With Gluck as our special guest, this episode looks at how the community feels about dumbbell knurling, stainless steel on bars, the REP PR-5000, and a repeat of our “Specialty Bar” survey question.
The episode can be watched on Spotify or YouTube. Or listen to on Apple, Anchor, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
(1:01) Quick Summary
A few miscellaneous ones to start.
- 65% prefer fully knurled dumbbells as opposed to the semi-knurled ergonomic dumbbells that most companies offer.
- 56% believe that upgrading to a Stainless Steel coating on a barbell is worth it.
- 78% are not surprised that the REP PR-5000 was voted as the top power rack on r/Home Gym.
The Sunday Survey was a deep dive into Specialty Bars. We’ve done this survey a few times in the past, and the changes are relatively interesting.
- 94% know what specialty bars are. This is up from 87% in September 2021.
- 53% see a need for specialty bars for most home gym owners.
- Nearly 64% say they own at least one specialty bar. This is up considerably since last September (53%)
- When asking about a level of interest in each specialty bar, the Safety Squat Bar is the most wanted with the Hex, Curl, and Multi-Grip (in that order) behind it. All of those received at least 30% high votes.
- Those with less than 20% “high interest votes” included the Buffalo/Duffalo Bar, Camber Bar, Axle Bar, and Log Bar.
Discussion Points
(3:32) Fully knurled dumbbells are the choice for most.
- Nearly 2x voted for the “fully knurled” option over the ergo grip. It’s surprising that so many companies still do not offer this option.
(5:40) More than half believe that the additional price is worth it for a stainless steel option.
- $305 (Black Zinc) vs. $410 (Stainless Steel) for Rogue Ohio Power Bar is quite the difference though.
(9:42) More are starting to learn what they are & and understand the benefits.
- 94% know what specialty bars are. This is up from 87% in September 2021.
- 53% see a need for specialty bars for most home gym owners.
In addition, quite a bit more own specialty bars. For example,
- 54% owned zero last March while that # was around 36% this time around.
- 24% owned multiple, but that number is close to 39% now.
| March 2021 | September 2021 | February 2022 | |
| zero | 53.78% | 46.93% | 36.40% |
| one | 22.45% | 23.46% | 25.10% |
| two to three | 17.87% | 21.84% | 27.68% |
| four or more | 5.90% | 7.77% | 10.82% |
| Total owning multiple | 23.77% | 29.61% | 38.50% |
- The Safety Squat Bar was the most popular option last time around, but went up even higher. For example, this time it had about 51% vote high interest, whereas last June, just 40% voted high interest.
- Below is a list of all voting.
| Specialty Bar | High | Medium | Low | IDK what that is |
| Safety Squat Bar | 50.79% | 24.24% | 22.90% | 2.08% |
| Hex/Trap Bar | 42.35% | 31.82% | 24.90% | 0.93% |
| Curl Bar | 38.25% | 29.95% | 30.95% | 0.85% |
| Multi-Grip Bar | 32.90% | 35.43% | 29.98% | 1.69% |
| Deadlift Bar | 29.62% | 25.23% | 43.54% | 1.62% |
| Squat Bar | 20.14% | 26.67% | 51.46% | 1.73% |
| Buffalo/Duffalo Bar | 18.11% | 22.94% | 49.51% | 9.44% |
| Camber Bar | 15.09% | 28.45% | 43.01% | 13.45% |
| Axle Bar | 13.77% | 22.63% | 54.17% | 9.42% |
| Log Bar | 10.05% | 14.23% | 69.52% | 6.20% |
(15:42) Not many were shocked that the PR-5000 was the top rack choice on Reddit. Only 22% were surprised that this was chosen.
Can you do a survey of Home Gyms that use standard 1″ weight plates vs. 2″ Oylmpic weight plates – and Why?.