Originally Posted by
Michael Wolf
The same things that make the OPB more suitable for that ONE rep your life depends on. It's almost like the the B&R is a decathlete and the OPB is a 100m sprint specialist. The OPB will win by a significant margin in the sprint but the decathlete is better at the all-around. The B&R is designed as an all purpose bar, and is the best version of one that I've used - and I've used a fair amount of bars, though certainly not all. It's very good (not great) for deadlifts, squats, presses, and benches, but is also very good (not great) for cleans and snatches. And the 1.0 knurl is like nothing else I've ever felt, including the 2.0; it's soft but grippy.
So it's not the best for any one thing, but is highly suitable for all things. If you're a high level olympic lifter needing 1 rep in a clean or snatch, you want a bar that spins more freely, has a little more whip, and maybe without a center knurl. If you're going for a 1RM squat or press or slow lift, you probably want a more aggressive knurl, less spin, and something a little stiffer. But if you do a bit of everything and want a single bar with which you can do it all day in and day out, and whose knurling won't tear up your hands or back at all, the B&R 1.0 is a fantastic one.
Too bad they don't make them anymore. The 2.0 is great too, I haven't used it as much but my sense is it's very similar except on the plus side, tends to be perfectly straight where the 1.0 was off by 1-2mm pretty often, and has a better shaft fit into the sleeve. But the knurling is a little sharper and more aggressive, nothing has been reproduced that's grippy but so velvety like the B&R 1.0.