Basement Brandon's Reviews (222)


(4.33)
1/19/2026
These things offer a huge value prop, adjustable dbs that don’t suck in a footprint that’s minimal with a nice build quality. The downsides here is that the design is still very utilitarian, the cage design sometimes gets in the way, and plates don’t always go in easy when unracking.
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(4.67)
1/19/2026
REP leads the way when it comes to benches. Their mix of quality and price is hard to beat. These days there are a lot of imitators copying their design, but REP continues to shine. Tbh is particular model offers a lot of versatility, some color choices, good pad material and a sturdy design.
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(3.33)
1/19/2026
I had a set of these for awhile in my gym and I have mixed feelings on them. They're a great looking plate. The design is iconic and different than what other brands are offering. The downside is that mine had a lot of quality control issues from the paint easily chipping, to plugs being loose or falling out. I also had some plates of the same weight that were different shades of the same color.
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(4.00)
1/19/2026
These are one design of many of the iconic plates Ivanko offers. They're classic and look great in any gym. Easy to handle and pretty accurate. The downside here is that depending on when yours were made, they have be more greenish or grey. They're also made in China and the quality is not as great as some other similar designs these days. They're priced higher than most as well, so unless you just really want Ivanko, you may be better off looking at other offerings.
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(3.33)
1/19/2026
This was the best SSB on the market for awhile. Had the best angles and the best pad. It did have some faults however, mainly being the smaller diameter sleeves which needed special collars, the clear powder coat which flaked off immediately with use, and the higher base cost plus high shipping fees. Even though they've fixed some of these issues, there are a lot of alternatives on the market which are lower priced and have nicer finishes.
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(3.33)
1/19/2026
Decent multigrip bar. The early versions had a lot of sharp edges and only offered powder coat as a finish on the handles. Mine had some issues with the sleeves and loose pieces of metal floating around which made the bar very noisy in use.
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(2.00)
1/19/2026
I bought this on Black Friday back in 2015 or 2016 and that was prob the last time I used it. Hard to use indoors regardless of ceiling height and my bright zinc version oxidized almost immediately.
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(4.33)
1/19/2026
In my opinion this was the nicest buffalo bar on the market. Before Kabuki folded, they had this thing in a really nice position. You get that great Kabuki knurl and some nice finishes. Like all things Kabuki there was always some potential quality control issues to deal with, but if you got a good copy it was fantastic. I owned this bar twice and still miss it on occasion. I ended up keeping the Rogue CB-4 instead just b/c of the thicker diameter and more novelty.
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222 total