New- Burgener/ Rippetoe Bar from York

[John Schneider]

Hey I thought everyone might be interested in the description of the new bar York is putting out. It should be available later this month I believe and should be comparable in price to the Rogue bar.

Get the bar designed by the same people who designed your workouts.

Mike Burgener and Mark Rippetoe have teamed up with industry leader York Barbell to provide the ultimate Olympic weightlifting/powerlifting bar that is perfect for CrossFit workouts.

The B&R Bar by York Barbell is produced to their precise specifications. It has a 29 mm shaft with a 200,000 lb. yield strength, marked for both powerlifting and weightlifting movements. It features the perfect light weightlifting knurl that has made York Barbell famous, with a center knurl for squats and an extra half-inch of smooth steel between the knurls to protect your shins during deadlifts, cleans, and snatches. Manufactured with sintered bushings in the sleeves for reliable spin and low maintenance, and with sleeves attached with the same bulletproof end caps used on York competition weightlifting bars, the B&R is designed for heavy commercial gym use in a wide variety of training environments.

Most barbell manufacturers add chrome or other plating material to their bars to prevent discoloration from rust -- it is not there to improve performance. The B&R Bar by York Barbell bar is made for serious lifting, not for looking shiny on the rack. No coating can ever match the look and feel of natural steel, and this quality old-school bar will age to a natural oxidized finish that matures along with your training and experience. This is the last bar you will ever have to buy. It will join the many tens of thousands of bars made by York Barbell since the 1950's that are still going strong.

I'll post pics and a review when I get mine.

[Chris Walls]

What's that going to be worth?

[Jason M Struck]

Originally Posted by Chris Walls

What's that going to be worth?

i think a more appropriate question would be 'how much are they going to charge for it?'.

[Christian Salas]

Sounds like it'll be in the $200 neighborhood, I imagine.

Cool! Couple concerns though:

The shaft is 29mm? That's getting pretty thick for a OL bar I think. I'm sure it was done as a cost cutting measure, but the grip would start to become a problem I would think. I like the Pendlay Economy 28.5mm thickness. But sounds like this bar is more durable than the Economy...

Extra 1/2" between knurling to help with the shin scraping? Is that enough? Does everybody keep the same stance? Seems like a pretty small area.

But besides those two nits, hurrah! Glad to hear CrossFit is taking off enough for York to come out with a bar for it!

[Ahmik Jones]

It will be available exclusively through CrossFit SoCal and Rogue Fitness starting in Mid August.

We will be charging $295.

[Ahmik Jones]

Originally Posted by Christian Salas

Sounds like it'll be in the $200 neighborhood, I imagine.

Cool! Couple concerns though:

The shaft is 29mm? That's getting pretty thick for a OL bar I think. I'm sure it was done as a cost cutting measure, but the grip would start to become a problem I would think. I like the Pendlay Economy 28.5mm thickness. But sounds like this bar is more durable than the Economy...

Extra 1/2" between knurling to help with the shin scraping? Is that enough? Does everybody keep the same stance? Seems like a pretty small area.

But besides those two nits, hurrah! Glad to hear CrossFit is taking off enough for York to come out with a bar for it!

Actually the choice of a 29 mm shaft was not a cost cutting measure. Coaches Burgener and Rippetoe chose it specifically. Since this is a dual purpose bar the slightly thicker shaft was chosen to feel better on the back for squats and better in the hands for the press and bench press, while still being thin enough to have some whip and allow a good hook grip for the Olympic lifts. This is the same high quality steel shaft that York uses for their IPF spec powerlifting bar, but with the knurl texture of their Olympic training bars. The steel is hard enough that every shaft has to be knurled by hand to produce York's signature light weightlifting texture. It has the same bushings and end caps of their Olympic training bars as well. A competitive weightlifter may feel the difference in whip between a 28 mm bar and a 29 mm bar, but for the rest of us the difference will not be noticable, or at least will not affect our lifts.

Not everyone's stance is the same width for deadlifts, and Olympic lifts, but for people who use the correct stance, (feet right under the hips, where you can most effectively push at the floor or jump) the extra 1/2 inch of clearance is enough for most people to keep from sraping their shins on the knurled portion of the bar. For many people the regulation distance on the bar is slightly too narrow, this slight change was felt by Mark Rippetoe, who studies this stuff for living, to make the clear space wide enough that most people will be able to avoid scraping thier shins with the knurled portion of the bar. It is impossible to make a bar to specifically accomidate people who use a less efficient wide stance, as the width will vary from person to person.

[Chris Walls]

Originally Posted by Jason M Struck

i think a more appropriate question would be 'how much are they going to charge for it?'.

Too true, nice correction.

[John Schneider]

Sorry, I've been off line, but it looks like Ahmik was better able to answer the questions than I was anyway.

[Jason M Struck]

not the cheapest bar ever though...

if you can only get one bar for everything, this sounds like a hit.

I wish I knew more about the various bars before I got mine. I am getting more accustomed to the knurling of my Pendlay HD, but it still chews me up.

Miss that Eleiko!

[Andrew Gray]

I love the feel of the York knurl, it's grippy but doesn't have that jagged feeling that many bars have. I also like the no-coating approach, it's awesome, can't beat the feel of steal! I can't wait to try this bar out.