Continuing my recent run of reviewing fitness products, today I going to look at the iFast Fitness Olympic 2-Inch Hex Trap Bar. And, yeah, that name just rolls off the tongue.
Now, before I go any further, I do want to be forthright and say that I was provided the hex bar for free in exchange for a review. But I stand behind the review as it is and tried my best to not let it influence my rating.
Furthermore, for what it’s worth, the company was great to work with and I tested the bar for almost 6 months before posting this review. While I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same experience, I’m always pleased to see companies take customer service seriously.
Alright, with that out of the way, let’s start the iFast trap bar review. Oh, one last thing, throughout the review I’ll use the terms “hex bar” or “trap bar” interchangeably as you’ll see both throughout the ‘net.
Overview
First, let’s take a look at some of the general specifications (detailed measurements will be given in the next section) and features of this closed trap bar:
- Bar Weight: 53 lbs.
- Color: Black
- Material: Steel
- Max weight capacity: 1000LB
Yes, you read that weight capacity correct — 1,000 freakin’ pounds. While I didn’t quite test that, I can tell you that this thing is solid. Like Lizzo could sit on it after her Thanksgiving dinner and it wouldn’t move even an inch type solid.
The trap bar has dual knurled handles – a raised handle and a lower handle. The raised handle is great for taller athletes, beginners, or those who otherwise lack some mobility. The lower handle is good for those with better mobility or for shorter athletes. Whichever you prefer, it’s nice to have the option to choose the one you like.
Standard 2″ Olympic plates fit the bar perfectly as the bars have a 1.97″ end diameter. Speaking of loading and unloading plates, it also has a solid steel sleeve and a decent sleeve length, coming in at 9.25″ in long.
A lot of cheaper or smaller bars have short sleeve lengths (or hollow sleeves) – usually around 6-7″ – which makes it impossible to load the anywhere near the rated max capacity. So a longer sleeve length – at least if you’re pretty strong – can make or break trap bars.
Now, with that said, you’re still not going to be able to load 1,000 lbs. on to this bar even with the thinnest of weights; the sleeves are just too short. But, I see no reason why you couldn’t get ~500 lbs. on it 1 using iron plates and that’s going to be enough for 99.9% of the lifters out there.
All of that in a retail price of around $280, although it’s currently listed at $210 with free shipping (before any coupons) on the iFast website (can also buy off Amazon). Shipping is from CA or VA and the company says you should generally get the bar within 7 business days from time of order.
Just to give a quick albeit not totally fair comparison, the Rogue TB 2 Trap Bar retails for $395 (plus $75 shipping), weighs 60 lbs. and has (probably) the same max weight capacity. I say “probably” because Rogue, to my knowledge, doesn’t publish their weight capacity. While Rogue has cache and 16″ sleeves, it’s also over twice as much after shipping.
I mention that just to say anything in the $175-$250 range is pretty good range for this type of trap bar.
Ok, with the basics of the iFast hex bar out of the weigh 2get it, weigh instead of way? yeah, it was more clever in my head, let’s look at some of the details.
Construction
So, as promised, here are some of the details of the iFast hex bar. Note, I took measurements to get these as they weren’t readily available on their website. You’re welcome.
So coming in at 56″ in total length and 24″ in total width (between the bars), this trap bar fits in the middle of the pack in terms of size. It’s definitely not the 85″ of some other premium trap bars, but it’s not a short 50″ either.
Stepping inside the trap bar – the cage – is easy and has a good amount of space with the interior dimensions measuring approximately 24″ wide by 21.5″ in length. Again, that’s relatively in line with other bars although slightly bigger than most other ones I looked at. Either way, it felt comfortable inside the cage and I’m 6’2″.
In terms of the look and the feel of the hex bar, everything is basic but works. The black paint looks nice and has held up well so far with no scratches or fading. The welding of the joints looks pretty good and clean. The top handles sit 5″ off the ground, which is nice, and the knurling is neither too aggressive or overly light and provides a good grip.
Lastly, it does come with a couple of collars to secure the weights (shown above) but they’re a bit flimsy. They do the job but I basically ignored them and used a couple more expensive and secure collars I already had.
Effectiveness
In short: It’s a solid, steel trap bar. You can do trap bar exercises on it. I did trap bar exercises on it. The trap bar exercises went well. The bar remained solid. The end.
Okay, a little bit more about it. I used the iFast trap bar for a variety of exercises. Well, 3 exercises that I like to do: trap bar deadlifts, trap bar jumps, and some rows. While there are some other things you could do with it such as, I dunno, traps!, I bet 95% of the people that get one are just going to deadlift.
Which is predominantly what I used it for. Unfortunately, I’m nowhere near a half-ton deadlift. In fact, due to a still somewhat creaky back, I didn’t even go over 300 lbs. But, suffice to say, it handled that with ease.
So while the sleeves aren’t long enough to hold 1,000 lbs., it’s plenty strong for me and, I would venture to guess, the vast majority of lifters. If it’s not, it does comes with a 30 day return policy (and 1 yr warranty). Now, I wouldn’t necessarily want to return a 50+ lb. bar but it’s nice to have that option if you really need it.
One last note on the weight: if you have large bumper plates and want to lift a ton of weight, you’ll probably need to grab a bar with a really long sleeve length. You can do the math (and view the graphic above) but you can’t probably go higher than 300 lbs. with bumper plates with the iFast. If you have standard iron plates, you most likely can load this up to ~ 500 lbs.
Value
If you missed the pricing part above, this trap bar retails around $280 but, as of this writing, can be purchased for $210 with free shipping included.
In trying to determine the “value” – which is always subjective – I compared the price to similar closed trap bars 3 yes, there are open trap bars on the market. Now there are a ton of trap bars on the market, so I limited this to 4 others with a) good ratings and b) similar specs. Namely, ones made of solid steel and with high weight capacities of 500 – 750 lbs.
As you can see, the iFast bar fits in pretty well. Not only is the max capacity higher than similiar trap bars, it slots in the middle of the pack in terms of selling price.
I did look at a couple more expensive options too; one from Rogue and another from Titan Fitness. Those two are premium trap bars with a black powder coating finish, a sleek design, and extra long sleeves.
And while I’m sure both are great and I would love to have either one…they come at a pretty high price too. If you have a commercial gym or you’re a powerlifter, I can see where you’d maybe want to get those (especially if you already have some of their other equipment) but spending $400 or $500 is overkill for me and my home gym. I’ll gladly take a high quality bar at 50% of the price.
Anyways, that brings me to…
Who Should Buy the iFast Trap Bar
- Any lifter who needs a high weight capacity yet affordable trap bar
- Any lifter that wants to both low and high handles and solid knurling
- Any lifter who wants a simple and durable no frills trap bar
Who Shouldn’t Buy the iFast Trap Bar
- Any lifter that wants to lift a very high amount or uses large bumper plates. In those cases, find a bar with longer sleeves
- Any lifter that wants some luxury features – powder coating, square steel tubing, and/or a rackable trap bar
Summary (TL;DR)
Affordable and built like a tank, the iFast Trap Bar is a great option for home (and even most commercial) gyms and is a very good budget trap bar. The sleeves are a good length, it fits standard Olympic weights, and has two different handle positions with good knurling.
While it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of the more expensive options, it compares well to many other trap bars. In summary, it’s a good, solid tap bar that should work for the vast majority of lifters. All in all, I’ve enjoyed using it and found no issues with it. If that ever changes, I’ll be sure to update this review. Recommended!
