REP Double Black Diamond Power Bar Review: Their Best Yet, But… 

Glad to hear you like our new Double Black Diamond Power Bar! The sleeve tolerances are tighter, higher end metal end caps, tight mountain knurling, laser etching… etc. we took years to ensure every detail was dialed in during prototyping and testing. Good call on our older barbells stainless steel. We took extra care sourcing and testing it this time. Like everything we’ve released lately, we’ve really upped our game. Our FAQ on our website addresses some items including our stainless steel. “What kind of testing was done with your stainless steel to ensure rust resistance? We did extensive salt-spray testing on our new stainless-steel bars to ensure industry-leading performance and rust resistance. This is a totally new alloy formulation for the Double Black Diamond Bar.”

I pre-ordered this bar and received it at the end of July. I have been using it for a couple weeks now and I totally love this bar. I did order the Cerakote version (so it would match my rack lol). The knurling is very aggressive even with the coating on it. I will never need another bar. This was a fantastic purchase.

Opted for the stainless steel version, going to arrive in 2 days. Mostly cause of their website, “ What kind of testing was done with your stainless steel to ensure rust resistance? We did extensive salt-spray testing on our new stainless-steel bars to ensure industry-leading performance and rust resistance. This is a totally new alloy formulation for the Double Black Diamond Bar.”

Fwiw I have a REP v2 SS power bar and love it. Great knurling, etc. Had for a few years now, no rust whatsoever. Very happy with. Love stainless.

I'm looking forward to you trying to equate the Hades and Helios bars to Colorado 😅

I ordered this bar today because of Coop. Forgot to use the link, but I emailed Rep to see if they can still honor crediting Coop to support him. They responded saying they would and were excited for me to be getting a new bar. Rep seems like a really stand-up company so far.

Been looking forward to this review! While I ended up getting a ROPB, I was really leaning towards getting this Double Black Diamond bar, I was just worried about the aggressiveness of the knurl. Now I wish I had waited!

I’m really glad you touched on the rep power bar EAX because I noticed a little bit of rust on mine and thought I was going crazy. The whole reason I thought that Borel was because it was stainless steel and I didn’t want it to Ross in my garage, so I was pretty annoyed to find out that it rusted.

can wait to get my hands on one of these. I'm glad I waited until this came out.

I’d for sure love a new round up for bars. There’s just so many new updates to bars and new ones out there that it’d be helpful to see what to get especially with Black Friday coming up.

Awesome insight, gotta put that on the wish list (next to the 29mm Texas Power Barbell) again great review Coop 👍

I've been using this bar for several months now. Works great for all powerlifting movements. Cerakote/duracoat holding up great in shop gym. Really loving my REP outfitted gym.

A new comparison power bar video would be great. I grabbed a Texas 29mm during their 4th of July Sale. Amazing bar for the price, definitely would be curious on your take.

Love Rep and hope this stainless is better then their last. Never had the previous but saw enough negative comments about it to prevent me from getting it. Still think Rogue’s boneyard is the way to go. My SS OPB, boneyard, still isn’t rusting after 2 years in my south Louisiana garage 💪🏿

Thanks for the review. And btw, I love smooth sleeves.

I have this bar on order. I’ve had horrible experience with Rogue customer service, otherwise I would probably go with the Ohio bar because of where it’s made. Fingers crossed, the stainless holds up.

Coop, I would love to see a round-up on which is the best Bar/PowerBar!

Yes, please do a new power bar comparison vid!

Hey Coop, please do a review of the wide body bench. I keep seeing ads for it. It has side pads attached to a normal bench that swivel at different angles to allow you to do floor presses flat or inclined. I’ve seen Julius Maddox and Jen Thompson advertise it. Looks a bit pricey at $750 but if you give a good review I’d consider it. Can also be used for preacher curls.

I live in the Seattle area, and workout in my garage. I have the Rep Deep Knurl EX Powerbar in stainless. 3 years old, doesn't have a spot of rust. Maybe you received a defective or early model, but thought I"d share.

I also have the old rep fully stainless bar and never had any rust at all

if I wanted a stainless shaft and smooth sleeves I would go for the chewy bar. I have a rep stainless steel curl bar no rust issues but prefer American made barbell.

Would love to try this bar out

I think I’m going with the stainless / stainless as my first big boogie purchase for my home gym! Right now we’re using an unbranded bar and a rogue “the rogue bar” 1.0. Neither has center knurling and both have quite a bit of rust on them (bought them used). This looks like an absolutely gorgeous barbell and I’m excited to try it out!

Great video! Btw what kind of ring do you have I love the knurling lol

Thank you for all you and your crew does to bring us these spot on reviews. But I do have one question. If you had to pick one bar and only one bar to do everything what would you pick. I’m in the market for a new bar and I am curious what to look for. Thanks

Eleiko Power lifting trainer has been my bar for the last 10 years. 29mm, bare steel, very aggressive knurling. It is the gold standard. Too bad they no longer manufacture that bar.

I'm in the market for a bar, just getting my home gym set up after a few years away. Been planning on looking at a rogue ohio power bar from the boneyard but would love to see a round up of the options these days.

PLEASE we need an updated barbell rankings!

Please do a Power Bar Roundup. I'm looking for one this fall and it would help!

great review, Helios next please.

I already have a rogue opb but I'd probably get this if I needed a new bar, prefer the smooth ends and the knurling is a bit rough for me

Oh yea top list of power bars 🙏🏼

Would love to see a review of synergee cerakote barbell. They claim it’s best for price.

Does the knurling feel any different than the previous deep knurl EX? I have both of the previous stainless steel versions (Standard medium volcano and EX deep mountain).

Want the Colorado but want center knurl. Buy both I guess 🤷

synergee rhino bar review! best budget one. is often on sale for $159 canadian!

Thank you for calling out the REP Stainless Steel issue

Your vertical light bars? What & how you set those up

Coop, if I already own and love my Deep Knurl Ex, is this bar worth the upgrade?

looks nice but I would always choose made in U.S over imported when I have the option. Not a total boycott of REP, I love their hex dumbbells and since Rogue imports their hex dumbbells I buy the REP's.

OG Texas Power Bar is the king

Damn, that's a bummer about the old power bar. I just bought it a couple months ago because it was on sale 😮‍💨

When are you reviewing the Texas Power Bar 29mm??

Can you please review the Texas 29mm Power Bar? I own one like to hear your thoughts.

Enjoying my DBD. Wondering...any chance REP will be sending you their BD Power Bar with less aggressive but still aggressive knurling? Would like to see that one in a comparison

Alpine bar review, please!

Drinking game when Coop says, '...for most home gym owners...'

You should review hero barbells

Would love to see you do a torture test of some top tier stainless bars. Spray them with water and keep them in a steam room and see what happens

Coop drop the link to the ring you have on!

Power bar Roundup!

But what!?!? That thumbnail got me

what watch are you wearing coop?

Do a magnet test on all of your stainless bars. The more the magnet sticks the more carbon is mixed in. And would you say the knurling is comparable to the handles on their safety squat bar?

Hey Coop! I know you answered this in the video but I have a follow up question. I am between REP’s Colorado bar and the double black diamond bar. I plan on lifting the big three but I want to flexibility to do some Olympic lifts. If I choose the Colorado bar am I really missing out on any major benefits from the big three that the black diamond would give me?

I bought the e-coat OPB cause it was on sale... I followed up and changed my order to the SS version, and they only charged me the price difference between the regular price of both items, so I basically got the sale price applied to the SS. All this to say I would've paid full price -- SS is the only way to go IMO if you care about aggressive knurling.

Anyone know how this knurl compares to their power bar EX? Thanks!

When’s the major lutie review coming

That is real strange on how you said your rep bar rusted. The 2 stainless bars I have from rep have no signs of rust. I was pretty sure they use 17-4 on the shaft which is what Ivanko, Iron wolfe and rouge use. The companies heat treat them differently though.

Would love to see this go up against the Chewy bar by American Barbell.

Could you add a ranking list in the description for that product category? If you are reviewing a power bar, add a short ranking list of your favourite powerbars underneath. Just the names.

I have the V2 all stainless Rep power bar. No rust issues and it’s in my garage. My only complaint is during heavy benching the bar wants to roll out of my hands. I don’t have that issue with my Texas power bar. Anyone else having that issue?

What is the width of your gym's wood wall?

3:32 Coop, is that a knurled ring on your right hand?! Where did you get it?

How did the bar hold up after damn near a year later coop? Any issues with rusting?

You should try and perform a salt spray test (ASTM B117) for corrosion resistance. Might make for a good video to do a comparison between multiple bars and coatings.

When are you gunna review Hansu Bars?!

Carbon content doesn't make the steel more corrosion resistant. That's why stainless is little to no carbon and has a significant chromium content

Question: would Rep power bars fit as well with Rogue weights as Rogue power bars would?

The bar i would go for is the Eleiko performance powerlifting bar.

you may have just showed me my next bar.

RUST!! I stopped video right there. All hyped for this SS version. Rather get tried and tested rogue Ohio SS.

The stiffness of a 29 mm power bar is defined by the bar material's modulus of elasticity; the slope of the stress strain curve. Thus, I wish companies would post that value as it's the true measure of how much a given power bar of fixed diameter and load position will bend on a deadlift. I.e., what's the stiffest bar on the market? OPB? Eleiko comp? Chewy? Rep's new diamonds? It'll be the bar with the highest modulus of elasticity. Giving a tensile strength of a bar means nothing to the consumer if it's already permanently bent at a lower load (which occurs at the bars yield strength, also not published), except for perhaps snapping point safety considerations. I.e., the 250k tensile strength Kabuki will snap later than a OPB, but will already be bent beyond going elastically back to it's original shape (Kabuki should state it's yield strength if it actually wants to brag). Also, the work hardening done by Rogue sets the perceived durability / fatigue resistance of their bars ahead of the competition (but not the stiffness). If others are work hardening, it should be stated also. Thus, until manufacturer's state a) bar material b) yield strength c) modulus of elasticity, there's very little that we can say about the material quality of any bar without measurements... except visually by corrosion rate upon observation, which means little about the bars longevity, strength, etc. Would love for REP to comment to put the concerns about Chinese steel to rest, on the values stated above.

I don't know how the anything can be better than a Texas Power Bar. That thing is the bees knees.

I just bought a whole home gym (cage, bar, trap bar, plates, flooring, bar collars, plate tree and utility bench) for $300 more than this bar alone. "Nice value" bro.

yes i been waiting fo this

The reason stainless steel rusts is because it was worked or brushed with steel tooling or brushes

Where are the "Creme de la Gym" t-shirts?

If they made this in stainless for 350 it would take over the market. Problem with import companies is they price themselves out of the market. Price just is too much. Looks high quality though.

Hey Coop, how about giving away your bar/gym equipments to your subscribers for a change?

This Barbell sounds like a better bar than the Ohio power bar 😅

Whats the diffrence between this black diamond power bar and the colorado bar???

Where is that jacket from?

Stop saying the "volcano" knurl has the top chopped off. That's not how knurling is done. If you don't know it's fine but dont make something up.

Imagine Coop picking the Rogue Ohio power bar over any bar they put in front of him. Dance with the girl that brought you, huh!!!!!!! I hear you man

What would be the least prestigious state to name a barbell after?

Thanks REP you’re saving me a arm in this inflation economy. Now if I can get my lag back from the government life will be good again.

Why does rep not offer collars?

How cool would it be if Rep turned their end caps into challenge coins that come with the bar you purchase?!

“Route on a mountain.” Oof.

On an unrelated subject I stumbled across a company that I think deserves a review. Grind fitness out of Raghway New Jersey. Looks to be American made rogue clones. Looks like some real decent stuff. Would love to see a review on them.

@REPfitness Any chance there would be an option to order this with a more passive center knurling? Every other spec of this bar (especially the stainless option) sounds amazing! Thanks.

4:56 ribbed for Coops pleasure

Coop, really want to buy the Major Lutie rack but want to wait to use your link. You know when that video is coming?

So Rep over Rogue?

Rogue needs to make an OHPB with 2X knurl in 29 mm with the same hardened stainless and manufacturing tolerances as the hybrid power bar… and then drop the Mic.

As someone who's owned and used the Ohio Power Bar for several years (and loved it) I can confidently say the Double Black Diamond Bar is without a doubt better.

Trulaps Dumbells & Freak Athlete Reverse Hyper

I dislike ribbed sleeves. It’s a pain in the ass to be frank. Glass smooth is the way to go