Ivanko OBZ-40 Prototype Review

[southpawbk]

So I bought the new 6 ft prototype ez curl bar from Ivanko. Got it off their ******** posting from a few months back when they were selling the ones they had used in trade shows and such. This bar is awesome. Everything and more you would expect from Ivanko. The angle of the curls in the bar are perfect. Great for curls or triceps work. The bar looks amazing. Black coating with the silver Ivanko U.S.A . end caps. The knurling is what I'm most impressed with. It's just right, don't need to wear gloves but definitely sticks to your palms. AND THE BAR IS GREAT IN THE RACK ITSELF! I would highly recommened the bar if you are looking for a rackable ez curl bar.

Normally I wouldn't buy new but this was worth it. Actually I used some flipping CL money so that made it feel better.


Bar in Powertec Rack.


Knurling and close shot of the angles


Endcap


More pics of knurling


Bar with 25# Ivanko OM Plate


Level pic if angles

[AttyGuy]

Normally I wouldn't buy new but this was worth it. Actually I used some flipping CL money so that made it feel better.

Yes! Repped.

[trimble006]

How much does the bar itself weight? It looks great!

[BloodType3R]

Suddenly my OBZ-40 feels horribly inadequate.

[StephanBB]

Damn, nice pickup. I never check ******** often enough.

[southpawbk]

How much does the bar itself weight? It looks great!

33 pounds... On my scale.

[southpawbk]

Damn, nice pickup. I never check ******** often enough.

Just happened to come across my iPhone FB app... I just bought it last week so they may still have some available...

[southpawbk]

Yes! Repped.

Thanks Atty! Makes these "luxury" purchases much easier with others' money!

[Vmango]

Yes! Repped.

Double the reps. Nice.

[Andrew_WOT]

Interesting curve angles. One for biceps curl looks quite steep making it more "Super EZ-Curl" bar suitable mostly for hammer curls. While close up grip is almost non angled, not sure that would work that great for triceps extension. Also why there is break up in knurling section, that can be limiting factor choosing the grip width.

[Detrus]

Ivanko says you'll feel the difference right away. Well obviously, it's a different bend. Looks pretty.

[fishingeek]

Too cool!!!

[southpawbk]

Too cool!!!

Thanks Geek! I admire your Ivanko collection as well.

[845ToastT]

Awesome bar! I want one

[GarageIron]

Interesting curve angles. One for biceps curl looks quite steep making it more "Super EZ-Curl" bar suitable mostly for hammer curls. While close up grip is almost non angled, not sure that would work that great for triceps extension. Also why there is break up in knurling section, that can be limiting factor choosing the grip width.

^ This was pretty much my initial size up as well. Would be nice to see the bar in person. I find the bend in the grip sections weird but it may be ideal, hard to tell without holding it.

I'm guessing the break in knurl is due to trying to bend a nicely knurled bar at those angles without destroying the knurl.

Repped

[Jetigen]

While close up grip is almost non angled, not sure that would work that great for triceps extension.

Per Rippetoe, the degree of inside angle of the EZ Curl Bar does not have any effect on the tricep muscles. It just takes away pronation pressure off the elbows.

[hulked]

Nice bar Southpaw...Repped...!!! Looks like they may still have some.

[StephanBB]

Nice bar Southpaw...Repped...!!! Looks like they may still have some.

Where, how? I'll take one! I'm scanning FB now and don't see it.

Edit - Found it... Sorry, it was posted Nov 24th.

[IvankoBarbellCo]

The angle of the curls in the bar are perfect. Great for curls or triceps work. The bar looks amazing. Black coating with the silver Ivanko U.S.A . end caps. The knurling is what I'm most impressed with. It's just right, don't need to wear gloves but definitely sticks to your palms.

Much thanks for the feedback. The angle is what Tom wanted, and it's about what the OBZ-55 bar has. The knurling will be a little cleaner on the production model and the bar will be a little bit thicker (1-1/8) than it is now (28mm). But we didn't cheap out and buy ready made stock at 1-1/8" (approx 28.5mm). We bought large so we could grind it down and have a nice, consistent finish. An extra step that's often not done. There will be a couple of other tweaks too. I don't like (but I don't dislike either) the radius on the collars. We played around a lot with the degree of chamfer on the collar. We wanted to evoke the signature chamfer on the OB-20KG but since we were using a less thick inside collar for the sleeve/collar assembly, we didn't want as radical a chamfer. Also we used the same idea of the interference fit on the collar to sleeve like we did on other bars, like the OB-20KG. And I wasn't sure if we were going to have enough "meat" on the collar to make this work, but it came out well and we assert that it's a preferable to the welded or pinned style sleeve/collar assembly. The user doesn't notice it, and it's more expensive to do it this way, but it's a superior method of construction. I'm not 100% satisfied about the proportion of the sleeve and collar still though. This is aesthetics, so to some extent, it's personal and no one has disliked it. But it's a bit hard for me to not want to constantly re-tweak it.

So far, 3 guys who've tested it have good things to say. But I love (and need!) to hear any negatives, so please don't hesitate to let me know One guy thought we should've done it in stainless, wanted longer sleeves for more weight (but he's huge and freakishly strong and I'm not sure how many guys would really want or need more weight) and wanted a less severe bend like the older, imported model. But then I've had a lot of other guys tell me the opposite on the bends, but I'm awaiting more specifics and context of exactly what one is doing with the bar.

I'm guessing the break in knurl is due to trying to bend a nicely knurled bar at those angles without destroying the knurl.

Yes, good observation. We knurled before bending. It's not essential to do it this way. There are some disadvantages to doing it the way we did it and some advantages too. Tom chose the knurl specifically based on what he liked. We're playing around with this too and we're working on some new tooling do a few things differently.

Lastly, you'll note that there is absolutely no slop in the collar. All tolerances are extreme. It's not cheap to do it this way, but pick up most bars and you'll notice a little play. Even each fastener in the sleeve/collar assembly was held to strict tolerances.

I tried to e-mail everyone who has sent us a note over the past year expressing interest for the bar. So if you expressed interest and didn't get an e-mail from us, let me know and I'll extend some kind of BB.com consideration when the production is complete. But we had to finish it -- we could've messed around with it for a lot longer -- but we've got the long-awaited shorty bar to do and want to do that next. And then I want to see if we can make a less expensive 7' 2" bar as an exercise in how inexpensive we can make a US bar without compromising (too much): i.e. really interrogating the idea of what material and production choices you can make (that you can live with) and which you can sort of set aside. I think it'll be a good exercise in seeing what's really important to us.

[Jetigen]

So far, 3 guys who've tested it have good things to say. But I love (and need!) to hear any negatives, so please don't hesitate to let me know

If you don't mind what is the science behind the chosen angles for this bar? The inner grip has flatter angle which doesn't seem to be ideal for tricep extensions as it puts more pronation pressure on elbows.

[Andrew_WOT]

If you don't mind what is the science behind the chosen angles for this bar? The inner grip has flatter angle which doesn't seem to be ideal for tricep extensions as it puts more pronation pressure on elbows.

Same for the outer grip, why so extreme, seems like a medium between traditional and super ez-curl, sounds like at least one tester already expressed his concerns about that.

http://skinnybulkup.com/ez-curl-bar-...do-i-need-one/

What is a Super EZ Curl Bar?
Some manufacturers sell Super EZ Curl Bars. These are similar to traditional EZ Curl Bars, but they feature more acute curves.

With a super curl bar, you can use a parallel grip, useful for hammer curls or triceps extensions behind the head.

While it’s nice to have both types, if you have to choose just one, stick to the tried and true regular curl bar.

[Jetigen]

Same for the outer grip,......

The reason I asked about the inner grip is that I only need a rackable EZ curl bar for doing Rippetoe Tricep Extensions.

[commonguy001]

Suddenly my OBZ-40 feels horribly inadequate.

LOL Mine too (LOVE my OBZ-40)
This bar looks pretty cool

[IvankoBarbellCo]

Just an update: new OBZ-40 finished. Slightly different collar design, thicker bar. They came out nice. A few prototypes left.

Tom also wrote out a reply for me to post to one of the videos in the thread above, but I've got to edit it for public consumption I suppose when you get older, you become more direct and less politic

[DrForce]

This bar looks awesome, but I'm going to wait for a stainless version to go with my OBXS-20kg-29mm. I hope you are doing a stainless steel version of this bar??