Burgener and Rippetoe Bar

[Tom Campitelli]

Howdy Rip,

I just noticed that Rogue Fitness will soon be offering a Burgener and Rippetoe designed barbell manufactured by York. Do you have any additional information you would be willing to share? Specifically how did the project evolve, what was the design process, and what problems were you looking to solve? I look forward to trying one out in the future.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I had an idea for the bar last year, and Mike Burgener and I have been trying to get the project going for quite some time. The guys at Rogue approached us to help, and working with York Barbell they have been quite gracious and diligent in their efforts to get the bar in production and into inventory. Basically, the B&R bar is an attempt to produce the best general purpose bar on the market, and you'll have to let us know if we succeeded. It is 29mm 200,000 lb. test stock, knurled with a soft Olympic knurl, with a center knurl for squatting and slightly wider space between the knurls so that it doesn't destroy the shins as readily as most other bars. It's signature look is the presence of both the IPF and the IWF score markings, at 32" and 36" apart respectively. The bar is uncoated, because the finish on a bar should develop with the experience of the lifter or the gym, and the money should be spent on the steel, not the coating. It is built with bushings instead of bearings for ease of maintenance and long service, and is assembled with York's roller-pin end cap.

The B&R Bar is fully warranted against damage during normal gym use. We designed it, and we'll be using it too.

[Charles Staley]

I just wanted to pop on here and let everyone know that Rip has spent the past day with us at Bed & Barbell, and we had a great dinner and an even greater workout with him this morning. Rip is truly as awesome coach, and in fact, a tweak he made to my press resulted in much less pain and a new lifetime PR today.

Thanks Rip!

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Geniouses. You guys are gonna make a killing. Nice work.