Rogue Sandwich or Regular J-Cups?

[Erich Weidner]

I'm putting together my power rack (literally, half assembled today) for my home gym.
I ended up with a Rogue monster light. (almost 30 days after ordering it)

Rogue makes two styles of J-cups, (regular and sandwich). Any advantages to one over the other?
In a bout of indecision I ordered both kinds. But might want to return one if they are generally inferior (which would mean I need to not use them first). Anyone have experience with both types?


In either case, if one is walking the bar into the uprights then lowering to the cups (aka hooks), It looks like the sandwich model has enough of a flat top to make one think the bar is racked when it is in fact on top of the hook.
The regular only has about a 1/4" of protrusion of the metal portion of the bracket, so might ding the knurling, but not actually "catch" the bar. In both cases the design looks like it will fail to protect the knurling as the plastic protector pads do not extend up and over the metal.

I don't see an option from Rogue (or any other googled results) for a J-cup which would be the equivalent of the SS style "bolt" hook. (Which clearly doesn't have anything that would hang up the bar before truly being seated as I speculate may happen with the two Rogue ones above).

[AndrewLewis]

I have never used the sandwich type hooks, and I suspect I never will, because I see no problem that these solve that is worth an extra $60.

As far as "protecting the knurling", when do you ever grip the bar that wide? Even if the knurling weren't there, would it affect you that much? Even a snatch grip will have the ends loosely gripped by the pinkies, because most of the snatch grip is in the thumbs and pointer finger.

If I were you, I'd just buy the J-cups. I've had them in my gym for five years and have had no problems. I haven't even had to replace the pads yet.

[Steve R]

The standard Monster cups work fine for me and there's no reason for the bar to hit the tip of the cup when racking the bar if you have set it at the right height.

It's not a bad thing to have two pairs of cups. You can leave them in place when going from squat to bench. If you keep both you may find that you prefer one or the other for a particular lift.

[Nockian]

I'm putting together my power rack (literally, half assembled today) for my home gym.
I ended up with a Rogue monster light. (almost 30 days after ordering it)

Rogue makes two styles of J-cups, (regular and sandwich). Any advantages to one over the other?
In a bout of indecision I ordered both kinds. But might want to return one if they are generally inferior (which would mean I need to not use them first). Anyone have experience with both types?


In either case, if one is walking the bar into the uprights then lowering to the cups (aka hooks), It looks like the sandwich model has enough of a flat top to make one think the bar is racked when it is in fact on top of the hook.
The regular only has about a 1/4" of protrusion of the metal portion of the bracket, so might ding the knurling, but not actually "catch" the bar. In both cases the design looks like it will fail to protect the knurling as the plastic protector pads do not extend up and over the metal.

I don't see an option from Rogue (or any other googled results) for a J-cup which would be the equivalent of the SS style "bolt" hook. (Which clearly doesn't have anything that would hang up the bar before truly being seated as I speculate may happen with the two Rogue ones above).

I use the standard J not had any issues. Bar material is pretty hard and I’m more worried about it grinding the rack away.

[mangen]

No problems with the j-cups. I've miss-grooved a bench rep a few times and hit them, but never thought to look at the bar (never have my hands out that far - no snatch grip stuff).

[Erich Weidner]

I did my first training session with the new rack today. I tried the sandwich version for Squat and Press.

When I set the sandwich j-hooks positioned to be mid sternum for pressing, when I was walking the bar back in, I hit the uprights and lowered it onto that shelf on top (not actually down in the hook/cup proper. Not super good.
I moved the hooks up one hole (2") and this eliminated the problem, though the starting rack position of the bar is now a bit higher than the book recommended. But I'm not having to tiptoe it out, so it is probably fine. I'll try the regular j-cups next time for comparison.

I'll personally consider the flat top a design flaw in the Sandwich J-cups. If there was a 45 degree portion on top to not let the bar rest on that shelf I think it would work better.
I also noted that the sandwich version gives you about a half inch more wiggle room to not crush your fingers when re-racking the squat (I'm still struggling to narrow my grip). A slight plus.
The sandwich hooks also jut out further from the upright, by several inches. Makes clearance inside the rack a bit tighter, but I'm not sure if this is significant. (Just an observation).

[AndrewLewis]

I use the standard J not had any issues. Bar material is pretty hard and I’m more worried about it grinding the rack away.

The bar will probably grind, not the rack. The rack is probably a carbon steel which has a higher hardness than a barbell steel.

[Nikola Blagojevic]

I prefer sandwich hooks for squatting because they are sloped back such that the bar can only rest in the rearmost corner, so it doesn't slide as I unrack. However, this makes them less ideal for bench press because you have to roll the bar "uphill" to unrack it, which is hard to do when it's really heavy. With the regular J hooks I can roll the bar to the edge of the hook to unrack it right over my eyes and not hit the hooks on the way up.

I like having both. If you need to return one, return the sandwich ones.

[Nockian]

The bar will probably grind, not the rack. The rack is probably a carbon steel which has a higher hardness than a barbell steel.

Hope so. I’m not concerned about some bar wear that far out as I don’t do Olly lifts. I did notice that the knurling has left an impression on the safety pipes .

[AndrewLewis]

Hope so. I’m not concerned about some bar wear that far out as I don’t do Olly lifts. I did notice that the knurling has left an impression on the safety pipes .

That'll happen. My Rogue rack has the same impressions on the safety pipes, but that's more because of the coating I suspect.