buying a bar

[Scrofula]

This is going to sound disingenuous, but really, not everything is about the money.

A wise man once said, "There's no such thing as too strong. That's like... too much money."

(Appropriately annoying emoticon here.)

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Scrofula,

I"m aplying to Either PMI or MBA school so I can make more money. I also coach a weightlifting club at a globo gym for free, even though the globo gym wanted to pay me. I do it for free since it will get more people training correctly and get less people to curl in the squat rack. You can't have too much money, but that doesn't mean everything you do should or will be about getting more money.

[Hour of Judgement]

This is going to sound disingenuous, but really, not everything is about the money.

Fair enough.

[Scrofula]

I was being facetious. Once the basics are taken care of, with a bit of a buffer for recreation and emergencies, I don't really see the appeal of little green pieces of paper with numbers on them. And, in fact, I think having too much can create problems of its own. But Rippetoe's remark reminded me of something he said in one of the videos, and I found the connection amusing.

[shaddix]

I designed the bar to be an all-purpose gym bar, on the assumption that when you decided to specialize in a barbell sport you would commit to a specialty bar. But the bar turned out better than I expected. The end cap on the first batch of bars was qbout .5mm too big, and this was corrected in the subsequent production runs. The bare steel will oxidize into a "blue' finish, like a gun barrel, with just a little care. In our climate in North Texas, the bar gets oiled by human skin with normal use, and I have never had to wipe it off. Oiled wit a drop of 3-in-1 Oil, the bushings spin almost as well as an Eleiko bar, although an Olympic lifter will want a 28.5mm bar instead of a 29mm. But for powerlifting a general strength work, I don't think you'll find a better bar, especially for the money. Bill at Rogue has told me a couple of times how surprised he was by how well the bar turned out.

Just to remind you, I don't make a dime off the sale of these bars. I am not in the barbell business.

Yeah my bar has no issue with sliding the plates on the sleeves. I do have two questions though if you could be bothered.
A) Is it ok if there is a slight gap between the end piece and the sleeve? As in the sleeve can slide laterally about a millimeter on the bushing.

B) I have currently been brushing it with a brass brush and coating the bar with 3 in 1 oil every two weeks. Is this correct care for the bar or should I be using WD-40, break-free CLP, or something else? It is always kept indoors.

Thank you

[chevyguy3]

Another satisfied B&R bar owner here as well. The knurling is the best of any bar I have ever used, and once you have used a raw steel bar you will never go back to coated bars. I live in humid Houston and have only had to oil mine once in the year that I have owned it.

[elVarouza]

+1 to the B&R bar. Amazing feel to it, nice spinning collars, etc. Great bar.

[Mark Rippetoe]

A) Is it ok if there is a slight gap between the end piece and the sleeve? As in the sleeve can slide laterally about a millimeter on the bushing.

B) I have currently been brushing it with a brass brush and coating the bar with 3 in 1 oil every two weeks. Is this correct care for the bar or should I be using WD-40, break-free CLP, or something else? It is always kept indoors.

The gap is an artifact of the assembly, and is supposed to be there. The tolerances are not that tight, and the space makes it possible to oil the bushings. And I think you're oiling your bar because you like to oil your bar. Get a girlfriend. The bar doesn't care if it gets oiled every two weeks. I have lubed these two bars once since I've had them in my commercial gym, and have never brushed them. They look fine and work just like they're supposed to.

[Kenso]

well i decided to just man up and drop the extra few bucks and got the B&R. for some reason i didn't realize the rogue bar was missing a center knurl - good thing i posted. i suspect that it will take about a week to come in. am i total pussy if i wait til' the bar comes in to go heavy again on squats? i almost lost the bar squatting ~320 lbs the other day (the bend in the bar caused an extremely rapid roll down my back). i figure i can do deadlifts and maybe shoulder press though. what i dont understand is why sell a 45 lb bar with 255 lbs of weight and it can't even handle it without bending....

as a side question - would even a bar as strong as the B&R bend if i was doing something like...shrugs in the power rack? its not something i plan on testing, im just curious.

anyway, thanks for the advice - it is truly appreciated. it will be nice finally lifting with a REAL bar.

[Mark Rippetoe]

If you drop a loaded bar across a bench or on the rack pins from sufficient height and with enough weight, any bar will bend. The B&R bar will not bend under what is considered normal use under any load that can be used by a human for barbell exercise. If you do barbell shrugs the way I instruct in the video, the bar will be fine. Last time I talked to Bill at Rogue, Louie Simmons had one at Westside that has stayed straight for 8 months.