Rogue Russian bar vs Froning bar
This is a comparison of the Rogue Russian bar and the Froning bar including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details
Overview and review Rogue Ohio Bar Froning Edition
This overview of the Froning 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 375$
Overview of Rogue Ohio bar Froning edition
The
Rogue Ohio bar Froning edition pays tribute to all-time Crossfit legend Rich Froning.
Rich Froning managed to claim the title of "Fittest man on earth" four times. This makes him the most successful CrossFit athlete to date. The
Froning bar carries his logo. The logo is silver while the rest of
bar has been kept black.
Rogue uses its Cerakote finish combined with the base of the
Ohio bar to create another design dedicated to a
Rogue athlete.
The
Froning bar comes at 20kg and a diameter of 28.5mm. The sleeves are connected via bushing to the shaft. It can withstand 190K PSI Tensile strength with a good whip. The knurling is standard. This multi-purpose
bar has a loadable sleeve length of 16.40.
The Froning bar is a great option if you like the
colour
back and want to connect to one of your
favourite
CrossFit athletes. Other options you might want to consider are the
Fraser bar and
Matt Chan bar which is also multi-purpose bars with
Rogue athlete branding. This is a great
bar for any fitness enthusiast who wants to combine or contrast black with other
colours
in their home gym.
Pros of the Froning bar
The
Froning bar is a single
colour
bar in black which makes it less popping than the other athlete designs from
Rogue. If you like simple designs which do not make bold statements this is a good
bar to get. The
Ohio bar builds the base and delivers a solid base for multi-purpose barbell training. Connecting to the legend Rich Froning might also give your athletes a psychological boost while training. The low key design also makes it a more feasible option for gym outfits.
Cons of the Froning bar
As with the other Ohio bars with
cerakote finish make sure that it is mainly used with bumper plates instead of steel plates. Otherwise, wait until these bars become available with chrome sleeves. It should only be a matter of time until
Rogue makes this available. A black shaft can be more prone to show scratches of the underlying material. If you go heavy duty and don't care for the design you might want to go for the
Ohio bar,
Castro bar or
Operator bar instead.
Conclusion
The Rogue Froning bar will set your mind to the greatest of all times in the realm of CrossFit. If you are building a new CrossFit box with class get a set of the Rogue name branded barbells. Your customers will notice that extra bit of attention to detail.
Overview & Review of the Rogue Russian bar
This overview of the Rogue Russian 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: 769$
Overview of the Russian bar
The
Russian bar became popular in the 1960s and was used at the Olympic games in 1980. It weighs 20kg and uses a diameter of 28mm. It withstands 200.000 PSI and has a chrome finish with 16.25 of loadable sleeve length. The design is unique and optimized fur multiple reps. To achieve this
the bar has special sleeves combined with special collars. These enable you to do multiple repetitions on the Olympic lifts
without having to reset the bar.
Rogue took the old model of the
Russian bar and applied their modern knowledge and technology to bring
the bar into the 21st century.
The bar has a
centre
knurl and Olympic knurl marks. It also comes with bearing for a better spin off the sleeves.
This high quality and special manufacturing make it the
highest priced Rogue bar to date. You ultimately get what you pay for and this is the top end.
Pros of the Russian bar
You get the best of the best with added functionality for weightlifters. The shaft is made of stainless steel while the sleeves are made of chrome. This is combined with extra functionality through the click and tighten mechanics.
If you have Olympic weightlifters who want to fully focus on multi-rep sets this is the bar to go for. This is the right bar for serious athletes who are subsidized by the state to win gold medals. Put this bar into an environment where this is big respect for the sport of weightlifting and the equipment used.
Cons of the Russian bar
The high price tag makes it not really a feasible option for a home gym or Crossfit box. If you have to buy many barbells, the price will get unacceptable compared to the
Ohio bar as you can get twice as many barbells for the same budget. If your gym is mainly powerlifting focused you might also
want to look into other barbells.
As the collars are specialized the
Russian bar might also not be the right choice for a commercial gym or military facilities where there are a lot of people. Collars tend to get lost in those environments and they are an essential piece of the functionality and price of
this barbell.
Conclusion
The Russian bar is a great addition to an already existing weightlifting gym which honors the past. You get some extra functionality which seasoned weightlifters will appreciate and respect. This piece of equipment would be wasted on beginners or people who do care little about the sport of weightlifting.