ELEIKO RACK BAR review

I bought the rack bar with great anticipation, but am unfortunately fairly disappointed by now. While it does live up to the Eleiko hype when it come to the feel of the knurling and is indeed one of the "quietest" bar I have even seen (only minimal spacing at the sleeves), it does not live up to the quality standard I expected. A (much ) cheaper weightlifting bar I own does not have this issue and neither any other of the bars I have seen so far. Given there are plenty of competitors that do not fall short in other areas and are MUCH cheaper, I think it was hardly worth spending my money on the Rack Bar.

I have owned the Eleiko Rack Bar for about a week now and it has become my pandemic bar. This barbell was the only one available that is specified for powerlifting at the time of my ordering. I was extremely skeptical at first, seeing a barbell called "Rack Bar" made it seem like a barbell only for things such as rack-pulls but I was proven wrong. Specifications: (Powerlifting knurling) - 215,000 PSI Tensile Strength (per Eleiko sale rep) - 29mm Shaft Diameter - 1.2 knurling (I guess they say its mild?) - Barbell made for racks - Chrome - Graphite Bushings - 16.34 Loadable Sleeve Length - 12 year warranty Now this barbell retails at $700+ and it is definitely not worth that price. The "mild" knurling specification is deceiving as I will compare it to a rogue OPB e-coat and it is has more aggressive knurling than that. The knurling does not rip your hand though, as it is extremely grippy and I had no problems deadlifting without chalk for volume sets. The knurling is also unique as there is none where the barbell rests on the J-cup. Now this is gimmicky as J-cups are less than $100 and to buy a $700+ barbell and use this feature to justify it is just comical. Comparison: I believe if I were to own a Rogue OPB bare-steel version than I would consider the knurling to be the same volcano pattern and feel the exact same. The Rogue OPB E-coat has very mild knurling as the pain cover really dulls it so it is a hard comparison. Overall, the Eleiko Rack Bar is a joy to workout with and I always look forward to my workouts. I would definitely consider this a pandemic barbell (a barbell in which you get when you are very desperate) and I do not regret purchasing it. I rate it 4/5 stars due to the cost but it has nothing quality wise to gripe about. *For some reason I could not add pictures *I also have a bright zinc Kabuki Barbell coming and I want to compare it to that.