Buffalo Bar

[DieselJustin]

With all the negative commentary lately on Kabuki bars, I was curious if anyone has any experience with other buffalo bars?

I've high bar squatted most my training life and just recently started trying out low bar. I seem to have poor mobility and stretch in my shoulders because anything above 225 gives me deep pain in my shoulders as soon as I rerack and let loose of the bar for a few minutes, the weight and reps however is too light. While I continue to work on my stretching and mobility (all new to me, never did this prior) I would like to squat more without such pain, which brings forth my question to this forum.

The Ader one on Amazon seems to have good reviews, but a very limited number of reviews. I know that they have a mega hex bar that is raved about. Thanks for any help!

[kllrbee]

Isnt the negativity directed mainly at the 1st run of Power bars? Ive heard nothing but good about the Duffalo. Ive had mine for only a short time now, but I can tell you its helped my shoulder pain tremendously.

[MGM711]

With all the negative commentary lately on Kabuki bars, I was curious if anyone has any experience with other buffalo bars?

I've high bar squatted most my training life and just recently started trying out low bar. I seem to have poor mobility and stretch in my shoulders because anything above 225 gives me deep pain in my shoulders as soon as I rerack and let loose of the bar for a few minutes, the weight and reps however is too light. While I continue to work on my stretching and mobility (all new to me, never did this prior) I would like to squat more without such pain, which brings forth my question to this forum.

The Ader one on Amazon seems to have good reviews, but a very limited number of reviews. I know that they have a mega hex bar that is raved about. Thanks for any help!

I have both Buffalo and Duffalo Bars and very much like both bars. While I very much like the Duffalo Bar, it's very hard for me to recommend them as a company for any purchase because I simply don't agree with their business practices. I say that even though I have zero issues with my Duffalo Bar, it's a fantastic bar with zero production flaws at all.

My best recommendation would be to try and source a used real Iron Mind Buffalo Bar first as that's going to likely be your best value bar choice. $200-$250 most times and maybe even cheaper. While I would say that the Duffalo Bar does some things better than the original Buffalo Bar, one thing it does not do good at all is sit well inside a Jcup. The Buffalo Bar, while not perfect either, sits much better in a Jcup than the Duffalo Bar ever will. I would go as far as to say that if you decided to go with the Duffalo Bar, getting an offset Jcup made for the bar is almost a must as I will be ordering a dedicated Jcup for the bar (That's how much a PITA it is using it in a standard Jcup!).

Bottom line, as used Buffalo Bar is likely your best bar chouice by value, but if you do decide to go through with a Duffalo Bar purchase, just know what you're getting into potentially with Kabuki as a company.

[Jason2459]

And if you go with the duffalo make sure you receive the right finish that you ordered. That's the only recent complaint I've seen on them. Otherwise they get good reviews minus the sitting in your rack properly like MGM stated above.

I have a bow bar I bought from Westside barbell I don't even remember how long ago that was now. It seems to be the same as sold by New York Barbell as the mega bow bar. It's cheap. It's build is also reflecting of that. Bolt on sleeves, terrible knurling, cheap chrome job, etc. But with some athletic tape over the center so it sticks better on the back it's perfectly functional. It was cheap.

[Bench905]

Isnt the negativity directed mainly at the 1st run of Power bars? Ive heard nothing but good about the Duffalo. Ive had mine for only a short time now, but I can tell you its helped my shoulder pain tremendously.

And their transformer bar. And their bar finishes in general. And their customer service. And their less-than-honest stock system on their website (in-stock means wait until we make another batch of bars). And that they hock Chinese-made knockoff OSO collars for 2X more than you can get them off Amazon and then post that all of their products are made in the USA.

I'm a hater, yes...but they made me one.

[thejosef]

And their transformer bar. And their bar finishes in general. And their customer service. And their less-than-honest stock system on their website (in-stock means wait until we make another batch of bars). And that they hock Chinese-made knockoff OSO collars for 2X more than you can get them off Amazon and then post that all of their products are made in the USA.

I'm a hater, yes...but they made me one.

Ha. I did get some of those Kabuki collars (free gift for crappy first power bar).. they are, indeed, not as nice as genuine OSO collars. They work fine, but just have sharp edges, like your typical "made in China" stuff. The OSO ones are very nicely machined with slightly round edges. The lever is better made on the OSOs as well.. it just seems like a high quality material there. The Kabukis seems to hold fine, though. I'll probably give them away to a buddy.

[bcradio]

I have both Buffalo and Duffalo Bars and very much like both bars. While I very much like the Duffalo Bar, it's very hard for me to recommend them as a company for any purchase because I simply don't agree with their business practices. I say that even though I have zero issues with my Duffalo Bar, it's a fantastic bar with zero production flaws at all.

My best recommendation would be to try and source a used real Iron Mind Buffalo Bar first as that's going to likely be your best value bar choice. $200-$250 most times and maybe even cheaper. While I would say that the Duffalo Bar does some things better than the original Buffalo Bar, one thing it does not do good at all is sit well inside a Jcup. The Buffalo Bar, while not perfect either, sits much better in a Jcup than the Duffalo Bar ever will. I would go as far as to say that if you decided to go with the Duffalo Bar, getting an offset Jcup made for the bar is almost a must as I will be ordering a dedicated Jcup for the bar (That's how much a PITA it is using it in a standard Jcup!).

Bottom line, as used Buffalo Bar is likely your best bar chouice by value, but if you do decide to go through with a Duffalo Bar purchase, just know what you're getting into potentially with Kabuki as a company.

Where could I find a used one of these? Craigslist definitely won't have them in my area. I would love to try this style of bar, but $200 - $300 is all I am willing to pay for one.

[MGM711]

Where could I find a used one of these? Craigslist definitely won't have them in my area. I would love to try this style of bar, but $200 - $300 is all I am willing to pay for one.

I would search CL in surrounding areas, and if one pops, see if they can ship. I will say, I'm seeing less and less of them for some reason lately. If you can't find a used Iron Mind Buffalo Bar, my next recommendation would be to go with a new Duffalo Bar...the Bow Bar is junk, you'd regret getting one right after getting it.

[bcradio]

I would search CL in surrounding areas, and if one pops, see if they can ship. I will say, I'm seeing less and less of them for some reason lately. If you can't find a used Iron Mind Buffalo Bar, my next recommendation would be to go with a new Duffalo Bar...the Bow Bar is junk, you'd regret getting one right after getting it.

How is the NYB curved 'buffalo style' barbell? They are $250 on Amazon. I don't really want to spend 500 on a bar that I don't know yet if I will absolutely love.

[tombro]

It really is crap, i got one delivered in June and flipped it immediately. There are only two things in my opinion that make a bar good, the knurl and the sleeves and this bar was a 1 star rating on both, and plus there’s the constant fear that it would bend on one heavy drop, and don’t say any bar would because I’ve dropped a Texas bar five feet with 400lbs on it and it’s not even off a mm

[Jason2459]

How is the NYB curved 'buffalo style' barbell? They are $250 on Amazon. I don't really want to spend 500 on a bar that I don't know yet if I will absolutely love.

I'll post a picture of mine later. It is not a good bar. But at the same time I have not regretted the purchase. It's not my main bar that I use or use a lot. I do rotate it in periodically and it functions to do that. It will take a beating as seen by the bow bar used at Westside barbell.

[Jason2459]

And I find it amusing Westside advertises picture of the bar taped up too and notes on the bottom the bar doesn't come with grip tape.
https://www.westside-barbell.com/col...s/mega-bow-bar

[Daemonium]

And their transformer bar. And their bar finishes in general. And their customer service. And their less-than-honest stock system on their website (in-stock means wait until we make another batch of bars). And that they hock Chinese-made knockoff OSO collars for 2X more than you can get them off Amazon and then post that all of their products are made in the USA.

I'm a hater, yes...but they made me one.

Did not know about this - thanks. Didn't know they got so much hate until I checked out the equipment section on here (haven't used the forum in a while).

[Jason2459]

I'll post a picture of mine later. It is not a good bar. But at the same time I have not regretted the purchase. It's not my main bar that I use or use a lot. I do rotate it in periodically and it functions to do that. It will take a beating as seen by the bow bar used at Westside barbell.

I've probably have had this bar around 8 to 9 years now. Have had over 500 something on. Many have had quite a lot more.

It's not a good bar by anymeans and if I used it more often I'd probably hate it. Otherwise it has served it's purpose well and have gotten my money out of it. I'll replace the tape as needed. Cheap solution to crappy knurl or bars with no knurl.

Mega bow bar by Jason, on Flickr

Mega bow bar by Jason, on Flickr

Mega bow bar by Jason, on Flickr

Mega bow bar by Jason, on Flickr

[MGM711]

How is the NYB curved 'buffalo style' barbell? They are $250 on Amazon. I don't really want to spend 500 on a bar that I don't know yet if I will absolutely love.

I hear you, $500 is a big pill to swallow. Actually, the Bow Bar is fine if you aren’t going to get too crazy with it. We didn’t have issue with it until we started using it with heavy band tension and lots of plates.

[tombro]

I wondered this a few times in the past year, if there are literally 20,000 decent respectable barbell options out there how come there are literally two ways in the world to get a real bow bar, nybb 200 dollar crap or ironmind 800. Why no 350 mid of the road one?

[Jason2459]

I wondered this a few times in the past year, if there are literally 20,000 decent respectable barbell options out there how come there are literally two ways in the world to get a real bow bar, nybb 200 dollar crap or ironmind 800. Why no 350 mid of the road one?

Rogue hasn't made one yet. They just aren't that popular. Kabuki and his marketing has done a good job at pushing them though. The bar can help some people and if it's going to be their main bar I'd spend the money.

[DieselJustin]

Thanks for all the replies and information. This has peaked my research interest. Does anyone know if the Ironmind one has similar specs to the Kabuki one? Such as length, weight and camber?

[tombro]

Not similar at all really. The ironmind has the same camber as the nybb one but the kabuki has maybe twice as much as a bend to it, picture that the ironmind is similar to an upside down smirk and the kabuki is an upside down full smile

[Jason2459]

Not similar at all really. The ironmind has the same camber as the nybb one but the kabuki has maybe twice as much as a bend to it, picture that the ironmind is similar to an upside down smirk and the kabuki is an upside down full smile

Yep. Which is why the duffalo has a hard time sitting in standard hooks. My bow bar has slight issues but not bad. I couldn't imagine what more of a camber would be like. Don't think I'd like it.

[matrix563]

I have both Buffalo and Duffalo Bars

can you post a pic? of buffalo

[rlundregan]

Rogue hasn't made one yet. They just aren't that popular. Kabuki and his marketing has done a good job at pushing them though. The bar can help some people and if it's going to be their main bar I'd spend the money.

I often question whether I made the right choice getting a Duffalo when the Bow bar probably would have sufficed. However, I now use the Duffalo almost exclusively for squats and bench press. In fact, the only time I really use a straight bar consistently nowadays is for OHP, as I use a trap bar for deadlifts.

[MGM711]

There’s a pic of the two together on a rack I posted in another thread. The camber on the Duff is quite a bit more. If you put the Duffalo on one extreme and a straight barbell on the other, the Buffalo would fall in between. In fact, I would say the Duffalo acts more like a GCB than a straight bar.

[MGM711]

Thanks for all the replies and information. This has peaked my research interest. Does anyone know if the Ironmind one has similar specs to the Kabuki one? Such as length, weight and camber?

To me the only similarity is that they have a camber, outside of that, the way the two bars responds is totally different. The two bars stand on their own and do different things, they really aren’t comparable in action. The Duff is certainly more like a GCB than a straight bar, and the Buffalo is certainly more like a straight bar in comparison to the Duffalo bar. I personally got rid of my GCB for the Duffalo bar because of the similarities.

[urbanlifter]

The recent Kabuki debacle really turned me off these bars in general. Although that picture they posted recently in Instagram with one's they made for a University looked amazing. I'll just wait it out, my shoulders feel good and eventually SOMEONE will produce a similair quality bar for 1/2 the price. Maybe we can all ban together and spam Rogue daily until they make one, and somehow fix the issue with how they sit on j-hooks.

[matrix563]

There’s a pic of the two together on a rack I posted in another thread. The camber on the Duff is quite a bit more. If you put the Duffalo on one extreme and a straight barbell on the other, the Buffalo would fall in between. In fact, I would say the Duffalo acts more like a GCB than a straight bar.

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...post1537308171

can you post a pic of the endcap?

[kram1979]

Not sure if this is the same bar others are referring to (Ader Mega Ox Buffalo Bar): http://store.kettlebellinc.com/Produ...ctCode=OB-92EM

I have this one & frankly love it. Been using it almost exclusively for benching & squatting & it's holding up fine. The thickness & camber has been doing wonders for my shoulder/elbow issues yet overall doesn't feel much different than a straight bar.

I bought it as sort of an 'intro' into this type of bar thinking that if it helped me & I liked it, I'd flip it & spring for a Duffalo bar. With all the recent negative things I'm seeing about Kabuki bars & the fact that it looks like a PITA in the J-cups has me holding off for a bit. I'm going to stick with this bar & see if anybody else steps up & produces a similar/better quality product.

[Cleveland33]

Is the Ader the same as the NYBB or are they different?

Didn't EFTS make one for awhile?

[dragon360]

Is the Ader the same as the NYBB or are they different?

Curious to this myself. They look exactly the same but...


They seem like crappy chrome bars but wondering if they are decent start points being less than half a duffalo.

[DieselJustin]

Is the Ader the same as the NYBB or are they different?

Didn't EFTS make one for awhile?

The NYBB is around 52lbs correct? Ader has their Mega Ox bar listed at 60lbs.

The Ader one is also cheaper shipped than the NYBB to me at least, by $25. No big thing really.