I try to not have too many regrets in my life.
One thing I do regret, was selling my original Rogue Ohio bar. Granted I sold it off for a good price, but I couldn’t help missing it. I set a ton of PR’s on that barbell, it was my first bar, and though not the best barbell on paper, there’s no other bar that feels like a Rogue made barbell. (That I’ve used at least.)
I actually had absolutely no clue that Rogue was going to be doing an update on the Ohio bar prior to selling my original one, so I probably lucked out and got rid of it at just the right time. Not more than a month after selling mine, did Rogue introduce a 190ksi version of the same bar. What a perfect reason to go buy another one, right? Not that I was scared of bending the original 155k version, but 190k is supposedly the lowest value tensile strength for a bend to not permanently set into your barbell. Though, we have Pendlay HD’s (190k) at my affiliate that are definitely bent, so take it that statement with a grain of salt.
So what else is different with the Rogue Ohio bar version 1.2? Nothing else. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing and helps me keep this review brief. (Click here for the original review)
This time around I went with the black zinc coated option, not only because it was cheaper, but because I didn’t care too much for having to 3-1 oil the oxide version every now and then. If I had to buy this bar over again, over again, I would probably stick with the oxide version. The zinc coating does takes away some of the grippyness compared to the oxide version. Not a dealbreaker, but it’s something worth noting. I haven’t noticed much difference in the whip of the barbell compared to the original model, so nothing to report there; I couldn’t imagine it being too different, if at all.
One of the major reasons I actually decided to buy another Ohio bar was because I saw in a reader review or comment on Rogue’s website that the spin of the sleeves had been increased. One thing that I didn’t care much for on my original was the fact that it wasn’t necessarily the fastest bar. Smooth and steady, yes, but definitely not fast. Well, I can report that nothing has changed there either. Still spins the exact same way that I remember it spinning. Wait for the new Rogue bearing bar if you need something super fast.
One thing that changed for the worst…Something I LOVED about the Ohio bar was that when you dropped it, it didn’t sound cheap and clang all over the place. It had a very solid thud when it hit the ground, only until a while after using it and dropping it did it start to rattle a little bit. My updated bar has the rattles from the get go. It’s not awful, but it’s definitely not as reassuring sounding as my original bar.
The main question is, should you spend the extra money on an Ohio bar still?
Yes.
It’s still an awesome, quality made barbell from Rogue. Definitely one of the best barbells on the market, still. Just don’t expect any huge differences if you tried the earlier model.
Please use my links to make your purchase!
