REP fitness Sabre barbell vs trap bar

This is a comparison between the REP fitness sabre bar and the REP fitness trap bar. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the REP fitness Trap bar

This is an overview of the REP fitness Trap 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 Trap Bar $125

The REP fitness trap bar goes along with the designs of trap bars that you would find in most gyms. Trap bar deadlifts are a good alternative to regular deadlifts. They are less taxing on the lower back and easier to learn as the barpath is more restricted and standing inside the frame provides more stability. A trap bar is also a good alternative to farmer's carry handles, as it gives you more uses while also being good for carrying exercises. The full specifications of this trap bar are:

Raised handles with knurled grip
Solid steel construction
500lb Weight Capacity
16” loadable sleeve space
Length: 71”, Width: 25.5”, Height: 6”
Product Weight: 55 lbs (unloaded)
Handle Diameter - 25mm
Medium depth knurling

A solid addition to an existing gym that wants to switch things up or for someone that has enough space on their first purchase to throw some specialty bars in. A duffalo bar or Safety squat bar would still be my preferred option as I use heavy kettlebells for deadlift variations and farmer's walks.

Pros of the Rep Trap Bar

The pros of the REP fitness trap bar are:

Price compared to the competition
Lower injury risk compared to straight bar deadlifts
Can also be used as a carrying frame

Compared to the Rogue fitness trap bars REP fitness offers almost the same thing at a lower price. They achieve this by importing the barbell from China rather than producing it themselves in the US.

If you just want to do deadlifts and not compete in powerlifting, then a trap bar is a good option to protect your back as long as you have the space to store it. A straight bar deadlift can put a big strain on your back, especially if you are doing the movement incorrectly. Trap bars bear a lower risk to do so.

Another nice bonus is that a trap bar can also be used as a carrying frame. If you are looking to incorporate carry exercises into your regime and go really heavy, then a trap bar is in my opinion the more versatile option than farmer's handles.

Cons of the Rep Trap Bar

The cons of the REP fitness trap bar are:

Bulky
Limited use cases

A trap bar is usually better suited for a commercial gym than a home gym as they are pretty hard to store. While they are more versatile than farmer walk handles they are still less useful than an actual barbell. Keep these things in mind when making your decision as I personally think that a duffalo bar, safety squat bar, or heavy kettlebells are a better investment in your home gym than a trap bar.

Alternatives to the Rep Trap Bar

Rogue Trap bar
TITAN Trap bar
Dinnie rings and kettlebells

The Rogue trap bar is produced in the US and comes in two variations. Especially version 2 is great as Rogue really thought about the shortcomings of the traditional Trap bar design which are the weight of the bar itself and the handles and optimized on those.

The TITAN trap bar is another low-cost option that imports from China. Overall your bill will be lower with TITAN fitness when outfitting a home gym at the cost of laxer quality controls compared to REP fitness based on what I am reading and seeing. This is more of a choice between the two for the overall cost of your gym when you throw in a trap bar to the line of items rather than a question of which one has the better or cheaper trap bar per se.

I personally use heavy kettlebells combined with the Rogue Dinnie rings for heavy carries and all kinds of variations of deadlifts. This takes up less space in my gym and is very versatile. The only downside of this approach is that you can not scale in increments as you can with a trap bar with the weight plates you already have in-house.

Conclusion for the Rep Trap Bar

This is a solid trap bar if you want one and have the space to store it. I personally prefer kettlebells with different handles for carrying work, but I also do not do 200kg carries which would only be possible with a proper frame, trap bar or farmer's walk handles as the kettlebells would get too big and expensive.

Overview and review of the REP fitness Sabre barbell

This is an overview of the REP fitness Sabre 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 Sabre Bar $179

The REP sabre bar is what I would recommend to someone who walks up to me and says "I want a decent barbell, but it shouldn't cost much" and does not provide me with any extra information about what they want to use it for. The price point is good and you get a decent barbell that you can use for several lifts. It is not for the professional powerlifter and weightlifter, but this population is smaller than the industry wants you to believe. The full specifications of this barbell are:

150k tensile strength
1000 lb rating
28.5mm (25 mm women's) diameter
20kg length 87.4"
15kg length 79.13"
Zinc coating
High-performance ball-bearing sleeve design.
Dual knurl markings.
No center knurl on women's barbell. Men's barbell has an option with center knurl or without.
1-year warranty

This is a good bar if you want to build your home gym for $500 to $1000 including plates rack and everything else. It still functions as a proper barbell, without being fancy on any of the specific features. Also a good buy in bulk for a commercial gym that does not specialize in powerlifting or weightlifting.

Pros of the Rep Sabre Bar

The pros of the REP fitness Sabre bar are:

Price point
All-around design
No extra features
Warranty

This barbell is simple and to the point. Noting fancy but still better than an axle bar or the basic barbell model from REP fitness. This barbell has a zinc coating against rust and is 28.5mm in diameter which is right between weightlifting and powerlifting standards. Compared to the basic barbell from REP fitness it also comes with a warranty

Cons of the Rep Sabre Bar

The cons of the REP Sabre bar are:

Imported
No bearing
No aggressive knurl
No center knurl

As you are getting one of the lower range models of REP fitness with this barbell you will also get nothing fancy on the extras. Each feature has been stripped down to the bare minimum will you still get a warranty. Good for your purse and decent for your experience.

Alternatives to the Rep Sabre Bar

Alternatives to the REP Sabre bar are:

The black sabre bar is the same barbell with the exception that a black coat has been applied. If you want to spice things up a little with black color, then this is the bar to get instead of the sabre basic model.

The Rogue Ohio bar would be the equivalent in the Rogue portfolio to the REP fitness sabre bar. This is the basic barbell that Rogue started their vast portfolio. This leaves you with more options for individualizing your barbell than with REP fitness, but the base model comes at a higher price than the sabre bar.

The Rogue Echo bar is Rogue's approach to making a barbell as cheap as possible. This is the bar they advertise to be taken into the field by the military as it won't hurt that much if it gets abused based on the price per item. If you want to go as low as possible on the sticker price.

The TITAN Atlas bar is TITAN fitness's take on a full barbell at the lowest possible price. If you want to build your entire home gym as cheap as possible with new equipment, then they are probably the best address to get in touch with in the US. The only downside is that they need to cut some corners on service to make these low prices possible.

Conclusion for the Rep Sabre Bar

The REP Sabre bar is a solid barbell for anyone who wants to optimize their budget and still wants a minimal warranty with the barbell. If i owned a gym that had a lot of average strength clients, then this would be the barbell I would buy in bulk.