XMark Olympic Bar Curl Bar with Weights Offer, Olympic Weights Pair or Set of Texas Star Olympic Weight Plates, Rubber Coated, Patented Design XM-3389 with EZ Curl Bar, Black Manganese 28mm XM-3675

Very nice bar, except for one issue: the plating on the sleeves is flaking like crazy. I've owned this for a little over a month, and everytime I pick it up, more of the chrome plate flakes off the sleeves. Is that enough to make me NOT recommend this bar to people? No, but it something that the manufacturer should be away of. Why bother chrome plating it at all? Just ship it with bare steel sleeves. It'll save them money, and the only thing I could complain about wouldn't be an issue. It's not like the chrome (nickel?) makes the sleeves any tougher, it's purely cosmetic. Unfortunately, that cosmetic is leaving sparkles all over my gym area.If you're choosing between this bar, and a more expensive name brand (aka R*gue) bar, get this one. Flaking aside, it's an excellent curl bar.

I was searching for an EZ Curl Bar because my 45 lb straight bar wasn't kind to my wrists or elbows doing reverse curls, tricep presses, etc. I had an "EZ Curl" handle attachment for the low pulley on my squat rack, but it was awkward being attached to a cable and I never really liked it.I certainly looked at the typical chrome-plated EZ's at your big box retailers and sporting good stores. Biggest issue I had with those bars is that there's no bearings in the sleeves and they're simply screwed on by a large hex cap bolt on each end. Eventually they'd squeak and squeal as the metal surfaces wears into each other. As far as I can tell, short of taking it apart, this bar has bearings inside the sleeves, and the snap ring retainers are a lot more "professional" grade than the hex cap bolts are. The sleeves rotate smooth without noise, and I'm pretty sure if they ever do start to squeak I can shoot some white lithium or similar grease in there to help. I do have a snap ring pliers, but I'm not interested in taking them apart if I can help it.I added a picture of this with my setup. It fits perfectly in the catch bars of my squat rack, though if it was fully loaded I wouldn't be able to use the end hooks as displayed here because there's be no sleeve left to catch the hooks. It would work fine fully loaded or not within the rack itself, though.Maybe..MAYBE the only con if I was forced to give one is that the surfaces of the sleeves are SLICK due to the machining and plating, and because it's a short-length bar if you don't use clamps to hold the plates and you're form isn't near perfect you'll find in the middle of your reps suddenly one or both sides are unloading themselves onto the floor. Yep...happened to me during overhead tricep extensions. I don't use clamps on my full bar and didn't think about how this one would react when I first used it. At about midway through the reps a 5 lb. plate on one side had slid itself close enough that as I was lying the bar back down behind my head, the plate came off the rest of the way. Clamps went on after that.As for my original need for it, yes, it helps a lot more keeping my elbows from flairing out and my wrists from feeling pinched when doing reverse movement exercises. Definitely a great buy!

Overall, the product is just OK. As others have noted, this bar is 2 lbs heavier than all other curling bars. It is also too long for ANY preacher curl bench (PCB). When you set this bar centered on the rack, it sits right on top of the outer bend; which is not only frustrating but totally DANGEROUS. 3 times this bar has slipped right off the stand and flipped up in the air while being loaded with weights. I tried it on a few other stands and it was the same story. I finally bought another bar FOR LESS MONEY and it fits my PCB perfectly. If you are going to use this thing without a PCB, you are probably fine. Otherwise, RUN AWAY from this thing!!

All in all, a good deal on a decent quality, sturdy ez curl bar.Pros* Construction seems solid.* Spin (not critical for a curl bar) is plenty adequate.* Knurling is good, aggressive without being painful.* Bends are fine, several good comfy positions.* Packaging is top notch, out box was crunched a bit but the bar was safe inside the inner tube.Cons* Arrived with some nasty brownish oil/grease/protectant all over the bar...gone several rounds with 3in1 oil, a brass bristle brush, and a rag and it still leaves your hands with brown grime.* Finish is subpar. Not expecting Rogue-level fit and finish at this price point, but my bar has a large splotchy section (see photos) and other smaller finish defects.I would think twice before purchasing a primary Olympic or powerlifting bar from XMark, but for a secondary accessory piece like this, it does the job.

This is a very quality bar at this price point. I like the angles in the bar and feel comfortable on my wrists during skull crushers and curls. The knurling is very sharp which is fine for me as I where gloves but be warned if you are planning on using bare hands. The bearings are very good and rotate nicely. Overall I am very pleased with this bar and the quality is better than I expected. Exactly what I was looking for. Also I'd like to commend XMark as a company for NOT price gouging during the Covid equipment shortage. I will likely buy from them again very soon as they get more inventory. A+ 5/5