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Pros
- Extremely grippy knurling for secure back squats
- Best in class spin
Cons
- No stated capacity/max weight
- Bar coating is not very durable (with black finish)
The Bottom Line
Although it’s nearly three times as expensive as the CAP Classic, the “Boss” has the most comfortable knurling for back squats and is in general the best all-around budget barbell.
Our Rating:
Buy for $150 from Amazon (affiliate link)
Shipping and Packaging
The CAP “The Boss” had (along with the other CAP Classic bar) the worst packaging of all the barbells. It’s in a cardboard tube with only clear tape covering the ends. It seems all CAP barbells are destined to come out of their packaging at some point during shipping. Luckily, ours wasn’t damaged.
Measured vs. Stated Specs
The CAP “Boss” bar weighs in at 20.192 kg.
The center portion of the bar measured 30.78 mm in diameter. The diameter of the sleeve was 49.99 mm, which is closest to the 50 mm Olympic standard that we measured (the Body-Solid bar was only 0.01 mm behind, however).
| CAP “Boss” Measured Specs | CAP “Boss” Stated Specs | Standard Olympic Barbell | |
| Length (m) | 2.13 | 2.185 | 2.2 |
| Weight (kg) | 20.192 | 20 | 20 |
| Center bar diameter (mm) | 30.78 | 28.5 | 28 |
| Center bar length (m) | 1.325 | 1.308 (51.5 in) | 1.31 |
| Sleeve diameter (mm) | 49.99 | 50.8 (2 in) | 50 |
| Loadable sleeve length (mm) | 378 |
Finish
The bar can be finished in black phosphate or zinc chrome. We chose the black finish, which does not have any deformities as far as we can tell (some Amazon reviewers complained of splinters).
The black finish looks nice but it clearly will show wear more than the silver finish. We’re not 100% sure it’s anodized, as it seems the coating is painted on. The coating on the sleeves seems much more durable, but even they are starting to show signs of wear on our test unit.
Sleeves and Spin
The spin on the Boss barbell is excellent. The sleeves spun for about 1.5 seconds before coming to a stop, which is better than all the other budget barbells tested.
Knurling
The center knurling is very sharp and grippy, however the marks are small enough that they won’t dig into the skin when doing back squats. The knurling on the sides where the hands rest is not as sharp and grippy.
Load Test
We tested the barbell with a static load of 565 lbs of weights, on a rack with 20″ spacing. The bar did not break and the weights did not slip. Slipping was further prevented by the ribbing on the collars, which we liked.
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