Rogue Fitness Bella Bar 2.0 Review

I know what you’re going to ask me…

“Joel, why do you have a women’s bar?!”

The answer is, because I’m a caring, considerate, and giving individual.  But mainly because I’m a shopaholic and couldn’t resist the deal from Rogue’s games equipment sales.  I purchased this bar also so that if a female wanted to come over and work out, they wouldn’t have to use a men’s bar; but it could also serve as a stepping stone for those not quite ready to use a 20kg bar and too strong for a trainer bar.  But really, the inner geek within me just wanted to see how this bar performed compared to the Ohio bar, it’s male counterpart, seeing as how Rogue upped all the specs to match.  So, does it perform up to par?

The Bella bar at first glance looks like it would be just a smaller version of Rogue’s Ohio, with a arguably cooler end cap.  The fit and finish of the barbell is what you’d come to expect from Rogue, second to none.  Everything from the black zinc plating to the solid thud you hear when you drop the barbell oozes good ol’ U.S. of A. made quality.  Bronze bushing adorn the sleeves not only giving the Bella a top end quality look, but also smooth and reliable spin.  To be completely honest with you, the Bella bar thrashes the Ohio bar when it comes to sleeve rotation.  With the Ohio, if you try giving the sleeve a spin without any bumpers, you’ll probably only get 1.5 to 2 rotations; whereas with the Bella you could get 5-6.

If you’ve ever used any Rogue barbell, you’d know that the star of the show is the knurling and the Bella 2.0 is no exception.  The knurl is a bit more fine than you’ll find on the Ohio bar for obvious reasons (25mm diameter vs 28.5 diameter bar shaft).  In my hands it feels great, like it’s biting you back for holding on to it, not aggressive but not wimpy either. Of course you’re going to have your dual knurl marks for IWF and IPF.  Under load the bar whips just about as much as any other 190k PSI Rogue barbell, which is not all that much, but more than enough.  Something I’ve grown used to and for CrossFit or any other general lifting, works very well.  If you’re looking for a bar that really oscillates, you’d probably want to look at the Rogue WL bar or any other dedicated WL bar.  For everyone else that CrossFits or even just does powerlifting, you’d do fine to stick with the Bella.

The Bella bar 2.0 is the female 15kg version of the Ohio bar, and in some ways it bests the Ohio bar.  If only they could bring that same kind of sleeve rotation over to the Ohio!  Ladies, (and gents) if you’re looking for a bar to add into your home gym, this is it.  The price difference I’m seeing on most 15kg bars isn’t really all that much unless you’re going for a pure WL bar.  I guess the single con would be that the Bella bar only comes in one finish, black zinc shaft with bright zinc sleeves. If that’s not too big of a deal to you, crossfitters and everyone else not doing pure Oly should give the Bella 2.0 your undivided attention.

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