The aggregate score around 3.00 is fairly warranted. In the long run of it all I would say the dial system saves the performance side of this dumbbell. They got it mostly right at the beginning. It’s easy to adjust and feels good. The rest of the market left the behind tho. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a half decent product. I got these for free from my FIL. The dimpled knurling is annoying and painful, but I imagine it is an upgrade against the rubber one it comes with. I would throw a curveball and say I would recommend these if you have no other options and they come across your FBMP for crazy cheap, or if they have it on sale at your local Target or Dick’s Sporting Goods.

My biggest complaints are also its benefits. It’s reasonably light and can be put up out of the way. Maybe because the opening base is relatively short, the trap bar will lean to one side when you first put weight on it. Which is such a minor inconvenience. You only have to tip it back a few inches to get it parallel to the floor to load the next plate. My other concern is that it’s just heavy enough that I’ve banged my shins on it trying to get it out when I’ve tuck it behind my leg extension machine. Haven’t overloaded it by any means, but it held its own against 29 reps at 290lbs for the fallen crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald 🚢

Bought secondhand and it’s missing the end caps. The guy before me however did mark the center with tape. Having an axle at 45lbs does keep plate math simple, and the powder coat has help up. It’s grippy without being bumpy or full of burrs. Unless you’re an elite strongman or just want to spend the money, you have no need for a fancy axle. That’s what I told myself. This one does everything I need it to do

Don’t let my rating deter you from my review. I actually highly recommend this piece for anyone who is only interested in having the capability at all to do these movements. Sure there is a series of voltras, seal row attachments, prime pieces, and various cable riggings you can do that will function as a better leg extension/curl machine. But at this cost, I don’t have to do any of that. I found a use for my 35lb plate to offset the weight horn, like others have mentioned on Reddit and the like, and this thing works. The price is slowly creeping up. If you can find it for under 600 go for it. I don’t plan on ever getting rid of it, unless I find a decent Bolt Raider on FBMP.

I have one and a knockoff that mostly take a spot on my band and belt bar. If you have no form and utilize no more than your delts to bench, it is a good tool. For the purposes of training young or inexperienced, this thing is good. Once you have a good grasp of where the bar feels comfortable, you won’t need it. I’ve never trained around an injury, so I can’t speak to that. I can see an inexperienced or immature person using this to convince themselves they can lift way more. Don’t let it be an ego lift tool. If you want to use it every now and then for accessories, that’s fine. I’m sure you’d be just as happy with a knockoff version.

I’ve only ever used one other squat bar and that was the Rogue in bare steel used in public gym. My TPB Squat Bar is a pink cerakote and I’m the only person using it. The complaints people have with cerakote dulling to the knurling is exaggerated, it still bites. The thickness of the bar feels like it staples it to your back when squatting. But if you have limited space, this is a very long bar. Be aware of that. For most training it is an unnecessary luxury, but as a luxury, a new toy, this is fun bar. Get it in cerakote. Get a fun color. I like that my biggest and beefiest bar is pink.

Take advantage of boneyard sales if you can. I have never heard of someone being disappointed with what they got. I feel like the type of people who utilize them are perfectly fine with the minor defects. You can get lucky and get a cerakote bar for a non-cerakote price. My wife got a sweet blue cerakote one as a gift to convince her to start lifting with me. The low start weight provides a good jumping off point for her or anyone that is detrained and looking to get started. A passive beater bar probably would do just as good. Getting this one could allow you to make the gym more approachable and accommodating without telling someone that they aren’t strong enough to use your good stuff yet, so they have to deal with crap. Get your wife, friends, or family that is interested a decent bar they will want to use.

When I purchased this, it was listed as a power bar and stated that it would have center knurling. It does not have center knurling. It’s an Oly bar. It was my first bar for my home gym, along with the Tru Grit Bumper Plates. They were both on sale, but maybe I was duped there. The plates were $1/piece but the shipping was basically double the original cost. For what I got, it was hardly worth it. However, it took me from zero gym to some gym. For the most part, this whippy, sort of skinny bar gets broken out for rows or cleans. I’ll bring it out to my yard to do lunges or whatever other movement that beats up a bar. It went from my only/best option to a beater bar. If you can find this on the resale market or whatever bar that qualifies as a single step above a dangerous, cheap, hex lock bar, I would go for it. If someone is selling plates you want including a random barbell, I would go for it. This is beyond serviceable for a beater bar and I am ok with that.