Very happy w/ this equipment (Titan Elite Bumpers and Capps Starting Strength Bar).
Bar: Starting Strength Bars | Made by Texas Power Bars | Powerlifting Barbell & Bars.
- Perfectly straight as far as I can tell.
- Nice, smooth and easy spin with 45's on, and consistent on either side.
- Knurling is great. It's a little 'sharper' than the B&R 1.0. Probably a good thing: With the B&R 1.0, adding enough chalk to keep things dry could interfere a bit w/ how effective the knurling would otherwise be if it were a bit 'sharper' (on hot and humid days for example).
- Weighed in at 44.1 on my digital bathroom scale. The +0.1 may be an artifact of the scale (see below).
- With my cheap mechanical micrometer, the diameter of the knurling right outside the smooth was 28.5mm as near as I could measure and read.
- Fit and finish was great. Very nice looking.
- So far I think this is the best all-around bar I've ever used. Definitely the best I've ever owned.
- Packaging: The container was thick and rigid enough to prevent damage. The tube didn't have end-caps when it arrived so most likely the ends of the bar slipped out on either side during handling. No scuffs or anything though.
Plates: Elite Olympic Bumper Plates | Black | LB | Outfit your Home or Garage gym with these Bumper Plates!.
- All of the 45's, 35's and 25's weighed in at face-value + 0.1 on my digital bathroom scale. The 10's were both 10.0 (I bought the 230lb set plus some added 45's b/c cheaper and I don't mind using 35's).
- Fit on bar is great, and consistent.
- Outer diameter seems very consistent for all.
- They do indeed appear to be round - no flat spots, etc. based on my use so far.
- Finish is definitely good enough if you care about that (they would probably look about as good as a set of black plates could in a downstairs family room type of setup, or a gym).
- It was a pleasure doing pulls with them compared to the out-of-round cast-iron set I had. Didn't have to coax the bar into position and then rush the setup -- turns out my floor and horse mats probably are pretty close to level. Also easier to un/load b/c of the consistent diameter, and I could do warm-up sets w/o collars without the plates rattling and sliding around. Much easier to tighten the chain to avoid "jerking" the initial pull off the floor. With the old plates I would always get a lot of plate rattle no matter what I did, even with tight (albeit cheap) collars.
- Pleasure doing Squats and Bench w/ them as well, for the same reasons. Benching was especially better w/ these plates as I don't use collars for safety reasons; plates didn't rattle and slide outwards during the set.
- Packaging: Everything came in individual boxes, protective and secure enough for the LTL shipping Titan uses.
Plate Storage Tree: Titan Fitness Olympic 2" Weight Plate Rack Tree & Barbell Holder Organizer Stand.
- Adequate to the task for a home gym.
- Good fit and finish.
- Easy to assemble.
- Packaging was fine.
Might as well add the other major piece of the home gym I'll be using those with.. Purchased this one a few years ago.
Rack: Titan Steel Power Rack for Squats, Pull-ups, Deadlifts, and Strength Training.
- Overall am happy with this rack, especially for the price.
- Haven't run into any show-stoppers with it, it has held up well for my purposes.