Olympic Weightlifting Barbell - Bells of Steel

The grip, dare I say knurling, is great. I’m not a big time lifter, just a beginner…after many years of not lifting. It’s also a. Ice looking bar, which is actually important. It’s an Olympic bar, but that’s certainly not how I use it. I just do the typical stiff, bench press, shoulder press, rows…and it works great for all that, even with the bearings, rather than bushings.

BOS is great!

In my pre-home gym days, my gym had an Eleiko weightlifting bar. When I began researching for equipment for my home gym, I looked up the price of said bar and quickly realized that buying that bar would not happen. If you know, you know. So, I looked around and decided to risk the Bells of Steel weightlifting bar. I went with the gold/black version because I thought it looked cool. When I got the bar, I didn’t like the rotation and this was my first time using a coated bar. I was sceptical and I thought about returning it. However, I decided to use it and break it in for a while, to give it a chance to change my mind. It did. I’m not sure if the bearings mated or got properly set over some use but I enjoy using this bar now. The spin is nice. Chalk adheres well with the coating and the whip is good. Is the knurling as good as the Eleiko bar? No. But, it’s good. WAAAY more affordable as well. I haven’t had a failed lift due to grip problems (just due to lack of proper technique or lack of power on my side). I don’t compete in weightlifting but it is an important tool in my training. And, the BoS weightlifting bar allows me to use these lifts with confidence, repeatability, and a good tactile grip. And, I still think it looks cool.

I have been using BOS barbells for sometime now but mostly doing power lifts. This year I decide to learn olympic lifts and while my utility barbell works, I have been dreaming of owning the BOS Olympic barbell. Well, today I got one and my initial lifts with it feels really good. The quality is great as always and the knurling is just right. This is my sixth barbell from BOS and they never disappoint.

very good bar for a great price

I bought the industrial bar because I didn't want the dual knurl marks. I wasn't sure whether I would like a cerakote coated bar but decided to pull the trigger. I am very pleased with my purchase. The knurling feels very secure. The bar looks great and performs well. It has a very smooth spin and crisp turnover in snatches and cleans. I also have 3 Pendlay NB bars, a Fringesport weightlifting bar and DHS IWF bar to compare it to. While the knurling is not as good as the DHS and one of my Pendlays, it is equal to the other Pendlays and significantly better than the Fringesport bar. I cannot speak to the long term durability since I have not had it long but have tried to put it to as much use as I can in the time I have had it and it has performed very well. The only improvement I would recommend would be for the shipping tube to be stronger. It had the crap beaten out of it just from 2 UPS distribution centers and only being less than 2 hours from the Indy outlet it shipped from.

I just finished my first session with my new oly barbell and I couldn’t be happier.
For starters, it is odd to unpack something and immediately see and feel the quality. I didn’t have it next to my old barbell and I knew this barbell was not even in the same league as my old one. Impecable quality and finish.
And after my first session I can say I’m even happier about going with this bar. The spin is smooth, it feels super snappy and the knurling is just right. Not overly aggressive but still grippy.
If you are on the fence, just go for it. This is the kind of bar that I’m certain I’ll be passing on to my son.
Again, could not be happier about the purchase. Well done BOS.

Barbell will be used primarily for the Olympic lifts

Great bar, make me feel premium when using it.

This barbell is beautiful

Bar is ideal for workouts where you are required transition from weight lifting movements to compound movements.

Great bar for the price, smooth roll, I like the knurling, I would certainly recommend this bar

Good quality great spin lively action.
Thanks Terry A

The barbell looks and feels super high quality. Knurling is perfect. Haven't got the chance to do any OLY lifting yet cause I broke my leg skiing. I'm hoping to use this barbell for the rest of my life.

I'm new to using a barbell with needle bearings. It does feel a little odd when benching but you get used to it

I love this bar knurling is great, spin is great, and the coating on the sleeves seems extreme resilient however it doesn't stand up to being dropped on the endcap on concrete very well. Part of the way through the shipping process the tracking info stated a new label had been destroyed old label was not readable. Once it got here I realized what had happened. The bar was leaned up against my garage when I got home. I excitedly grabbed the cardboard tube and went to through it over my shoulder and carry it inside at that time the tape gave out and smashed into the concrete. It now has two little blemishes on the end of the sleeve near the endcap, but honestly a lesser Barbell wouldn't have fared as well and I will be the only one to notice it plus technically it got to my house without blemishes it happed once I pick up the tube. You may ask why packing tape on the ends of the tube, why didnt the foam at the end of tube protect it? Well as some point in the process both caps at the end of thr tube had been lost and the tube had been torn most of thr way through right over the oly knurl marks, additionally the foam that is usually behind the caps was gone lost into the ether of the fedex shipping facility. All of the missing parts had been wrapped with a liberal application of packing tape. But it was barely holding by the time it got to my home. On the bright side the unboxing was very quick. I would give this bar 5stars if it wasn't for tbr packaging. And honestly idk if it's really bells fault you can package something really well but if a fedex employee decides to stomp on in the warehouse there's very little you can do to protect from that. I would have liked to have seen the endcaps and the knuling wrapped with foam and secured around the bar a bit better just in case the cardboard is damaged during shipment. I did not reach out to bells customer service aftwards since technically all the damage to the actual bar was done by me, so I can not speak to their response. In fact I am only writing the review because they sent me an email asking me to.

I would -and do- recommend this bar to weightlifters of beginner to intermediate seriousness.
Allow me to preface my review with: before this bar I have only used fancy Swedish bars in fancy Swedish gyms.
The bar was a little stiffer than I expected, but my only real complaint is the knurling, which I thought could be more aggressive. I think the machining process to make the knurl took multiple passes at different tracking speeds to make the grip a little more comfy. As a result, the knurl isn't quite even, and is more aggressive right outside the outer band then it is near the collar or inside the bands, however it's all totally usable. I'd appreciate only one band and some center knurling too, but hey.
The sleeves are grooved to help keep plates on, however I find I *really* need to use clips, that could certainly be an issue with my plates though. Spin is totally fine.
I've had the bar for about 5 months now, since then I've noticed a bit of rust on the end of the sleeves a few times, but I've been able to totally brush that off.
There is a bit of lateral play on the sleeves, but it's totally fine, I think it may contribute to the bar bouncing to the side when it's dropped, but its not noticeable when lifting.