REP Health Colorado Bar Assessment

Discovering a barbell that performs nicely for powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and basic energy coaching with out burning a deep gap in your pocket will be difficult. Fortunately, REP Health leveled up its barbell lineup in the summertime of 2023 with a high-quality mannequin that checks these containers (and plenty of extra): the Colorado Bar. Our Breaking Muscle staff of licensed private trainers, CrossFit fanatics, and energy and conditioning coaches totally examined this multi-purpose bar’s means to deal with conventional powerlifting actions like squats and deadlifts, in addition to dynamic lifts like cleans and snatches.  

Sturdy, reliable, and numerous, the brand new flagship barbell from probably the most respected health gear producers delivers critical bang in your buck. On this REP Health Colorado Bar assessment, we’ll dive deeper into what makes this mannequin probably the greatest values available on the market by breaking down its specs, highlighting its strengths, and seeing the way it stacks up in opposition to the competitors.

Key Takeaways

• The Colorado Bar checks in at an affordable worth level of $319.99 to $329.99 for the 20-kilogram (44-pound) mannequin. There’s additionally a 15-kilogram (33-pound) model that prices between $269.99 and $279.99.
• You may have two end choices with this barbell: a tough chrome shaft with chrome sleeves, or a Cerakote shaft with Duracoat sleeves. Plus, the Cerakote model offers you the liberty to flex your inventive muscle tissues with 5 coloration selections for the shaft.
• Whereas IPF knurl markings and a 1,500-pound weight capability give it an influence bar really feel, the inclusion of IWF knurl markings and the absence of a middle knurl additionally make the Colorado Bar well-suited for Olympic lifts. As well as, composite bushings make for an general quieter lifting expertise.

REP Health Colorado Bar Professionals

• The flexibility to buy a Cerakote model of the Colorado Bar ought to enchantment to dwelling fitness center house owners who practice in a non-climate-controlled surroundings. As a result of one of these shaft coating gives superior safety from the weather than laborious chrome, those that practice outdoor or in humid garages will recognize higher corrosion resistance courtesy of Cerakote.
• The Colorado Bar’s composite bushings not solely permit for a clean and regular spin but in addition give it a tighter tolerance. One other advantage of choosing composite over bronze bushings is much less noise when your weight plates hit the ground.
• Between its versatility and construct high quality, the Colorado bar can function the one barbell in your house fitness center. If you happen to don’t have an enormous funds for fitness center gear, you may cowl a number of bases by investing in a multi-use bar that’s able to dealing with a variety of lifts.

REP Health Colorado Bar Cons

• A scarcity of aggressive knurling and a solid-but-not-elite tensile energy of 190,000 PSI make this barbell simply an okay selection for powerlifters. In case your exercises primarily revolve across the squat, deadlift, and bench press, a specialty bar tailor-made to your coaching type could also be a wiser selection.
• Paying north of $300 for a barbell produced exterior of the USA might forestall some individuals from going the Colorado route. There are American corporations that provide related options at a extra tolerable worth level.
• Though Cerakote shaft coating affords higher corrosion resistance than laborious chrome, it nonetheless falls wanting a stainless-steel end. Those that want the high-end look and distinct knurling of a stainless-steel bar ought to move on the Colorado barbell. Nevertheless, be ready to pay a premium for these benefits.

REP Health Colorado Bar Specs

REP Health Colorado Bar Score

From specialty bars designed for energy racks to Olympic barbells made for extra dynamic actions, the Breaking Muscle staff has put varied barbells by means of the wringer to find out what separates the most effective from the remainder. Testing greater than 75 fashions utilizing a gauntlet of squats, cleans, presses, and different lifts, we developed a proprietary scoring system to rank them primarily based on a number of components, corresponding to worth, knurling, versatility, and sturdiness.

Right here’s how the REP Colorado Bar scored throughout every class.

REP Health Colorado Bar In-Depth Assessment

The Colorado Bar will not be a real celebrity at one job, however its versatility is what makes it shine. With a number of end choices, high-quality construct supplies, and adequate tensile energy for many lifters, we consider it’s a fantastic possibility for anybody who likes to modify up their sort of coaching. Most significantly, REP’s flagship barbell gives glorious worth since it will probably fulfill a number of duties.

Worth and Worth

The value for the Colorado Bar varies relying on what measurement and end you like. The 15-kilogram (33-pound) mannequin, which is greatest suited to newbies, feminine lifters, and smaller athletes, begins at $269.99 for the laborious chrome end. For $10 extra, you may select a black or pink Cerakote shaft coating with Duracoat sleeves.

Then again, the bottom worth for the 20-kilogram Colorado Bar is $319.99. For a mixed-use barbell in a tough chrome end, the associated fee falls about consistent with the business common. For instance, the Rogue Health Ohio Bar ranges between $275 to $415, relying on the end. Nevertheless, it could be value upping your funds a bit to get higher corrosion resistance and longevity. At $329.99, the Cerakote-finished Colorado Bar nonetheless brings loads of worth, particularly since you may select between 5 shaft coating colours so as to add some inventive aptitude to your private home fitness center setup.

Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about freight prices. As of this writing, REP Health affords free delivery, which may prevent at the very least $25. Total, the Colorado bar packs a ton of customizable choices right into a well-priced piece of fitness center gear, making it our choose for the best budget barbell. We rated it 4 out of 5 stars for the worth.

Supply

Let’s simply say ordering a barbell on Amazon could be a bit like taking part in with hearth. Once I ordered a budget-friendly one for my dwelling fitness center, the supply course of ended up being a significant dud, with a low-quality bar from a wholly totally different model than I had chosen arriving in broken packaging that left the endcaps uncovered. Evidently, that disappointing expertise left a bitter style in my mouth about having a barbell shipped to my entrance door.

Fortunately for our product testers, REP Health made positive the Colorado Bar arrived at our warehouse in Springfield, MO, with zero points. I used to be happy to listen to it suffered no harm throughout its journey. Properly-packaged and well-protected, we gave REP 5 out of 5 stars for a clean, painless supply course of.

Building, Supplies, and Coating

With a 28.5-millimeter shaft, the 20-kilogram Colorado Bar comes near the 29-millimeter mark you’ll discover in most energy bars. A part of its enchantment is that it has a shaft diameter that falls proper in between Olympic and powerlifting requirements.

REP offers you ample end choices with the Colorado Bar, together with Cerakote (which is available in black, blue, inexperienced, purple, or white) or laborious chrome with laborious chrome sleeves. Nevertheless, remember the fact that chrome plating can cut back the longevity of a bar by 50 p.c, which isn’t supreme when you drop the bar lots. Based mostly on our collective information about barbells and the precise metal every model makes use of, we’d estimate that the Colorado bar can final at the very least 30 years in a house fitness center setting.

In the meantime, the Cerakote bars have a lifespan of greater than 50 years because of their F2-R ranking. In contrast to the F1-R-rated chrome model, they characteristic Duracoat sleeves that present increased ranges of scratch and corrosion resistance by means of a chemical course of that hardens the skin of the metal to create a clean black end.

Talking of seamless, the Colorado Bar’s clean sleeves make loading and unloading your weight plates a breeze. Whereas I benefit from the effectivity of clean sleeves, different Breaking Muscle workers members like our Critiques Editor Amanda Dvorak want ribbed sleeves for the reason that plates keep in place higher even with out collars.

Mix that with a cultured endcap design that has the corporate brand, identify, and weight of the bar laser-etched on the within of the sleeve, and you’ve got all of the makings of a premium bar at a non-premium worth. Total, the Colorado scored 4.5 out of 5 stars for building.

Knurling

As a mixed-use bar, the Colorado comes with twin knurl markings for Worldwide Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and Worldwide Powerlifting Federation (IPF) specs. This makes it simple to determine the place to put your palms when bench urgent or performing different lifts, like snatches. On the identical time, the absence of a middle knurl means that you can comfortably carry out Olympic-style actions (like cleans) or high-volume overhead presses with out having to fret about scraping up your throat.

The knurling sample on the Colorado Bar isn’t fairly as aggressive as what you would possibly discover in an influence bar like REP’s Double Black Diamond Bar, which options deep mountain-style knurling that makes it supreme for deadlifting however not supreme for extra dynamic actions. As a substitute, REP went with a medium-depth, volcano-style knurling that also gives satisfactory grip with out tearing up your palms throughout high-repetition coaching classes. For many athletes, volcano knurling works greatest, because it gives 4 factors of contact on every marking, resulting in a superior grip and fewer slippage.

Creating adequate friction with out being too abrasive, the Colorado Bar’s medium knurling sample scored 4.5 out of 5 stars on our grading scale.

Rotation System

REP actually paid consideration to the small print of the Colorado Bar’s rotation system. Slightly than following the business customary of placing bronze bushings in a multi-purpose bar (like Rogue did with each the Ohio Bar and the extra economically priced Echo Bar), they went the additional mile by utilizing composite bushings.

In addition to lasting longer than their bronze counterparts, composite bushings cut back the quantity of noise when dropping the bar whereas nonetheless offering good spin — one thing our product testers took word of throughout their coaching classes with the Colorado. Plus, composite bushings additionally make for tighter tolerances, that means there’s much less wobble between the sleeve and the shaft. 

REP’s determination to make the Colorado Bar with bushings as an alternative of bearings caters on to followers of the large three lifts. Energy bars normally characteristic bushings as a result of the sleeves spin extra slowly, which makes the barbell really feel extra balanced whereas performing deadlifts and bench presses. 

Then again, weightlifting bars sometimes use faster-spinning bearings that play a essential function when the barbell is rapidly altering instructions throughout snatches and cleans. As well as, the superior spin fee from bearings additionally helps cut back stress on the joints whenever you execute the “catch” portion of a clear or snatch. Nonetheless, most multi-purpose bars depart bearings behind for bushings for the reason that latter are extra versatile, quieter, and cheaper. 

Between a clean spin fee, enhanced sturdiness, and a quieter lifting expertise, the Colorado Bar earned 4.5 out of 5 stars for its rotation system.

Versatility

Particularly designed to accommodate quite a lot of exercise types, the Colorado Bar is the final word Swiss military knife. With a tensile energy ranking of 190,000 kilos per sq. inch (PSI), you may confidently crush PRs with none issues. In truth, the Colorado bar has the identical PSI ranking as rivals just like the TITAN Sequence Cerakote Olympic Barbell from Titan Health and the Rogue Ohio Bar.

Additionally able to getting used for non-powerlifting workout routines like curls, overhead presses, and cleans, the Colorado Bar can deal with absolutely anything you throw its approach. It could not outperform a specialty bar, however when you’re in search of one barbell to rule all of them in your house fitness center, this all-around beast can actually stand as much as the duty.

All in all, we gave the Colorado Bar 5 out of 5 stars for versatility.

Sturdiness

As one in every of its newer fashions, the Colorado Bar has but to point out the way it can maintain up over time. However primarily based on the supplies and design, we’re assured it’ll proceed to carry out nicely and look good for the lengthy haul.

That mentioned, the most secure route — at the very least from a sturdiness standpoint — is to go together with the Cerakote model. Different barbells we’ve examined that characteristic this end have lasted greater than six months with out rusting. Contemplating lots of them are saved in non-temperature-controlled rooms, that speaks volumes in regards to the degree of safety Cerakote gives.

And when you’re nonetheless involved about longevity, REP stands behind its barbells with a lifetime guarantee (extra on that under). Finally, we rated the Colorado Bar 5 out of 5 stars for sturdiness.

Guarantee

All REP barbells include a lifetime guarantee. Nevertheless, the coverage solely covers manufacturing defects. So, in case your Colorado Bar will get broken on account of negligent use (i.e., dropping it with iron weight plates loaded on it), you’re a bit out of luck. You’ll additionally run right into a roadblock when you retailer your barbell exterior, as it will routinely void your guarantee. 

In comparison with different producers, REP Health doesn’t supply fairly the identical degree of protection. For instance, Rogue’s lifetime guarantee additionally consists of bending that’s not on account of defective use or abusive dropping of the bar.

So, though the Colorado Bar features a lifetime guarantee, the defect-only disclaimer led to a rating of 4 out of 5 stars on this class.

REP Health Colorado Bar vs. Rogue Ohio Bar

It’s clear REP had one in every of its rivals in thoughts when arising with the Colorado Bar. Not solely is it named after the placement of the corporate’s headquarters similar to Rogue’s Ohio Bar, but it surely packs related options right into a similarly-priced product.

Regardless of minor variations in dimensions (the Colorado bar is 0.15 inches shorter with 0.3 fewer inches of loadable sleeve size), each bars have the identical shaft diameters (28.5 millimeters) and tensile energy ranking (190 KSI). Nevertheless, the Colorado Bar’s composite bushings give it a tighter tolerance and quieter sound than its competitor’s bronze bushings. Plus, our testers discovered it to have a bit extra aggressive knurling than the Ohio Bar.

Then again, Rogue affords a wider vary of end choices. The Ohio Bar is available in 5 totally different shaft coatings (black oxide, stainless-steel, black zinc, E-coat, or Cerakote) and 4 totally different sleeve coatings (chrome, proprietary black matte, vibrant zinc, or stainless-steel). Consequently, the worth for this American-made barbell ranges from $295 to $465.

Total, both bar will work nicely along with your squat rack and may stand up to loads of pounding. REP might manufacture their merchandise in China, however they’ve established a rock-solid popularity for high quality within the health gear business. Finally, although, if you’d like a barbell produced within the USA that has a barely extra inclusive lifetime guarantee, Rogue’s Ohio Bar would be the approach to go.

Rogue Fitness Ohio Bar

4.5

• Comes with a lifetime assure in opposition to bending
• Weighs 20 kilograms (about 44 kilos) and has a 28.5-millimeter diameter
• 16.4-inch loadable sleeve size
• Twin knurl rings and no heart knurl

Check Price

REP Health Colorado Bar Buyer Critiques

There’s little doubt REP hit a house run by releasing the Colorado Bar through the summer time of 2023. Inside just some months, clients have discovered it to be a worthwhile funding for his or her dwelling gyms primarily based on the overwhelmingly optimistic suggestions. With 4.9 stars primarily based on 75 critiques, lifters across the nation have fallen in love with the most recent addition to REP’s line of dwelling fitness center gear.

In addition to being impressed with the look and general end of the Colorado Bar, clients additionally recognize the medium-aggressive knurling and clean spin fee courtesy of the composite bushings. One consumer famous that the oil out of your fingers exhibits by means of on the black end, which can make going with one other coloration a much less nerve-racking different. 

Remaining Verdict: Is the REP Health Colorado Bar Price It?

The REP Health Colorado Bar brings a premium really feel at a reasonably reasonably priced worth. Whereas there are actually cheaper choices accessible, dwelling fitness center fanatics who worth versatility and a spotlight to element shouldn’t hesitate to drag the set off on REP’s new flagship barbell.

For lower than $330, you will get a high-quality, Cerakote-finished bar that’s designed to deal with nearly any sort of exercise, comes with a lifetime guarantee, and may anchor your storage fitness center setup all by itself. Though the Rogue Ohio Bar is actually a worthy contender on account of its sturdiness, worth, and efficiency, you may confidently name upon the Colorado Bar that can assist you obtain your strength- and muscle-building objectives.

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