Description

From The Manufacturer

Rogue Hybrid Power Bar

The Rogue Hybrid Power Bar represents another step forward in precision machining, combining tighter tolerances with recent innovations from our popular AGGRO Power Bar to create a superior lifting experience.

Starting with the traditional “core four” attributes of a standard power bar– aggressive knurl, center knurl, reduced whip, and controlled spin–we went to work exploring ways to better optimize each of these features to the demands of today’s serious powerlifter. This included absorbing a decade’s worth of feedback from customers, athletes, and gym owners, and calibrating it with our own wealth of experience outfitting gyms and competitions at the highest levels of the iron game. Additionally we have commissioned extensive research into ways to improve every aspect of barbell design and manufacturing.

With this in mind, some aspects of the Hybrid Power Bar–including the 2XAGGRO Knurl–tested too well to make any changes. For other areas, we refined our processes to establish a new blueprint for a truly optimized Powerlifting barbell that’s also uniquely versatile compared to its competitors. Some of these specific features are detailed below:

Built with uncoated stainless steel and our ultra-aggressive 2XAGGRO knurl, the grip is perfect for powerlifting; feeling exactly the same as when it comes out of the lathe and exactly as we intended. Uncoated bars result in a grip that is very firm and less reliant on chalk, but not overly sharp or uncomfortable on the hands/back/neck. To make the sleeves as maintenance-free as the shafts, we chose our Proprietary Matte Black finish, which converts the surface of the steel and will stay black much longer than other black finishes.

The most obvious difference between the Rogue Hybrid Power Bar and the remainder of our power bar line is our choice of a 28.5 MM shaft instead of a 29 MM shaft. This accomplishes two things. First, the knurl feels more prominent than it would on a thicker shaft. Second, the narrower design benefits athletes that incorporate power cleans or other Olympic lifts into their powerlifting program, as it makes the hook grip easier to achieve. It is also helpful for deadlifts, where a slightly smaller shaft leads to a more reliable grip.

We added new precision machined bronze bushings that fit tighter around the shaft, leading to less radial endfloat. We have also tightened the tolerances around our sleeve attachment, leading to less axial endfloat. This results in a reliable controlled spin that is not so free-spinning as to cause instability when benching or squatting and will not keep spinning at the top of the clean.

Our proprietary matte black finish is one of our most durable treatments because it converts the surface of the steel rather than coating it, meaning that it is less affected by sliding plates on and off. The treatment also hardens the surface of the steel which further improves durability. In response to customer feedback for sleeves with this treatment, we have created a new low-profile surface finish for the underlying steel.  By using advanced optical profilometry to gauge the sleeve finish, we are able to ensure that the profile of the sleeve is exactly as designed.

We chose a very specific stainless steel that we discovered when developing the Elephant Bar for the deadlift competition at the Arnold Strongman Classic. This steel has a tensile strength of 200,000 pounds per square inch and a yield strength of 170,000 pounds per square inch.

Tensile strength is the amount of stress that it takes to cause the steel to fail. Yield strength is the resistance of the metal to becoming permanently deformed in response to stress. In practice, yield strength is what keeps the bar from becoming bent during use.

Steel products should be built from materials with adequate tensile and yield strength, but these properties should not be increased above this level, because it will decrease toughness. Despite this, many companies elevate their tensile strength in an arms race to be able to advertise higher numbers, but instead decrease the longevity of their barbells.

In our testing, the maximum stress that a barbell shaft experienced was 144,000 pounds per square inch. Therefore the yield strength of 170,000 pounds per square inch is well above what a bar would experience in normal use, while not requiring our tensile strength to be elevated above what is required. The amount of whip that a bar has is predominantly determined by the diameter of the shaft, but can be influenced by the tensile strength of the steel. For this reason, we chose a tensile strength that while being in the optimum range, between 190,000 PSI and 215,000 PSI, is still higher than most bars on the market.

In addition to the specifications of our stainless steel, which are optimized for barbell performance, both short or long term, we have found that our stainless steel has a greater resistance to becoming bent than other steels with the same tensile and yield strength.

Our stainless steel is also particularly well suited to having its fatigue life increased by our Rogue Work Hardening (RWH) process. The areas of the shaft that receive the greatest stress are treated with our patented RWH. Rogue Work Hardening of our stainless steel leads to an even longer fatigue life than our other barbell steels, which are already many times more durable than what is available from other manufacturers. With a tested score of F-10R, the Rogue Hybrid Power Bar has the highest F-Scale durability rating of any Rogue barbell with standard-length sleeves.

By designing the Rogue Hybrid Power Bar with serious lifters in mind, taking into account all we have learned about barbell manufacturing and making no compromises with respect to materials or manufacturing practices, we have created a barbell that will become the go-to bar for athletes at all levels.

 

What Real Customers Had To Say At Rogue Fitness

Positive Reviews

“The Rogue Hybrid is everything it’s advertised to be and more. The bar arrives well packaged, even enough to withstand the brutal beating it will take going across the multiple conveyor belts at the various UPS facilities. The stainless steel in very shiny and and looks amazing right out of the package and the proprietary black sleeves look fantastic in contrast to the bright silver finish of the stainless steel. The knurling on the barbell is fantastic even compared to other manufacturers, you can feel the barbell sticking to your hand just touching it. The 2x Aggro knurl won’t fail you in heavy deadlifts, and the center knurl grabbed my shirt nicely, and was rough enough where I could feel where it sat on my back during squats, but not enough so to cause any irritation or uncomfortable abrasions on the upper back. The bar performs beautifully on the big 3 lifts, and when putting the loaded barbell on the ground after deadlifts and power cleans, you get a nice quiet thump without any of the rattle experienced in other barbells. The spin on the sleeves is good for power cleans, and I noticed a nice spin, better than some bearing sleeves. The conversion coating on the barbell was a nice addition. The grooved sleeves will rub against your plates, and will leave residue from the metal on metal contact, but it wipes right off with a dry rag in most cases, and with 3-in-1 oil every time. The sleeves are hard, and don’t dent or ding up, so far. It appears to be a very durable barbell, with very tight specifications. There isn’t a lot of whip in the bar, but it can sub nicely if you want to use it for some olympic or crossfit lifts with the 28.5 mm dianeter bar. Everything looks and operates smooth and crisply, just like I would have expected from Rogue, and so far, I like using it more than my OPB or Ohio Bar for all of my lifts.”

“The bar is sweet!!! Just what I’d been looking for.The knurling is serious, sounds quieter, and has low whip.. definitely a humbling bar for deads. The sleeves are also sexy”

“Received this yesterday and used it for two workouts already. The barbell is fantastic for SBD. Despite being a 28.5mm it feels roughly the same as my 29mm barbells because of the stainless steel finish. The aggro 2x knurling is perfect and maybe the maximum sharpest that 99% of the population can withstand. The tolerances are definitely low and comes with a little tag for the various measurements they do. The only “con” is that I don’t agree that this is a multipurpose bar. The spin is minimal and the center knurling is deep/sharp, all combinations not ideal for olympic lifts (unless you want a shredded neck).”

Negative Reviews

“I wanted to try out the Aggro knurling, but did not like the logo on that bar so I went with this one. Hesitated just a little because I thought I would prefer a 29mm, but now that I have used this bar it’s not an issue for me. The knurling is perfect. Very sticky without causing pain. My previous primary bar was a cerakote OPB and it has sat in the corner since this one came in.”

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