Overview and review of the Rogue chan bar
This overview of the Rogue Chan bar was originally published in my comprehensive guide on which Rogue barbell to buy. If you are currently considering to buy a Rogue barbell it is worth a read to get input on the latest models. I update the guide on a yearly basis depending on Rogue's new releases.
Price: 395$
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Most popular Rogue bars in 2020
This is an overview of the most popular Rogue barbells per views and click through rates for Marathon-Crossfit.com in 2020. If you want more details on how the data was collected you can dig deeper in what were the most popular Rogue products in 2020.
This is an overview of the most popular barbells on
Marathon-CrossFit.com during 2020. The ranking is as followed:
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The
West side bar is a variation of the Ohio bar specifically for powerlifting. It is very similar to the Rogue Ohio power bar which recently has gotten a little more attention from influencers. This is a solid bar if you do not intend to do the Olympic lifts and stick to the bench press, deadlift, and barbell back squat in your training.
You can read the full review of the west side bar via this link.
The
Rogue Russian bar is another surprise on the Marathon-CrossFit popularity list. While it is one of the most expensive bars you can get from Rogue I personally find that it is more of a collector's item with nostalgia attached to it. It is a great piece of craftsmanship to recreate a bar from the Soviet era. Unfortunately, the collar system is not used in competition anymore and also tenders the bar useless once you lose one of the collars. Rogue also does not provide an option to buy the custom collars separately in case you do lose them. Based on this I would take the
Pyrros bar over the
Russian bar any given day for this budget.
You can read the full review of the Rogue Russian bar by following this link.
Overview of the Rogue Chan bar
The
Matt Chan bar was the first
Rogue barbell to be introduced with an athletes name.
Matt Chan and
Rogue have been working closely in the last few years. You can see this in the many equipment demos done by Matt.
Matt Chan is a former firefighter and finished multiple times in the top ten of the Crossfit games. Since
Rogue updated their Cerakote range they had another go at the
Chan bar design.
The
Chan bar is an
Ohio bar on steroids. You get a better design, a
centre knurl and a stainless steel shaft for 395$. If you want to spend the extra 100$ USD compared to the
Ohio bar this is the all-purpose
barbell to get. The design was created to fit Olympic and powerlifting needs alike.
The bar comes in at 20kg of weight, 200K tensile strength
and a Good whip. The diameter is 28.5mm and the sleeves spin via bushing.
Rogue offers two variations on the sleeves, one being
cerakote the other chrome. It seems that cerakote does not respond well to metal to metal contact. If you want to use
steel plates with the
chan bar maybe opt for the chrome sleéves. The loadable sleeve length is 16.5 which is a bit longer than the other standard bars.
Pros of the Chan bar
This bar has a lot of pros and only a few cons. You get a
stainless steel bar for 100$ USD less compared to the
oly options. The bit of extra knurling helps with front squats. This is
the best value for money bar you can get above 300USD from
rogue. In addition, you also get a cool design. If you want to do everything in your home gym, this is the one to go for.
Cons of the chan bar
If you have to fit out an entire gym with 10 - 20 barbells 100$ a piece does make a difference.
This bar is also too pretty to be used in military installations or with beginners. For these scenarios, you are probably better off buying the
Ohio,
Castro,
C-70 or
operator bar. The training bar might also be a better option if you only want to do Oly lifts, as it has a better whip at a lower price. The bushing might also not be ideal if you are a competitive weightlifter. The bars you will use in your competition have the bearing.
Conclusion
Matt Chan has been with Rogue barbell and CrossFit for years. If a bar is allowed to carry his name you can rest assured that it is the best you can get for CrossFit or all purpose barbell training. This bar is a good value for money option in the Rogue line up. If you have to buy in bulk there is always the Rogue Ohio bar.