Powerlifting Barbell Bells of Steel - 2.0 Barenaked 29mm Olympic, 1500 lb

I have been using this bar for about five months now. It is my daily driver. It is a major upgrade from the cheap bars that I have used for a long time. I oil the bar about once a month and use a wire brush to remove rust. I don’t like doing that, but I knew what I was getting into when I bought the bar. Maintenance is the only complaint I have. I would recommend this bar to anyone, but if you can afford it, I would go for stainless steel next time.

I'm blown away at the quality of this bar at this price point. Lots of attention to detail in the packing. Came fully oiled. Really aggressive knurling. More so than my Ohio power bar. This is a good thing

Love the barbell. Deep, sharp knurling provides amazing grip for deadlifts. Get the bar, you won't regret it.

Looks and works great.

I made a spreadsheet with all the bars I was interested in (Rogue Ohio, Rep, etc.). After seeing some good reviews on this B.O.S. bar, I went for it, due to it being the rated bar at its slightly lower price point. It is great! I love the fairly deep knurl and natural patina of the finish. Rated at 1500 lbs. and high tensile strength, I may never get another bar. Great product and value! Thank you B.O.S.!

I love the aggressive knurling! Just what I needed from a mid priced bar.

its a great bar, it was packaged well. The tube it arrived in was torn nearly in two but the padding inside as well as the wrap protected the bar. There was no rust or scratches on it and it arrived in just a few days.

This bar is almost as grippy as an Ohio Powerbar absolute steal for the price.

Quality of the bar is extremely good, and exceptional value for money. The only issue I had was the packaging. It is pretty flimsy, and the end of the bar was mildly damaged in transport. A small amount of filing and all is well. Very happy with the Bar.

Overall, I am happy with this bar. It could be improved, however. Pros: Aggressive, even knurling on the two gripping locations. It is much sharper than I had expected. Feels fairly similar to an OPB. My previous (cheapo) bar had next to no knurling (flat hill-type and chrome finish), so you can imagine how happy I was to deadlift with my new power bar. Knurling makes it extremely easy to grip the bar. Skin on hands will feel tender after training so it will take a little getting used to. Shipping container was hefty, and the bar arrived intact. It seems that bells of steel really listened to their customers concerns in regards to past packaging issues. Shipping speed was also impressive. Ribbed sleeves reduce plate motion (sliding) when not using collars. When cleaned up, the bar looks great. End caps are aesthetically pleasing. The smooth parts of the shaft are unfinished/brushed (not mirror polished), and I feel this adds to its look. Doesn't require much work to keep it looking good. I clean it up with a brush and some oil once a month, and I brush out the chalk maybe once a week if it gets caked into the knurl. Cons: Bar arrived with a considerably rusted shaft. Oil was easy to remove, and then replace with 3-in-1 oil. I will have to go at it with a wire brush to clean off the rust. I expected a clean bar on arrival, and for it to patina over time. The amount of rust is a little much. Not a huge deal but it's annoying. Centre knurl is uneven. I had read reviews on their website which indicated that this issue was fixed but it would appear that isn't entirely correct. Again, not a huge deal... centre knurl isn't super important. I will not be doing any old school one-handed barbell lifts or anything. A little disappointed as I had put off buying this bar in hopes that it would one day be fixed. End caps rattle audibly during deadlifts and pendlay rows.

The Knurling on this bar is perfect for powerlifting. Sticks to your back well, grabs your hands like a contest bar and is knurled in the middle narrower than most more affordable bars so that it works for sumo deadlifts as well. This bar is a total bargain and was obviously designed by someone who had the end user in mind. I would absolutely recommend this bar after having used it frequently.

Knurling is cheese-grater aggressive, which is not a complaint but will take a bit of getting used to for newbies. The sleeves are not that far apart compared to what I've been used to, so depending on your rack width, you might have to adjust your squat walk out/in. Super stiff, squatted 370 with NO bounce, deadlifted 410 with NO bend. Lots of room on the sleeves if you use large bumper plates. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could just because the sleeves could be half an inch shorter to allow for more bar length and to accomodate wider power racks.

I feel like I should start this review by saying I have a couple other barbells from various manufacturers designed for different types of lifts including a rather generic one from Fitness Depot and a Tydax bar as well. This bar is a significant improvement over both. It ‘spins’ well, and the knurling is no joke (although it definitely took a few weeks for my hands to adjust to it and it cost me a few calluses along the way). It feels super secure in my hands, especially when I’m pulling heavy deadlifts. The sleeves that hold the plates are super grippy, I just use the cheap spring clips and they don’t go anywhere, even when I drop the bar and it bounces. The packaging was good, although a bit of a pain to get into as I had to find a pair of pliers in order to get the end caps off. Barbell was wrapped in plastic and padded inside the shipping tube as well. Overall very happy so far.