When I first started my gym, I played around with a lot of weight plates. I decided on thinner profile bumpers and Strength Co. irons after a time. And I did this merry-go-round with bumpers. At one point, I got in a set of Rogue urethanes because I wanted to cut down on the smell of the bumpers that I had been moving in and out. Let me tell you something. Listen here, because it is crucial to your sanity. Stay the hell away from these if you have ribbed sleeves on your barbell. You know that sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. This sound makes that sound sound quiet and mild. I don't understand why any company that ribs their barbell collars would then go ahead and sell a plate that has ribbed inserts. That's bananas. But they don't smell at all. So there's you tradeoff.

This powder coat is really well applied. An axle is just an axle, so nothing special there. But the price is good on it and man, the powder coat is so damned grippy, it just begs to be used. My hands are usually pretty beat up after a heavy session with this, especially if I do holds. Love the thing. Spend the extra $25 or whatever and don't get some imported bar with shiny black paint.

Rogue stopped making this a few years ago, and I managed to snag this and the Beam (which was a square Saxon bar, 3"x3" or 3"x4", can't remember). I snagged both from a PT's practice that had bought them for a client who had moved away and they no longer had use for them. I ended up selling the Beam but keeping the Branch. This is a TOUGH grip challenge from the floor and it's a great overhead press bar as it really forces you to balance the bar in front of you with heavier loads. I'm really happy I landed this because I don't see many options for a bar like this on the market currently. I think Titan offers one and BWTG has a 2.5" but that's about all I'm aware of on offer.

I've got a whole bunch of uprights and shelving for this thing, both in the 41" and 72" length (shelving), and including dumbbell shelves, flat shelves, and bumper shelves. The finish is great, with a nice metallic black finish on the shelves, though I wish they offered colors like they do on the uprights and crossmembers. I had Rogue shelving before this and this is superior, IMO, because you can stack the shelves higher. I've since attached the stand alone modular shelving to my rack, creating a real Frankenstein's monster of a rack system. I'm happy with it but it sure cost a lot of money. And the different feet to use with it are so-so and cannot match up to the other types of feet Rep sells.

I bought this bar, since discontinued, for $297, which at the time was insanely cheap for a stainless steel bar. I have really loved having it and run it through the rotation with my other power bars (and I've got a lot of them) and this holds up just as well. I like it for higher rep workouts because, while the knurling is pretty sticky, it's not as sharp as some of my other bars. It will hold in your hands for a set of 6-8 deadlift reps and if you try that with a Ohio or Texas power bar, you're asking for trouble. I've seen a number of people complain that the stainless rusts, but that hasn't been my experience. The only thing I've noticed is that the color of the stainless is different from the other stainless bars and handles I own.

I had this when I first started my gym, from Amazon. The price was great, I believe at or below $100, and the quality was what was expected for that price - burrs on the handles that needed filing, welds that were a little off, powder coat that wasn't quite robust enough. The bigger issue I encountered was the balance of the bar.

I had a terrible experience with this barbell. The one i ordered was rusted out inside the sleeves, and even after a thorough cleaning, I couldn't get the sleeves to spin correctly. When I called Fringe's EXCELLENT customer service, they quickly apologized and sent a replacement. That one, too, was full of rust. Both bars had incredibly passive knurling. I think honestly, I got a bad batch. Either way, that was the end of Fringe barbells for me. I do like the company and especially all that PK has done for our community. Nevertheless, while I continue to buy other items from them, no more barbells.

I owned this version of the Ohio Bar during covid and it did the job, not as well as a bare steel power bar from Rogue, but a solid choice. The one thing about the black zinc is that it slightly dulls the knurling - not nearly as bad as ecoat or cerakote, but it does take away some of the value of buying a bar with volcano knurling as the coating fills in a little of the volcano. My choice if you needed to get yourself a black colored power bar by Rogue, would be to get a black oxide bar. It will wear out over time (the oxide, not the bar) but it feels closer to bare steel. This bar was more of a value when it was $285 but everything has gotten more expensive.