Vulcan Standard 28.5MM Olympic Barbell
Overall
User Review
( votes) Summary
The Vulcan Standard 28.5MM Olympic Barbell is one of our favorite multi-purpose bars. There’s a lot to celebrate with this piece of gym equipent.
Pros
- Excellent medium-level knurling.
- Great Whip.
- A decent spin from dual Oilite self-lubricating bronze bushings.
- Awesome 194,000 tensile strength.
- A beautiful black zinc finish (also available in bright zinc).
Cons
- It’s pricey.
The Vulcan Standard 28.5mm Olympic Barbell is hands down one of the most versatile and well-equipped multi-purpose bars on the market. Is love it so much that we’ve given it the same star-rating as our go-to multi-purpose barbell, the Rogue Ohio Bar. From its strong tensile strength to competent knurling, this bar offers a lot of bang for the buck.
Starting with the knurling, I prefer a grippy knurl that doesn’t cut into my hands too deeply, at least when it comes to an Olympics-style barbell. I was a bit worried about deep cuts in the knurling after testing out the company’s Farmer Carry bars which were a bit over-the-top for their use-type in my opinion. That isn’t the case with the Vulcan Standard. This barbell offers a moderate knurl that I would compare favorably to my Rogue Ohio Bar but with a little more grip. It’s grippy for deadlifts but not so overly grippy that clean and jerks and other repeated movements feel painful.
Both the whip and spin on the bar are excellent thanks to Dual Oilite self-lubricating bronze bushings that offer decent spin. The bar also uses a double snap ring construction which makes cleaning a breeze.
I can’t speak to the Bright Zinc finish but the Black Zinc looks great, providing the type of quality I’ve come to expect from Vulcan Strength.
The Vulcan Standards 28.5MM Olympic Bar offers a 28.5mm shaft, a standard size for Olympic bars so I wasn’t surprised that it felt familiar. Adding to the familiarity are dual CrossFit markings and no center knurl. It’s exactly what you would expect from this type of gym product.
While not a noticeable part of the bar during workouts, it’s important to mention that the tensile strength is 194,000 or 4K better than the Ohio bar and other similar offerings.
Overall the Vulcan Standard is an incredibly well-built bar that stands by its build with a lifetime warranty against bending, breaking, and sleeve rotation issues.
This bar exceeded all of my expectations and as an added bonus it’s made in the USA.
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