Riot Olympic Safety Squat Bar

Name: Riot Olympic Safety Squat Bar
Brand: Strength Shop
Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)

The Riot Olympic Safety Squat Bar is Strength Shop’s safety-squat-bar (SSB) take on the specialty barbell, built around a thick 50mm shaft and a 45-degree camber angle between the front-facing handles and the arms that the plates load onto. That angle is the bar’s core design claim: on cheaper SSBs, loaded plates create a forward-pulling force that fights the lifter’s balance, while the Riot’s geometry keeps the weight closer to a neutral, in-between-a-back-and-front-squat position. At roughly 21-22kg and 226cm long with 39cm loadable sleeves, it’s rated to a 350kg maximum load and finished in black with chrome sleeves. The one-piece, Velcro-backed shoulder/neck pad is an updated design over the bar’s original padding, and the sleeves carry a striated surface to reduce disc slippage. A pair of spring collars ships with the bar. It’s positioned for lifters working around shoulder-mobility limits or injury recovery, or anyone wanting to train a more upright squat position and hit the anterior chain harder than a straight bar allows.

Buying guide

Best Barbell for Your Home Gym — July 2026

Finish	Black with chrome sleeves (matt black shaft)
Length	226cm
Weight	20.9-22kg (~46-48.5 lb, depending on source)
Warranty	2 years
Camber angle	45 degrees (yoke-to-sleeve angle reported as 30 degrees by one independent reviewer)
Pad material	Synthetic leather, one-piece construction with Velcro backing
Cambered drop	17cm
Max load capacity	350kg
Included accessories	Pair of spring collars
Loadable sleeve length	39cm
Shaft and sleeve diameter	50mm

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

	Riot Olympic Safety Squat Bar	Saxon Bar - Armlifting USA	Cerberus Kratos Strongman Bar	American Press Bar
GymRadar rating	4.67/5	4.67/5	4.67/5	4.67/5
Price			$1,299.99
Finish	Black with chrome sleeves (matt black shaft)
Length	226cm
Weight	20.9-22kg (~46-48.5 lb, depending on source)		28 kg
Warranty	2 years		3-year functional warranty
Camber angle	45 degrees (yoke-to-sleeve angle reported as 30 degrees by one independent reviewer)
Pad material	Synthetic leather, one-piece construction with Velcro backing
Cambered drop	17cm
Max load capacity	350kg
Included accessories	Pair of spring collars
Loadable sleeve length	39cm		600 mm
Shaft and sleeve diameter	50mm

4.7/5 · 3 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert

4.67/5

3 reviews

The Strength Shop Riot Olympic Safety Squat Bar is a mid-priced (under £240/€300) specialty barbell that pairs a hefty 50mm shaft with a 45-degree camber angle engineered to keep loaded plates from swinging forward – a common complaint on cheaper SSBs. Functionality is the standout: reviewers consistently praise how evenly the ~21kg bar distributes weight across the shoulders, promoting the upright-back positioning safety bars exist for without the usual upper-back pressure. Build quality is solid at a 350kg rated capacity with updated, Velcro-backed padding that reviewers call a real improvement over the original version. Versatility is the weakest dimension noted – the padding runs “a little snug” for some shoulders and the handle knurling is mild rather than aggressive, so lifters with wider frames or a preference for grippier handles should try before committing.

+Functionality: 45-degree angle between the front-facing safety handles and the loaded arms prevents the forward-pulling force that plagues cheaper SSBs (Strength Shop product page; Bastards of Iron)
+Functionality: weight distributes evenly across the shoulders, letting lifters isolate upright-posture and anterior-chain weak points without the usual upper-back pressure (Bastards of Iron review)
+Build quality: 350kg rated capacity on a 50mm shaft with updated one-piece, Velcro-backed padding reviewers call notably more comfortable than the original version (Tu Propio Gym, 4.1/5)
+Value: priced under £240/€300, positioned by an independent reviewer as balancing quality and price against pricier competing SSBs (Tu Propio Gym)
+Build quality: removable, knurled handles and a striated sleeve surface to reduce disc slippage (Tu Propio Gym; Strength Shop product page)

−Versatility: padding felt "a little snug" around the shoulders/neck for at least one reviewer, though they still felt secure (Bastards of Iron)
−Versatility: handle knurling is mild rather than aggressive, a tradeoff some lifters may notice under heavy load (Tu Propio Gym)
−Durability: no long-term wear/reliability data surfaced in independent coverage beyond initial-impressions reviews
−Value: only a 2-year warranty and shipping costs noted as drawbacks by an independent reviewer (Tu Propio Gym)
−Functionality: no independent Reddit or forum thread specifically discussing this bar turned up during research, so community consensus beyond editorial reviews is thin