Little do people know that the main reason I started reviewing was because I wanted to buy a barbell and aside from forums, there was no resources where you could reliably find reviews on gym equipment. To be fair, at the time the choices for gym equipment, were incredibly scarce. I did my due diligence in trying to find something that I thought fit my needs and while Rogue was still the most popular option – I also happened to come across a little new company called Rep Fitness.
Eventually, I decided to go with Rogue for my very first barbell because they had just launched the Ohio bar (yep, that long ago). Not that long after receiving it and discovering that it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for (the spin sucked), I ended up ordering an Excalibur barbell from Rep. I was enthtralled by this bar – it was exactly what I was looking for. It had great spin, excellent whip, and the coating didn’t come off. From there, I was a believer in Rep Fitness.
Fast forward nearly 12 years later, I’m still here (by some miracle) and so is Rep (not as surprising). I thought it was challenging to pick a bar from 3 brands back in 2013; now there seem to be endless options from a multitude of brands. Rep is no exception, but luckily I’ve still kept up with barbells and can help you make a decision. Since you’re reading this, it would seem like you’ve narrowed down one of your choices: The Colorado Bar.
First things first – you really need to think of the main objective you want to accomplish with this barbell. The Colorado bar is classified as their highest tier, “multi-use” barbell…but what does that even mean? If you’re a Crossfitter, you’re in the right place. If you have no idea how you want to use the bar specifically, you’re also in the right place. This barbell is the jack of all trades barbell out of their line up and it offers premium features like optional cerakote coating and composite bushings. Lets break that all down:
What makes the Colorado Bar uniquely “multi-use”, is the fact that it uses a 28.5mm diameter shaft (25mm/15kg). While it’s still an “Olympic” sized barbell, it’s not what you’d consider an “Olympic Weightlifting” barbell, which would have a 28mm shaft. It’s also not a powerlifting barbell designed for stiffness, which would have a 29mm shaft. See, its right in the middle so that it can play nicely for anyone, but not particularly great for anything besides being useful all around. Being the diameter it is, it has good enough whip for Oly movements but not too much when you want to squat heavy – though I would say it leans towards the stiff side.
Another facet of it being an all around bar would be that it uses composite bushings, which is something that you’ll only see on this bar in their line-up. You’re going to find that this bar has a smooth, consistent rotation that isn’t overly free. I think that this is the weakest part of the bar since I think a lot of folks that do Crossfit are always looking for the most “spinny” barbell. Over time it does spin a little better, but I had to add extra grease to mine to get it to be satisfactory. To be fair, if it rotates at all, thats generally all you need.
Why you wouldn’t want a bar that spun too freely is if you planned on benching fairly often since it could be a detriment in keeping the bar secure in your grip. Otherwise the composite bushings seem to be holding up just fine over the two years or so that I’ve had this bar, unlike Rogue’s, which would end up flattening out after repeated drops.
Knurling is an area of subjectivity – I’m not someone that likes to destroy my hands in a session and I feel like the volcano knurling on the Colorado, while on the less aggressive side, is both comfortable while providing a sure grip. I have a cerakote barbell which can dull the feeling of the knurling a little bit and I’d expect the chrome variant to have a little more bite if thats what you were looking for. Note that chrome also tends to be more slick, both polished and hard, so it may just be a wash.
While we’re on the subject of coating – I would recommend for most people to get the Cerakote, especially those in a humid environment. Everything is subject to rust, it’s just a lot less frequent on ceramic coatings compared to chrome, which rusts quickly and is harder to take off when it happens. The downside to Cerakote is that it can scratch, fairly easily I might add, whereas chrome doesn’t. Just be careful of those J-cups or even better, get sandwich cups if you plan on racking your bar. Also specific to this barbell is the “duracoat” sleeve coating, which still do show wear, but not nearly as much as a Cerakote sleeve would.
As a Crossfitter, this bar overall has been a great barbell in my line-up. The build quality of this bar is exquisite. I know you’ve probably been keen to the allure of “Made in USA”, and while I like to support American made when I can, the quality of the Colorado Bar stacks up against just about any barbell I’ve tested. Adding a touch of white lithium grease to the bushings fixed my complaints of the slow spin and goes as quick as some of my bearing bars. The knurling allows me to toss rep after rep without tearing my hands up. I like having a 28.5mm bar to use for barbell cycling, something thats pretty specific to Crossfit. Admittedly, it’s a bit stiff but that just means I don’t have to switch my bar out as often when I want to go from strength to metcon.
The best part of it all is that in this sea of endless barbell choices – it actually comes in at a very reasonable price point of $299 shipped for either chrome or Cerakote. Compare that to the $365 shipped price of the Ohio bar (really the only mixed use bar you should be cross shopping with) and you’re basically getting the same level of quality and characteristics, at a substantial savings.
You’re also probably thinking about the Black Canyon bar as well if you’re shopping Rep’s line-up. I haven’t tried that one personally, but the main differences that you’d notice comes down to coating and the sleeve rotation. You’d have to go with the Colorado to get a cool color, – there’s nothing wrong with black chrome or nickel in terms of scratch resistance, though you can run into oxidation issues like I mentioned with hard chrome. Ball bearings haven’t always been known for the greatest durability, but they do spin fast, albeit less consistent than needle bearing counterparts. If you’re stocking an affiliate, I’d spring for the Colorado. If you’re a home gym’er and you wanted to save a few bucks, I’m sure the Black Canyon would hold up fine.
The edge I’d give the Ohio is that they went back to a bronze bushing pretty recently, which I prefer for durability purposes. Though I don’t think anyone is going to put as much wear on their home bar compared to something being used in a gym, which is where all my composite bushings failed. Another area where I think the Ohio is just a touch better, is that the knurling feels a bit nicer to my hands.
If you’ve made it to this point I think it’s safe to say that this bar might just be the right one for you. The only people I would not recommend this bar to are dedicated Olympic weightlifters or powerlifters looking for a singular barbell for their gym due to there being better specific options out there (at a cost). If you’re someone that wants to dabble in a bit of both, the Colorado bar has my highest recommendation.
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