Rogue Westside Power Bar 2.0

Rogue Westside Power Bar 2.0

The Rogue Westside Power Bar 2.0 is the result of a design collaboration between Rogue Fitness and Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell.

This bar comes with a 29mm diameter shaft, powerlifting knurl marks, a 205,000 PSI tensile strength, and an aggressive knurl.

The bar features a black zinc shaft as well as black zinc sleeves, and it comes with a lifetime warranty. Priced at $345, it’s a more expensive option than the Rogue Ohio Power Bar in black zinc despite having very similar specs.

Here are some further details about the bar:

Features & Highlights

• Black Zinc Finish – Black 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.
• 29mm Shaft – The bar offers a 29mm shaft, which is consistent with powerlifting standards. This diameter promotes a very rigid shaft that’s ideal for the big 3: squat, bench, and deadlift.
• Aggressive Knurl – The Westside Power Bar 2.0 has an aggressive knurl that is very similar, if not identical, to the Rogue Ohio Power Bar. It has a volcano profile, which produces a tacky grip with reduced sharpness.
• Center Knurl – This bar includes a center knurl with the same pattern as the outer knurl.
• Grooved, Black Zinc Sleeves – The sleeves on this bar have fine grooves that help keep the plates on the bar better when you’re not using collars. The downside is that grooved sleeves make an audible zip noise when loading/unloading plates. Further, black zinc sleeves will have a tendency to show scrapes and scuffs as plates slide on and off.
• American Made – This bar is made in America.

What They’re Saying at Roguefitness.com

The Rogue Westside Power Bar 2.0 receives good feedback from users. With an average rating of 4.6/5, here are some of the things people are saying at roguefitness.com:

Positive

• “Garage gym power lifter, purchased as a bar upgrade. All around awesome. Knurling is aggressive but won’t tear your hands up. 10/10 recommend”
• “Bought this for my home gym coming back from deployment, and it has meet and exceeded all my hopes! Knurling is perfect and sticks to your hands without any help from chalk or straps! I use it for all three lifts (deadlifts, squats, and bench) and love the performance for all three!!! Highly recommend!!! Firm believer of you get what you pay for and when you pay for quality you get a quality product!!!”
• “I’ve worked out with this bar for 3 weeks now and its perfect. I follow a powerlifting training split so I’m squatting 3 times a week, deadlifting twice, and benching twice. My wife also uses the bar and her only complaint is the knurling is a bit aggressive, but it says that in the description.”
• “This bar is meant to lift heavy…a**…weight and that’s it. Stiff bar that makes deadlifting easy and doesn’t bounce much when squatting. The knurling on this is insane though! The knurls are very aggressive the bar basically sticks to your hands making chalk and straps pretty unnecessary.”
• “Craftsmanship is perfect as usual almost to pretty to use lol love how it feels great in my hands. Just an overall great product. Nothing unusual for Rogue.”
• “The barbell is amazing. Looks pretty sharp, and the knurling is awesome!”

Critical

• “Overall its a nice bar. However, the black coating wears out after the first couple of uses due to the bar hanger rubbing with the bar.”
• “The black zinc finish came with hundreds of nicks in it. At first I thought it was metal shavings, and some of them were, but most of them were actual nicks in the black finish. Instead of being black, it looks more like a starry night sky.”
• “The only complaint I have about the bar is black on the sleeves is already beginning to fade after only 2 uses.”

Garage Gym Lab Review

Garage Gym Lab has not yet reviewed this bar.

Other Options

The below barbells were picked as alternatives to the Rogue Westside Power Bar 2.0: