Pendlay NexGen HD Bushing bar or Rogue Bar?

[johnparker323]

Bars are really a personal preference but I wanted to get some feedback from those that have used both to find out which one they preferred. I am also looking for a second bar to use in my rack for BP and squats. Nothing special needed.

[Vmango]

Bars are really a personal preference but I wanted to get some feedback from those that have used both to find out which one they preferred. I am also looking for a second bar to use in my rack for BP and squats. Nothing special needed.

What do you want to use the bar for? If you're looking for a bar specifically for OLY lifts get the Pendlay. If you're looking for an all-around bar get the Rogue.

IMO, if I were to get two bars, I'd get the Rogue as the all-rounder and I'd buy a dedicated power bar for BP and Squats...TPB, WPB, YPB, etc.....if you're set on the Rogue. There are other options for an "all around bar" too.

[GarageIron]

What do you want to use the bar for? If you're looking for a bar specifically for OLY lifts get the Pendlay. If you're looking for an all-around bar get the Rogue.

IMO, if I were to get two bars, I'd get the Rogue as the all-rounder and I'd buy a dedicated power bar for BP and Squats...TPB, WPB, YPB, etc.....if you're set on the Rogue. There are other options for an "all around bar" too.

+1. Pretty much a toss up. The Rogue has a slightly more aggressive knurl and is 28.5mm. The Pendlay HD used to be 28.4mm but is now 28mm. The Pendlay is superior in steel quality and strength (I think the static test is 3500lbs or something crazy, even on the womens bar) They both can take a beating and have lifetime warranties. If you are leaning towards olympic lifts, the Pendlay would be a better choice, but also costs a bit more. If its just a bar you want to toss around, get the Rogue. I also don't like the "ribbed" texture of the Pendlay sleeves, they can get damaged fairly easily if you are using cast iron plates and are aggressive (dropping) the bar. You may want to consider the Rogue Power bar, which might eliminate the need for a second bar.

[Andrew_WOT]

+1. Pretty much a toss up. The Rogue has a slightly more aggressive knurl and is 28.5mm. The Pendlay HD used to be 28.4mm but is now 28mm.

Was that a recent change, only NB (bearing) used to be 28mm, HD is still listed as 28.4 on the manufacturer's web site?

[GarageIron]

Was that a recent change, only NB (bearing) used to be 28mm, HD is still listed as 28.4 on the manufacturer's web site?

Yeah, it changed in Nov 2012.

[Andrew_WOT]

Yeah, it changed in Nov 2012.

Thanks, guess one needs to be in retail business to keep up with all that stuff.
Were there any other changes besides diameter, from what I remember NB and HD used different steel 185 vs 166 psi, is that still the case?

[GarageIron]

Thanks, guess one needs to be in retail business to keep up with all that stuff.
Were there any other changes besides diameter, from what I remember NB and HD used different steel 185 vs 166 psi, is that still the case?

According to Glen Pendlay in these threads, they are the same steel (Although I'm not sure which one). In the first post (from August) he is later corrected by someone that states the change will take place in November.

There is a 3rd thread I read on that site where it is confirmed 100% that the change had taken place in November. I can't seem to find it now but if you look around you may be able to find it.

http://www.pendlayforum.com/showpost...2&postcount=10

http://www.pendlayforum.com/showpost...0&postcount=13

[trnk1001]

It seems there's some confusion regarding the time of this change (from 28.4mm to 28mm). This is the ******** post by MuscleDriverUSA on December 8:

"There was questions floating around about a change in our Pendlay 20kg HD Bar, one of them was on the Crossfit Forum. Here is the reason why and when the actual change is going to happen..

The current 20kg HD Bar is 28.4mm not 28mm.

The diameter of the HD is going to change to 28mm in February 2013. MDUSA is bringing 100% of it's Pendlay Bar (MDUSA owns the Pendlay brand) manufacturing in house at MDUSA's new facility. The bars are currently made in North Carolina but due to circumstances and a dramatic increase in volume it was necessary to handle 100% of the bars manufacturing. We are receiving our machines, steel and components in a couple weeks but we are tackling our biggest move to date this winter and have to hire a machining crew of 8-10 that will work 2 shifts. We will have three times (running only two shifts) the capacity of bars making them in house versus our current situation. The current company in NC that makes our bars has done a very good job producing these bars and fully understand why we need to make this move."

Just passing this along. I don't own any 28.5mm bar (my bars are 28mm, 29mm and 32mm) so I can't tell if 0.6mm is going to be a big difference.

[crupiea]

I have an old school pendlay economy bar when he sold them himself before muscle driver.

For starters he is a great guy who is into his products so that gave my confidence.

I treat this bar like absolute ****. Drop it every day just for the hell of doing it because i can, never clean the chalk off or anything. I have basically done nothing to care for it but expect it to perform 100% evary workout and it does.

Its like the ak-47 of bars.

I wish he made cars.

It is every bit as good today as it was 5 years ago when I bought it.

[GarageIron]

It seems there's some confusion regarding the time of this change (from 28.4mm to 28mm). This is the ******** post by MuscleDriverUSA on December 8:

"There was questions floating around about a change in our Pendlay 20kg HD Bar, one of them was on the Crossfit Forum. Here is the reason why and when the actual change is going to happen..

The current 20kg HD Bar is 28.4mm not 28mm.

The diameter of the HD is going to change to 28mm in February 2013. MDUSA is bringing 100% of it's Pendlay Bar (MDUSA owns the Pendlay brand) manufacturing in house at MDUSA's new facility. The bars are currently made in North Carolina but due to circumstances and a dramatic increase in volume it was necessary to handle 100% of the bars manufacturing. We are receiving our machines, steel and components in a couple weeks but we are tackling our biggest move to date this winter and have to hire a machining crew of 8-10 that will work 2 shifts. We will have three times (running only two shifts) the capacity of bars making them in house versus our current situation. The current company in NC that makes our bars has done a very good job producing these bars and fully understand why we need to make this move."

Just passing this along. I don't own any 28.5mm bar (my bars are 28mm, 29mm and 32mm) so I can't tell if 0.6mm is going to be a big difference.

Thanks for clearing that up. I read that it had changed on 3 different occasions over the last few months. There was a post just before Xmas by Pendlay that said the bars had changed over, so I assumed it was done.

To my knowledge these bars are sold out and unavailable for the next few weeks. Perhaps they are switching over now.

[jgood602]

I have used both bars and own the Pendlay. I love the bar its amazing at my old gym they had the Rogue bars and I liked them and if I didn't get such a good deal on my Pendlay bar it was my second choice ethier bar will do you well but if I could only have one it would be the Pendlay.

Next bar is a TPB then maybe a Pendlay bearing

[LimitStrength]

What do you want to use the bar for? If you're looking for a bar specifically for OLY lifts get the Pendlay. If you're looking for an all-around bar get the Rogue.

IMO, if I were to get two bars, I'd get the Rogue as the all-rounder and I'd buy a dedicated power bar for BP and Squats...TPB, WPB, YPB, etc.....if you're set on the Rogue. There are other options for an "all around bar" too.

This exactly. Bearings in the pendlay bars are really high quality and are really well made olympic bars.

Any other power bar with a solid tensile and yield strength (measured in PSI) can serve for the bench and squat since all you want for that is stiffness.

If you are serious about doing a lot of oly lifting can't go wrong with a pendlay. If you aren't all that into oly lifting and just want something that you CAN use for cleans and snatches but also your other lifts a lot of power bars with bushings can get the job done as well.

**Bar whip is a function of bar diameter and not steel strength**

Past that a lot of what you're paying for in more expensive oly bars is the bearing type which are responsible for sleeve rotation during lifts.

A good quality barbell with bushing bearings can rotate pretty sweetly with some 3 in 1 oil 2-3 times a year though.

[jamesovercome]

I owned the Pendlay HD bar, didn't really think everything through. The bar was great quality but for basic olympic lifting I didn't need a 6' bar. The ribbed sleeves were a pain in the ass imo. If I was a dedicated oly lifter then I would go Pendlay all the way.

[GarageIron]

"Whip" or flex is determined by the diameter of the steel, not the quaility or tensile strength of the steel.

The 28.5mm will be slightly stiffer than the 28mm bar, regardless of steel strength.

[LimitStrength]

"Whip" or flex is determined by the diameter of the steel, not the quaility or tensile strength of the steel.

The 28.5mm will be slightly stiffer than the 28mm bar, regardless of steel strength.

Ah my mistake, got it mixed up. Makes sense since super expensive oly bars have tensile strengths of like 205k PSI but still plenty of whip

[SMCStrength]

Bars are really a personal preference but I wanted to get some feedback from those that have used both to find out which one they preferred. I am also looking for a second bar to use in my rack for BP and squats. Nothing special needed.

I'm a strength coach and have owned and or used both bars extensively.

I've owned several releases of Glen's bars. I have one of the first original runs of bars and those were his best, IMO. With every release after that, the bars weren't nearly as good whether it had to do with the bushing spin or strength of the bar.

To my knowledge, the Pendlay Economy and the Rogue bar are nearly identical. The Rogue is decent, but they are more prone to bending if you use them hard. If it's for once a day Crossfit type usage, it's plenty good.

If You're using at his primarily for Olylifts, I'd say save your money and get an Eleiko or Werksan. They're way better and totally worth the money.

If it's for multi-use, I'd steer you into the Sorinex route with either the Nickelback bar or Blackhawk bar. Both are better versions of either Pendlay or Rougue at the same price point. My Sorinex bars have lasted way better than anything else outside of Texas Power Bars. Even from an Olympic lifting perspective, the Sorinex bars are better just because they last better and can handle being dropped. Sure, it doesn't oscillate as good as the Pendlay, but it's plenty fine for training.

[xephonics]

I see a lot of rec's for the pendlay if you do a lot of oly lifts, but the rogue if not, but why?

Why is the rogue better if you are doing more all around lifts?

[GarageIron]

Why is the rogue better if you are doing more all around lifts?

Its not really. The Pendlay has a softer knurl which is suited more to Olympic lifters. It is also knurled with only the Olympic knurl marks while the Rogue has both powerlifting and Olympic knurl markings. This might be important to some people.

I'd say if someones needs an oly bar, Pendlay is the better choice. If you just need a general purpose bar and feel the need to buy one of these two, either will be fine.

Just to add to to SMCStrength's comments... I've seen a few bent Rogue bars however MDUSA claim to have never had a bar returned due to bending. Pendlay uses a different steel than Rogue.

I've never owned, used or even seen a Sorinex bar so I can't comment, but based on its specs I'd guess that it is made from the same LaSalle 150 steel as the Rogue. I'd be interested in a Sorinex bar, I just don't know which one yet. I didn't see the Blackhawk on their site.

[jackbravo]

thought bronze bushings < brass bushings........

[GarageIron]

thought bronze bushings < brass bushings........

Rogue specs their bars on the site as brass but apparently also use bronze

http://board.crossfit.com/showpost.p...1&postcount=12

[Detrus]

Just to add to to SMCStrength's comments... I've seen a few bent Rogue bars however MDUSA claim to have never had a bar returned due to bending. Pendlay uses a different steel than Rogue.

Rogue also claims their bars won't bend. But that's from proper usage. Dropping on safeties will bend them and they say they replaced around 10 bars like that, even though it's abuse. But it's rare enough so far, so they still replace.

The only bars that should resist safety drop abuse are 190K+ tensile/yield bars like Ivankos, TPB. Ivanko had an article where they dropped their bars with like 900 lbs of safeties before they saw a permanent bend.

[GarageIron]

Rogue also claims their bars won't bend.

I've never seen them make a claim like that. They have a limited lifetime warranty on a few bars against bending (1 year on others and none on the women's).


Here is F0bidden's Westside Power bar is it arrived (that guy films everything) I understand this did arrive with damaged packaging so maybe some crazy event occurred in the UPS truck that bent it.

The other bar seems to have held up well after a good beating though. This really doesn't have a point but is worth watching. I guess if you get a straight one it will likely stay that way.

[SMCStrength]

I've never owned, used or even seen a Sorinex bar so I can't comment, but based on its specs I'd guess that it is made from the same LaSalle 150 steel as the Rogue. I'd be interested in a Sorinex bar, I just don't know which one yet. I didn't see the Blackhawk on their site.

The Blackhawk and the Nickelback are the same bar, just different finishes. The Blackhawk has a black oxide finish. They also have one that is chrome called the all Terrain.

I haven't come across a bent Sorinex bar. I have 10, not one is bent. I have had 15 Pendlays and 4 have bent from platform use. The Rogue Bars that I've seen bent were from being dropped from Olylifts, not rack work either. The Sorinex bar doesn't spin as fast out the tube as the others, but it doesn't bind up like the others either. That's one of the big problems with both Pendlay and Rogue bars.

[GarageIron]

The Blackhawk and the Nickelback are the same bar, just different finishes. The Blackhawk has a black oxide finish. They also have one that is chrome called the all Terrain.

Thanks, I'll probably end up with the uncoated bar. Do you happen to know the diameters of the Sorinex bars? I see they have a black oxide 28.5mm "WOD" bar, but didn't see the specs on the others.

I have had 15 Pendlays and 4 have bent from platform use.

This is shocking to me. I've put these bars in quite a few gyms and haven't heard of any binding or even a wobble developing (even in the womens bars). Are yours the NexGen bars or the older ones? The only problem I've ever encountered with a NexGen was about a month ago where one had some excessive play in the sleeve. (see video)

[SMCStrength]

Thanks, I'll probably end up with the uncoated bar. Do you happen to know the diameters of the Sorinex bars? I see they have a black oxide 28.5mm "WOD" bar, but didn't see the specs on the others.



This is shocking to me. I've put these bars in quite a few gyms and haven't heard of any binding or even a wobble developing (even in the womens bars). Are yours the NexGen bars or the older ones? The only problem I've ever encountered with a NexGen was about a month ago where one had some excessive play in the sleeve. (see video)

28.5 I believe is the spec of the Sorinex bars.

I do have some NexGen bars that were sent as replacements. It's not a "better" bar if that's what you're insinuating. I have one out on the floor, it's ok, nothing special. The only thing "better" about the bar is the finish. Like I said, the original Pendlays I got 6 years ago have held up the best in terms of spin and not bending. The problems seem to have come right around the time of the MD purchase. I've heard rumors of changes with the bar, but I don't have knowledge of that. I just know that those bars don't seem to last as long...take that for whatever it's worth.

Overall, the Pendlay bar is fine if you're not using non-stop like I do. It's also not good "multi-use" bar. I wouldn't use for anything outside of Oly stuff and squats. Sorinex bars are much better for multi-use purposes than either Rogue or Pendlay bars.

[dukenukem7777]

28.5 I believe is the spec of the Sorinex bars.

I do have some NexGen bars that were sent as replacements. It's not a "better" bar if that's what you're insinuating. I have one out on the floor, it's ok, nothing special. The only thing "better" about the bar is the finish. Like I said, the original Pendlays I got 6 years ago have held up the best in terms of spin and not bending.

This is also the first negative thing I've ever heard about the Pendlays, although you seem to be mainly referring to an older design, since you said you have one of the new ones out on the floor and it hasn't bent yet. I'm not sure how you can say it's not as good as the old Pendlays if the newest one you have hasn't bent yet, and the coating is better...I know for a fact the sleeves spin very well, so I'm not sure what isn't awesome about it?

[GarageIron]

28.5 I believe is the spec of the Sorinex bars.

I do have some NexGen bars that were sent as replacements. It's not a "better" bar if that's what you're insinuating. I have one out on the floor, it's ok, nothing special. The only thing "better" about the bar is the finish. Like I said, the original Pendlays I got 6 years ago have held up the best in terms of spin and not bending. The problems seem to have come right around the time of the MD purchase. I've heard rumors of changes with the bar, but I don't have knowledge of that. I just know that those bars don't seem to last as long...take that for whatever it's worth.

Overall, the Pendlay bar is fine if you're not using non-stop like I do. It's also not good "multi-use" bar. I wouldn't use for anything outside of Oly stuff and squats. Sorinex bars are much better for multi-use purposes than either Rogue or Pendlay bars.

I just wanted to confirm that you bent a NexGen. MD claims this has never happened on their site. I'm not doubting you, just asking.

In terms of "better", I'm not sure what we are comparing. The specs I have for Pendlay Econ bars about 125KPSI steel... somewhere between a Chinese hex bolt bar (110KPSI) and a Rogue bar (155KPSI). It would be no surprise to me if these bent regularly. I'm only using the Econ because you mentioned them in an earlier post so I assume that's what you are using.

The NexGen bars are 166KPSI steel, somewhere between a Rogue bar (155KPSI) and Capp's Texas Power Bar (186KPSI)

If we are comparing the Econ vs the NexGen, Yes. I say it's better.

I'm not here to defend the bar. I agree it is one dimensional. I had one myself and sold it because I didn't like the soft knurl or the ribbed sleeves that seem sensitive to damage.

[SMCStrength]

This is also the first negative thing I've ever heard about the Pendlays, although you seem to be mainly referring to an older design, since you said you have one of the new ones out on the floor and it hasn't bent yet. I'm not sure how you can say it's not as good as the old Pendlays if the newest one you have hasn't bent yet, and the coating is better...I know for a fact the sleeves spin very well, so I'm not sure what isn't awesome about it?

No, the first gen Pendlays have held up the best. The second and third batch were where all the problems started. The 3rd run of Pendlays I have were right around the MD acquisition. I bent two of those bars and they sent me the NexGen as replacements. I was told the only difference between the last Pendlay batch and the NexGen was just cosmetic with the NexGen logo.

All manufacturers are going to say their bars don't bend, it's part of the business. I had the first batch of Pendlay chrome bushing bars right around the time Glen was prototyping the bearing bar. All those bars had a chrome problem that coked the bushing and caused them to all bend. While Glen ultimately took care of them all, he tried to tell everyone that there wasn't any issues with the chrome bars, ever, then mysteriously, the chrome bushing bar disappeared and was replaced with the NP NexGen. It was the right thing to do, just not entirely the whole story.

Look, bottom line, the Pendlay is a pretty good bar for the money. It's perfect for a home use bar, in fact, I have one in my garage for Oly lifts and it's has functioned just fine. My point was that the Sorinex is a much better multi-use bar and has shown to be more durable as well in my high use, hard use environment.

[GarageIron]

I was told the only difference between the last Pendlay batch and the NexGen was just cosmetic with the NexGen logo.

The NexGen's are made from better materials and a different supplier. MD no longer warranties the old bars. None of the bars you had issue with are comparable to the NexGen. Now that they are moving from that supplier to in house manufacturing, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

"Discontinued Pendlay Barbells are no longer warrantied. Prior to the MDUSA / Pendlay merger all Pendlay Bars were produced by another supplier. This supplier no longer honors warranty issues and no longer has an association with MDUSA. Only Nexgen Bars are warrantied by MDUSA".

I've sent Sorinex an email requesting information on their bars. I may get one to try out.

[dumb.bell]

Are the Pendlay bushing and bearing bars made out of the same steel?