Rep Fitness Sabre Bar – Women

REP Fitness Women’s Sabre Bar

The REP Fitness Women’s Sabre Bar is a basic multi-purpose barbell designed for those on a budget or for those who are beginner/recreational lifters.

It has a no-frills spec profile that will get the job done. It uses a bushing sleeve design, offers dual knurl rings, and it doesn’t have a center knurl. As such, it’s a good bar for general purpose lifting.

Here are some further details about the bar:

Knurling

The knurl on the Women’s Sabre Bar has a moderate feel that’s great for higher rep, higher frequency, and/or lower weight workouts. The grip is very good according to several users, but it’s not going to offer any sort of bite given its relatively flat profile.

This bar, like most women’s bars, does not offer a center knurl. This will make it more comfortable across the entire lift spectrum. Dual knurl marks make it easy to perform powerlifting movements as well as Olympic Style lifts.

Shaft

This bar has a 25mm shaft, which is industry-standard for a female bar. The tensile strength on the bar is 150,000 PSI, which puts it on the lower end of the spectrum. If you’re an advanced lifter or someone who is lifting a significant amount of weight, a higher tensile strength option may be more suitable. A good example within the REP Fitness family would be the REP Women’s Gladiator WL Bearing Bar.

The bright zinc shaft will provide a good-not-great feel and you’ll get the same when it comes to oxidation resistance.

Sleeves

The sleeves on the REP Women’s Sabre Bar are smooth, which some people will prefer, myself included. While grooved sleeves do tend to keep the plates on the bar a little better when not using collars, smooth sleeves are much quieter when sliding plates on and off.

The sleeves are also coated in bright zinc and they utilize bronze bushings to spin the bar. Bushings are very common in a multi-purpose bar since they create a spin that’s smooth, controlled, and capable of handling a variety of lifts. They are also a less expensive part, which helps to keep the price down compared to bearings. 

Aesthetics

The REP Women’s Sabre Bar overall has a clean look to it, but it’s not one that’s necessarily going to stick out. Bright zinc has a nice polish in its early life, but it’s recommended that you oil it with 3-in-1 or something similar to protect against oxidation. Eventually, you may see some spots and some degradation of the look, but this is purely cosmetic and it won’t have any effect on the performance of the bar.

The sleeves also use a bright zinc finish, which is fairly common. Again, use some oil on it every once in a while and you’ll keep them looking good for a longer amount of time.

The end cap uses a simple design, which is consistent with the REP branding.

Features & Highlights

• Bright Zinc – Bright Zinc is a cost-efficient plating that does an OK job at fighting off rust. You won’t get the same feel as you would with a non-plated finish like bare steel, stainless steel, etc… but you get a good blend of feel and rust resistance without the larger price tag.
• 25mm Diameter – This bar offers a 25mm shaft diameter, which is consistent with female barbells.
• Smooth Sleeves – The smooth sleeves will generally create less noise when loading/unloading plates compared to a grooved sleeve.
• No Center Knurl – The REP Women’s Sabre Bar does not offer a center knurl, which is useful on high rep training sessions and/or in cases where a lifter wants a more comfortable bar.

What They’re Saying at Repfitness.com

The REP Women’s Sabre Bar receives very positive feedback from users. With an average rating of 4.9/5 at repfitness.com, here are some of the things they have said:

Positive

• “Purchased this bar for my wife. She loves it. Very happy that she can actually grip the bar. I use it also for arm workouts. Very food bar and quality”
• “Bought it for my wife and it’s been great so far!”
• “ordered the Sabre Bar 15kg for my wife and it works great. Same great quality as 20kg Sabre Bar”
• “Women specific bars are becoming more prevalent but they seem to still be offered by only a few companies. My wife has been perfectly happy with this bar.”
• “I purchased a 20kg and 15kg sabre bar and they are awesome, especially for the price. I highly recommend if you are looking for a good bar for a decent price. knurling is good, not too aggressive but good for deadlifts and other power/explosive movement s without compromising grip.”

Critical

• “The only reason I give it a 4 star is I would like slightly more aggressive knurling, but that’s just a personal choice.”

Garage Gym Lab Review

Garage Gym Lab has not reviewed this bar.

Other Options

The below barbells were picked as alternatives to the REP Women’s Sabre Bar.