Pendlay Nexgen HD Olympic Bar (20kg)

Enough time has gone by and it is time for my Pendlay Nexgen HD Barbell Review!

I got this barbell over a year ago and I love this thing. The first time I did a clean with it there was a HUGE and noticeable difference in the feel. At first I thought maybe it was all psychological so I had my friend try and see if he felt it too...Ok, I wasn't crazy there was a different feel to it.

At first I noticed the knurling was a bit more passive (smooth) I wasn't too sure how I felt about it. Now I have gotten used to it and I love it. From time to time I will need to chalk up but not all the time. Having now tried the Rogue barbell I can see why I like the passive knurl. While I do like the knurl on the rogue barbell sometimes I will clean it up and it will scratch my arm/chest like razors. But other than that I kind of like the feel on my hands. It's one of those...how do I feel today kind of things.

The Story:

I have been waiting to invest in a good barbell for some time now. 

A few reasons why I wanted a new bar:

1. I love new, even if it's new used, gear 

2. Ever since I was doing cleans and the collar popped off of the barbell, scary and dangerous, I ended up tightening the collars before every workout but they would still loosen at times.

3. Collars on current bar did not spin well

4. Diameter is around 29mm-30mm. Makes hook grip harder.

5. oh and did I mention...I LOVE new gear

After reading countless reviews on the Rogue bar, Pendlay etc. I found a webstie that shipped the Pendlay bar for around $6 to Hawaii. That is insane! Most of the time it is going to be $95 to ship to Hawaii. So for the price I went with the Pendlay as I have heard great things about the bar and its superiority.

I got some Pendlay 45s to go with this beauty!

Tape on the seams

Plus they made sure this bad boy didn't pop out of the ends.

In that box there was a tube that held the bar. Unfortunately my tube had broken so I was a bit worried.

I opened it on the wrong side. Yes, there is a right and wrong side. this side was taped and stapled closed.

So I went to the other side to see this beauty looking back at me!

The knurling on the bar was a bit more passive then I had expected. Although I have gotten used to it and find that I really like it. It is a softer knurling so it does not shred your hands or shins. Although it is inevitable to get shin and knee skin on the bar. 

The collar came with this strange black residue on it that I could not get off. I was upset because I wanted to get my bar dirty. No biggie though.

You can see the knurling is close to the edge on this side although the other side is double the length away from the collar. I am not sure why. Must have been a mistake but it doesn't effect the bar or the performance.

The end cap

After talking with Muscle Driver USA, I was informed that the knurling defect would not affect the bar performance. I had also noticed that there was grease leaking from both collars and they had informed me that it was be cause they packed it with extra grease for shipping.


Over all I am happy about this purchase. After all I do use this barbell almost everyday. I make sure to clean it after every use and it's also never allowed to be racked. So that the knurling doesn't get damaged. Although Olympic lifting barbells should never be racked anyways.

Using Metal plates:
I also noticed that metal plates that are not make to a stricter tolerance (2" diameter) can damage the threading on the collars. I used some 5 pounds plates and noticed they started to dent the threads. So I have specific 5 pound plates that are meant to be used on this bar. It sounds crazy because it is ascetics, but the threads are there for a reason. I want to keep this barbell going forever.