Knurled Axle (Bubba) Bar

Name: Knurled Axle (Bubba) Bar
Brand: Gorilla Strength Equipment
Rating: 4.45 (6 reviews)

Gorilla Strength Equipment’s Knurled Axle (Bubba) Bar is a hand-built, small-batch axle/fat bar designed for strongman-style thick-bar work: close grip and Larsen presses, axle deadlifts, and Wagon Wheel deadlifts. At 79 3/4” long with a 1.90” diameter and a 13” load sleeve, it’s rackable like a standard barbell, and a square reinforced center holds up to 1,500 lb for most lifts (500 lb for Wagon Wheel deadlifts). Every bar is hand built in Leitchfield, Kentucky from 100% American steel, with a special coating meant to resist chipping — only about 10 are produced per month, so a 2-week lead time is typical. At 30 lb rather than a round 45 lb, it does require extra math when loading plates, which is worth knowing going in.

Buying guide

Best Barbell for Your Home Gym — July 2026

Length	79 3/4 in
Material	100% American steel
Bar weight	30 lb
Production	Hand built in Leitchfield, KY; ~10 units/month, ~2-week lead time
Load rating	1,500 lb (most lifts), 500 lb (Wagon Wheel deadlifts)
Bar diameter	1.90 in
Finish options	Raw or Black
Load sleeve length	13 in
Center construction	Square reinforced design

What is a Barbell?

What a barbell is

The barbell is the center of a strength gym — the bar you squat, press, deadlift, and clean with. A men’s Olympic bar is 20 kg (44 lb) and 7.2 ft long (15 kg / 6.5 ft for women). The specs that matter: knurl (the grip texture — aggressive for pulls, milder for high-rep work), shaft diameter (28–29 mm for barbell lifts), sleeve rotation (bushings are fine for slow lifts; bearings spin fast for the Olympic lifts), tensile strength (~190k+ PSI resists bending), and coating (bare steel grips best but rusts; stainless and Cerakote trade grip for corrosion resistance).

Which one to buy

For general lifting, a multipurpose bar (28–28.5mm shaft, dual knurl marks, no center knurl) does squats, bench, deadlifts, and the occasional clean off one bar — this is the right first barbell for most home gyms. Choose a dedicated power bar (29mm, stiffer, aggressive center-knurl grip) only once you know you’re training squat/bench/deadlift specifically and want the stiffest, grippiest tool for that job. A dedicated Olympic weightlifting bar (needle bearings, more whip) is worth it only if you clean, snatch, or jerk regularly.

Beyond your main bar, specialty bars solve specific problems rather than replacing it: a safety squat bar shifts load off sore shoulders, a trap/hex bar takes stress off a cranky lower back on pulls, and a curl bar’s camber reduces wrist strain on isolation work. Add them once you know which problem you actually have.

How it compares

	Knurled Axle (Bubba) Bar	Bamboo Bar	Kyoto Rackable Curl Bar	VTS Feather Barbell
GymRadar rating	4.45/5	4.44/5	4.44/5	4.44/5
Price	$255.00	$299.00	$249.00	$135.00
Length	79 3/4 in
Material	100% American steel
Bar weight	30 lb
Production	Hand built in Leitchfield, KY; ~10 units/month, ~2-week lead time
Load rating	1,500 lb (most lifts), 500 lb (Wagon Wheel deadlifts)
Bar diameter	1.90 in
Finish options	Raw or Black
Load sleeve length	13 in
Center construction	Square reinforced design

4.5/5 · 6 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	4.45/5	6 reviews
Youtube	4.3/5	2 reviews

The Gorilla Strength Knurled Axle (Bubba) Bar holds up well under real use: the one long-term reviewer found its knurling and protective coating unmarked after more than a year of unprotected garage storage and roughly ten heavy sessions, and the thick 1.90” diameter noticeably increased triceps engagement on close-grip pressing. Build quality reflects its small-batch, hand-built origin — a square reinforced center hand-finished in a Kentucky shop and rated to 1,500 lb for pressing/pulling. Its weakest spot is versatility around loading: at 30 lb rather than a round 45 lb, the plate math annoyed the same reviewer enough that he eventually switched to a custom 45 lb version, even though the bar itself performed well throughout. Independent coverage is thin — one long-term review, one unboxing, and a handful of manufacturer-adjacent ratings — so this verdict is promising rather than exhaustively vetted.

+Durability: knurling and protective coating showed no wear after 1+ year of unprotected garage storage and ~10 heavy training sessions (Garage Gym Life)
+Functionality: thicker 1.90" grip noticeably increased triceps engagement on close-grip bench and helped hit a Larsen press PR (Garage Gym Life)
+Build quality: hand-built in Leitchfield, KY from 100% American steel with a square reinforced center rated to 1,500 lb (manufacturer)
+Value: $255 for a small-batch, made-in-USA axle bar with free continental shipping (manufacturer)

−Versatility: 30 lb rather than a round 45 lb complicates plate-loading math enough that one long-term reviewer eventually switched to a custom 45 lb version (Garage Gym Life)
−Durability: load ratings (1,500 lb / 500 lb for Wagon Wheel deadlifts) are the manufacturer's own figures, not independently tested
−Value: 2-week production lead time (only 10 units built per month) means it's not an off-the-shelf purchase

$255.00

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