REP fitness Deep Knurl power bar vs Excalibur bar

This is a comparison between the REP fitness deep knurl power bar and the REP fitness Excalibur bar. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the REP Excalibur barbell

This is an overview of the REP fitness Excalibur barbell including the pros, cons, and alternatives. This article was originally posted in which barbell to buy from REP Fitness. Follow the links for more information.

Rep Excalibur $289

The rep Excalibur barbell is a middle-of-the-road barbell from REP fitness with average knurling, bushing on the sleeves, and 215K tensile strength. The main distinguishing feature of this barbell is its lifetime warranty which makes it a good commercial buy. Home gym warriors might opt for a REP fitness barbell with a 5-year warranty but get some better features like aggressive knurling, a center knurl, or bearing on the sleeves.

28.5mm diameter (25mm for 15 kg bar)
20kg Length: 87.4"
15kg Length: 79.13"
20 kg (45lb) or 15kg (35lb) option
1500 lb static rating
215k tensile, 205k yield
Bushing sleeve construction
Very mild ribbing on sleeves to keep plates in place
No Center Knurl or Center Knurl Option
Medium/Deep Knurl
Dual Knurl Markings - Powerlifting and Weightlifting
Lifetime Warranty

This is a good choice if a lifetime warranty seems like an attractive feature for you. Otherwise, I would steer clear of this barbell and go for the Gladiator WL or MX in the same price range or the sabre barbells if you want to save some money.

Pros of the Rep Excalibur

The pros of the REP Excalibur barbell are:

Warranty
Well balanced design

The lifetime warranty and the well-balanced design make the REP fitness Excalibur barbell a good option for anyone who wants to buy in stockpiles for commercial use. This barbell can be used for anything by anyone and if they break you have a warranty to cover it. If that is what you think makes a great purchase for your use case go ahead and know yourself out. For a home gym warrior, this might not be the best way to spend their money on a barbell.

Cons of the Rep Excalibur

The cons of the REP Excalibur barbell are:

No center knurl
No aggressive knurling
No bearing
Imported
No color options

Sorry for the long list of negatives but while I think that the Gladiator WL and MX are good design ideas for a home gym user, I personally think that the REP Excalibur is a bit of a bad choice. You are mainly paying about $100 more compared to sabre barbell for a lifetime warranty on a piece of equipment that is fairly hard to break. In return you get no cool stuff like a center knurl, bearing sleeves, or extra color options. Unless you work with big beginner classes for CrossFit that are likely to be all over the shop with their barbells, I would not recommend this. Either go for the sabre bar for yourself if cost savings are what you have in mind or look for a more specialized barbell like the Gladiator MX or WL when you have the budget, but want to treat yourself.

Alternatives to the Rep Excalibur

Alternatives to the REP Excalibur barbell are:

The black sabre and REP sabre barbells are in my opinion better all-purpose barbells for someone on a tight budget or who want to buy in bulk. Of course, the quality of the barbell and the warranty significantly drop when you look at the specification side by side, but they still are good barbells for the occasional user or for a gym that doesn't blow them out on a regular basis. If you are mainly using your barbell for powerlifting movements and do not drop it often from overhead go with the sabres. If you intend to drop from overhead and can conveniently assume that a lot of beginners will get their hands on them, go with the Excalibur.

The Rogue Ohio bar is the bread and butter barbell from Rogue. Based on its design there also power bars and deadlift bars available. For a workhorse barbell, go with the basic model that sits around $200. You can spice it up in terms of colors and material for the sleeves if you wish so at a slightly higher price. The biggest pro of this barbell is that it is sourced and manufactured in the US.

The TITAN ATlas bar is the bread and butter model from TITAN fitness and comes in at a lower price than the competition. TITAN fitness also imports its barbells just like REP fitness does. The big difference is that this distributor also has sideshows to the fitness line in agriculture and therefore their resources are spread thinner. With REP fitness you will get a better service due to a higher focus on the fitness community which also comes at a slightly higher price.

Conclusion for the Rep Excalibur

The REP Excalibur only really makes sense if you buy into the lifetime warranty and see an added value to you. If that is not the case go for one of the MIxed or weightlifting specific barbells with a 5-year warranty to get better features for yourself. A commercial buyer might consider the Excalibur, a home gym buyer should maximize their features.

Overview and review of the REP fitness Deep Knurl power bar

This is an overview of the REP fitness Deep knurl power bar including the pros, cons, and alternatives. This article was originally posted in which barbell to buy from REP Fitness. Follow the links for more information.

Rep Deep knurl power bar EX $399

The REP deep knurl power bar is the upper end of the spectrum in Olympic barbells which you can get from REP fitness. The main distinguishing features of this bar are its aggressive knurling and the full stainless steel construction covering the sleeves and the bar itself. The full specifications are:

29mm diameter.
Knurl Markings: Powerlifting - 32" between markings.
Knurl Depth: 75% deeper than any standard offering
Tensile Strength: 200k
Bushing design with snap rings.
Shaft: Stainless Steel.
Sleeves: Stainless Steel.
Bushing design with snap rings for optimal Powerlifting performance.
Warranty: Lifetime*

This is a great barbell for the serious powerlifter who does not mind getting calluses on their hands. For most commercial gms this barbell might be a bit too much in price per item and the uncompromising design.

Pros of the Rep Deep knurl power bar EX

The pros of the REP deep knurl power bar are:

Deep knurling
Full stainless steel construction
29mm shaft

This bar is great if you mainly train the squat, bench press, and deadlift and you know that you are serious about it. With this bar you go uncompromising for the next record on your total to provide maximum grip to your hands. Even at the cost of tearing the skin.

Cons of the Rep Deep knurl power bar EX

The cons of the REP deep knurl bar are:

Imported
Pricing
Color options
Knurling
No bearing
No Whip

This barbell comes imported from overseas to save costs. That being said I am personally surprised at the price point of $400 for this barbell. This is not enough of an advantage to make me want to switch from Rogue Fitness who on top of that produces locally in the US. If you are looking at a rack and plates also you can make some considerable savings, but if it is just between the Rogue Ohio power bar and the Deep Knurl from REP I am not convinced.

Stainless steel is not available from most vendors to be powder coated with some other color. Why ruin the high-quality steel with some kind of spray-on tan? Compared to other vendors REP fitness still has a noticeable lack of colored barbells, which they will probably fix once their overseas producer figures at how to get cerakote on the barbells. I think that is only a matter of time, but for now, the only colored option in the REP fitness lineup is the Black sabre bar.

The knurling on this bar is aggressive which rules it out for most commercial uses. If you have a cheap rack with cheap J Cups I would also recommend an upgrade as this bar will quickly eat into inferior metal and rubber.

If you are looking for a barbell for your home gym/garage gym or commercial establishment this is not the bar to get. It does not provide any whip and also has no bearing. This bar is high priced and only good for powerlifting, so buy it as such. Otherwise, opt for the all-round Sabre bar, or for the Gladiator series if your focus is on Olympic weightlifting.

Alternatives to the Rep Deep knurl power bar EX

Alternatives to the REP Deep knurl bar are:

The Rogue Ohio power bar in the stainless steel version is currently hailed as the Ferrari amongst the powerlifting barbells. There are some other barbells from Kabuki strength and EliteFTS that specifically pander to the powerlifting community, but these are more niche. As the price gap is not that noticeable I personally would go with the Ohio power bar instead of the deep knurl unless your entire gym is already REP fitness-themed.

The Blues city power bar is TITAN fitness's approach to the world of powerlifting bars with heavy knurling. TITAN is known for minor quality issues in return for the lowest prices amongst their competitors. As you are specifically buying this barbell for their knurling I would watch out for TITAN, as this is exactly the kind of detail that lower standard quality procedures would give a pass when they should not.

If you are into stainless steel but like Olympic weightlifting a lot better than powerlifting, then you should go for the REP fitness Gladiator stainless steel bar. This bar provides more whip, has a less aggressive knurl, ad the sleeves rotate on bearing. This makes this bar netter suited for Olympic weightlifting than powerlifting.

Conclusion for the Rep Deep knurl power bar EX

This is the top bar to get from REP fitness when you are into powerlifting. There is not a lot you can do wrong with this so be confident and move ahead if you have the money. The only reconsideration would be if you are planning on having one brand scheme rather than multiple brands in your gym. Then a decision between TITAN, Rep fitness, and Rogue fitness would need to be made before loading up the shopping cart.