar Review

January 17, 2012 in Product Reviews with 1 Comment

Burgener & Rippetoe Bar

The Burgener & Rippetoe Men’s bar (also known as the B&R bar) from Rogue Fitness is a hybrid, jack-of-all-trades, all-in-one barbell for powerlifting and weightlifting movements. It is the best Olympic bar I’ve ever used, and the price along with shipping costs is very reasonable. Here’s my review of the B&R bar:

Introduction

Originally, I had plans to use the so-called “Olympic bar” that I bought from Kijiji (a classified ads website similar to Craigslist that’s popular with Canadians — I got the bar with 240lbs of Olympic plates for $170 delivered). But that used barbell was too short for my power rack (it has a center length of about 50”, whereas my power rack is 51” wide). Also, the Kijiji bar was crap. The chrome plating is flaking off, and I would also have to tighten the sleeves every now and then because it would unscrew itself a little every time I power cleaned the bar.

Because of these issues, I had to get a new Olympic barbell.

I wanted a barbell that would last a lifetime, but wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg (such as the Eleiko or Invanko bars).

I also wanted a bar that wouldn’t permanently bend from heavy squats & deadlifts, but also have enough whip for the occasional power clean.

After a lot of research, I decided on the Burgener & Rippetoe Men’s bar from Rogue Fitness.

Up until now, I have only used chrome plated, bolted-at-the-ends Olympic bars that are commonly seen at commercial gyms.

The B&R bar easily blows them all out of the waters.

I’ve read many reviews and user experiences about the Burgener & Rippetoe Men’s bar on forums such as Crossfit.com, Bodybuilding.com & StartingStrength.com, and they mostly had high praise.

Also, it’s designed by Mike Burgener and Mark Rippetoe, and manufactured by York barbell. I’m not familiar with Mike Burgener, but I’ve had success with Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program, and own his books Starting Strength, Practical Programming and Strong Enough? Thoughts from Thirty Years of Barbell Training. Rip’s work is amazing, so when I was choosing a bar to purchase, I expected the same Rippetoe quality to be infused in the bar (if that makes any sense).

Some Details

Burgener & Rippetoe Bar

The B&R bar is designed as an all purpose bar that’s suitable for powerlifting and Olympic lifting. It has dual markings at 32” and 36” apart for powerlifting & weightlifting movements.

The spacing between knurls at the center of the bar is wider than normal allowing a slightly wider stance during conventional deadlifts and Olympic lifts (so it doesn’t scrape the shins).

I believe it’s the strongest bar that Rogue sells, with a tensile strength of 205K. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but apparently the higher then tensile strength, the stiffer the bar is and the less likely it is to permanently bend.

Since I’m focusing on powerlifting movements (and want a bar durable enough that I can pass onto my grand kids), I’m looking for a bar that does not flex as much, and the B&R bar appears to be the best answer.

First Impressions

B&R-Rogue-Bar

The B&R bar was delivered by Purolator (the delivery guy said I had a package that was long and heavy. I wanted to say, “…that’s what she said”). It was packaged in a long, sturdy cardboard tube that was duct taped at both ends.

Burgener & Rippetoe Bar

Inside the tube at both ends was crumpled paper to cushion and protect the ends of the bar.

Burgener & Rippetoe Bar

Overall it seemed packaged quite well, however I did receive a notice that Purolator had to re-tape both ends. I’m assuming the B&R bar came out of the duct taped ends of the package during shipment. The bar arrived fine however.

The first thing I noticed when I cut off the duct tape was that the ends of the bar did not have a bolt on it. All the other barbells I’ve used in a commercial gym had bolts, which I had to tighten from time to time.

B&R Bar

B&R Bar

Taking out the bar, I immediately saw (and felt) the difference in quality compared to the piece of crap I got from Kijiji, along with the other bars I’ve used in the past.

There was no comparison.

B&R Bar

B&R Bar

The bar was already covered in grease. I could see that my hands were greasy and covered in some black substance after taking the bar out of the package. I’m assuming this grease is to protect from rust during shipment.

The look of the bar is different than the bars I’ve used.

The B&R bar is pure steel, and doesn’t have any chrome or zinc plating on it.

When I gripped the B&R bar, the diameter of the bar felt much smaller than I’m used to. The B&R bar’s shaft is 29mm in diameter, and all the bars I have used at commercial gyms felt much thicker.

I have read that men’s Olympic bars used in weight lifting competition are 28mm, while bars used in powerlifting can range from 28-29mm. So the B&R bar, at 29mm is at the thicker end of the scale suitable for powerlifting.

Is Bar Straight?

The B&R bar I received has a slight, tiny wobble to it that’s barely noticeable. Heck, I can’t even capture it with my camera, but it is there. In each picture below, I rotate the bar a quarter turn:

B&R-bar-straight-1B&R-bar-straight-2B&R-bar-straight-3B&R-bar-straight-4

Personally, I’m not concerned with this tiny bend in the bar. I’ve seen and experienced a lot worst, and so far this hasn’t affected my training at all.

Stiffness

The B&R bar feels stiff and rigid. Much more stiff than all the other bars I’ve tried in my life. So far, there doesn’t appear to be any bend to the bar at all. The maximum weight I have used on the B&R bar to date is only 407.5lbs. I’m sure at higher loads this bar will not permanently bend, like some of the bars I’ve used at the previous gym I was a member at.

Sleeves

This is my first time using a bar that isn’t bolted at the ends.

The sleeves has tiny ridges on it. I think these ridges are to provide friction so that the weight plates doesn’t slide off during a set.

The sleeves on the other bars I’ve used did not have these ridges and was completely smooth. I have had times where the plates would nearly slide off a bar with smooth sleeves during a set of squats (even when paired with spring collars). So these ridges on the B&R bar is a nice safety feature.

Spin

One side spins more smoothly than the other, but after contacting Rogue, they said it was normal and that I just need use lithium grease in the sleeves.

When I spin the sleeves, it would spin for about 1 second and then stop. To be honest I expected the bar to spin a lot more, but this isn’t really an issue for me because my focus is the slower lifts (i.e. squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press) rather than the faster lifts (cleans, snatches etc).

In the future, I’ll probably end up investing in another bar that’s suitable for Olympic lifts (maybe another Rogue bar or one of the Pendlay bars).

Markings

There are 2 sets of markings on the bar, one for Powerlifting and another for Olympic lifts.

Although this is a nice feature, personally I only use the powerlifting marks, even for power cleans. I’m not sure if I’ll ever make use of the Olympic markings simply because it feels too wide for me. But for other people the dual markings might be more useful.

Knurl

The knurling on the B&R bar feels awesome. It’s not too deep, and it’s not too shallow either. It feels just right.

B&R Bar Knurl

When I grip the bar, it almost feels as though it’s sticking to my hands.

Other bars I’ve used in the past felt a bit slippery (probably because of the chrome plating). But since the B&R bar is bare steel, the knurling is not covered up with any sort of plating so you can feel the full texture of the knurl.

I’ve never used a bar with aggressive knurling, but I’m sure the B&R bar won’t shred up my palms during use.

This bar also has a center knurl, which is one thing I wanted in an Olympic bar. I tend to sweat a lot, especially on my back. The last thing I want is a silky smooth bar sliding down my sweat soaked shirt during a heavy set of squats. The center knurl is definitely a plus when it comes to squats.

Overall

Let me put it this way: the B&R bar is awesome.

Pro’s:

  • Solid, stiff bar
  • Fine knurling makes gripping the bar easy
  • Center knurl keeps the bar in place on my sweaty back while squatting
  • Bare steel looks manly
  • Dual markings for powerlifting and Olympic lifting

Con’s:

  • Because it’s bare steel it will require more maintenance to prevent rust
  • Shipping to Canada took a few weeks so it wasn’t as fast as I hoped (took almost a month! To be fair, I ordered it a few weeks before Christmas and things mail much slower around that time)
  • Doesn’t have a lifetime guarantee like the other bars sold at Rogue

Take a look at the Burgener & Rippetoe Men’s bar at Rogue’s website for additional details.

Cap Barbell RK-1 Standard Plate Rack: Review

December 17, 2011 in Product Reviews with 0 Comments

So after getting tired of seeing weights scattered on the floor of my basement home gym (and nearly tripping over them a few times), I decided to get organized and bought 2 Cap RK1 Standard plate racks for each side of my power cage from Amazon for $49 each (with free shipping!).  They arrived on my front door in 3 days.

Here’s what the box looks like:

Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack Box

Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack Box

I’ve considered the Olympic version of the plate rack, but from my experience training at a variety of gyms, unloading weight plates from 1″ pins are a lot easier than those designed for Olympic plates with 2″ pins.

What’s In The Box

  • 1 triangle frame
  • 2 base frames
  • Bag of bolts (4), nuts (4) and washers (4)
Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack

Assembly

The only tools I needed was:

  • a socket wrench
  • adjustable wrench

Assembly was a snap. All I had to do was align the holes of the base frames to the holes of the triangle frame, insert the bolts, place the washer & nut on the bolt and tighten. I used the adjustable wrench to hold the bolt in place while I tighten the nut with the socket wrench.

It only took about 10 minutes for each plate rack to unpack & assemble.

Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack Assembly Instrucitons

Use

Since I have a lot of 45lbs plates, I need to use the bottom-horizontal pins on both ends of the weight tree.

The vertical pins on the center of the plate rack can only hold weights that are small in diameter. I can place 10lbs weights on the center-bottom pin, and 5lbs weights on the center-top pin.

The weight capacity is supposedly 500lbs, but I’m able to store 520lbs of weights on the rack, with some room to spare (pictured below).

Cap Barbell RK-1 Standard Plate Rack

What I Like

My home gym is a little bit more organized! The floor no longer looks like a landmine of weight plates since they’re now stored on the plate rack.

And since the diameter of the pins are 1″, and the diameter of the hole on Olympic plates are 2″, it’s really easy to load & unload the weights on and off the rack.

What I Don’t Like

The base of the plate rack is not leveled, so it tilts from side to side. It’s more of a minor annoyance than anything, since it doesn’t interfere with the function of the plate rack, which is to hold weight plates.

Not level

The paint was scraped off right away when I placed my rusty York Olympic plates onto the holding pins. I suspect this wouldn’t be a problem if your plates aren’t rusty on the insides like mine. I have since added some oil onto the pins and they seem to slide on much easier.

Paint scraped off

Lastly, there’s no bar holder. But even if there was, it would probably only hold a standard 1″ diameter barbell.

Overall

If you have a bunch of Olympic plates (or standard plates) lying around and considering a plate tree, get yourself something that is designed to hold standard 1″ plates such as the Cap barbell RK-1 standard plate rack. It’s a lot easier to slide Olympic weight plates on and off the tree, it can hold 500lbs+ of weights without any problems, and having all the plates on the rack and not on the floor or leaning against the wall will certainly impact the look of any home gym.