Rogue Squat bar vs Castro bar

This is a comparison of the Rogue Squat bar and the Castro bar including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details

Overview and review of the Rogue Castro bar [Article, Video]

This is an overview of the Rogue Castro bar which is made of bare steel and therefore very cost efficient. This article was originally oublished under "Which Rogue barbell to buy". Follow the links to learn more.

Price 275$

Overview

The Castro bar is a bare steel bar which comes closest to what you find in most commercial gyms. This is the lowest price tag you can get from Rogue for a full barbell. This makes it a good fit for anyone on a budget who has to buy a lot of barbells or expects them to be stored outside/transported often. For those scenarios, it is a waste of money to get anything that it pretty or elaborate in function.

The Castro bar weighs 20kg and comes in at 28.5mm diameter. It can take up to 190K PSI tensile strength with a good whip. The knurling is standard and the sleeves are attached via bushing. The loadable sleeve length is 16.50. Based on this it is the lowest priced multi-purpose bar available from rogue. Other bars are either special use or designed for children.

The Castro bar is the option to go for if you want to go spend as little as possible while still maximising the training options. If your gym/facility can also live with the fact, that these bars might look quite beaten up pretty fast, even better.

Pros of the Castro bar

The ultimate reason for the Castro bar are the costs. You still get a Rogue bar which is made in the United States at relatively low prices. The bar still goes through the same basic quality checks and holds a warranty. There are other vendors out there who might send you a bar with a lower price tag. Think twice whether you will get the same customer service, warranty and quality checks which only slightly retails over the cost of the raw materials, never mind the labour.

Cons of the Castro bar

A big con of the Castro bar is the bare steel. This finish is likely to show corrosion and use. This means you will need to take more care of it and maintain it more often. If you already have the labour and the necessary equipment to clean bare steel, you might even turn this into a plus. If you want to drill discipline into a bunch of new recruits you might get in a barbell cleaning session once a month on top of the other equipment maintenance you do.

Learn more about the specs of the Rogue Castro bar and purchase on the Rogue website

Overview and review of the squat bar

The Rogue squat bar is a 32mm long sleeved version of Rogue bars to maximize what you can squat. Here are the pros and cons.

The Rogue squat bar is a special design that focuses on squatting at $445. The main differences to regular bars are

Bigger circumference 32mm
Longer shaft
Fully knurled
Longer sleeves

This makes it a bar that is aimed at big, heavy squatters. It could also be interesting for some deadlift experiments as the elephant bar from the Arnold has not gone into mass production yet. The specifications of the bar are:

Made in the USA
Weight: 25 KG
Diameter: 32mm
Stainless Steel Shaft - 200,000 PSI
Aggressive Knurl Pattern along full length of shaft + powerlifting and center knurl marks
Bar Length: 94.488
Distance Between Sleeves: 56"
Loadable Sleeve Length: 16.795"
Chrome Sleeves
Bronze Bushings

Pros of the squat bar

The pros of the squat bar compared to other bars are in the name. The design features are inbuilt to maximize big squats.

Longer sleeves
Longer shaft
Full knurling
32mm

Longer sleeves will enable you to put more weight on the bar with rubber or steel plates. If you see Ray Williams squatting you can get an idea of why he might run out of space on the sleeves.

32mm stainless steel will keep the whip at bay. While you want whip in an Olympic barbell to make use of momentum to get the bar overhead, it is not a desirable feature in a squat bar. You want to minimize 1000 pounds taking a life on their own on your back.

The full knurling will provide more grip to your back. There are other bars out there with center knurls which does almost the same thing for you.

The longer shaft will make it less like for you to bump into the rack when oh are walking out very heavy weights. Depending on your setup this can be annoying. I injured myself twice because of twisting my upper body when walking out of a setup and touching off the j cups.

Cons of the squat bar

The cons of the squat bar are

No IPF / IWF approval
Space requirements
Limited use
Price

If you are considering the squat bar because you want to break records, keep in mind that it is not approved for the IPF or IWF. You will still earn respect for posting the first 500kg raw squat, which this bar is basically built for, but it won’t count in these federations.

If you are setting up your home gym in a very crammed place, keep in mind that this bar will protrude even further to the sides. If you have already cut it very thing with the distance of your bar to the wall or another rack, the squat bar might just push it over the edge.

The squat bar is mainly limited to squats. As it has bushing and knurling all across the bar it might not be the best option for Olympic lifts, the bench press, and deadlifts.

For the price you are looking at you can get more versatile barbells for your home gym with a cooler design. If you are setting up your home gym the squat bar might not be the go-to option.

Alternatives to the squat bar

Alternatives to the squat bar are

The Rogue Chan bar is a good alternative for mere mortals who don’t squat 400kg. It is cheaper than the squat bar, has a poppier design and can also be used for Oly lifts. If I was to spend $400 on a starter barbell for my home gym it would be this one.

The duffalo bar is an interesting bar for people who squat 800 pounds plus on a regular basis. This bar has been invented at Kabuki strength which is headed by Chris Duffin. The design is aimed at relieving stress on the shoulder while bench pressing and squatting. This is a very interesting second bar to buy instead of the squat bar, even though it costs $200 more.

Summary for the squat bar

The squat bar is a great bar for someone who actually needs it. This would be people who squat more than 300kg on a regular basis. There are not that many of them around. I personally think for a second barbell in your home gym you are better off going with safety or duffalo bar.vs Squat bar