Thanks for your thoughts! I’ll have to revisit it again with a lot of cerakote bars being banged around out there for a couple years. From what I’ve heard offhand, the reports are that cerakote holds up perfectly without wearing off, at least if you’re using it away from a rack and not scratching it up against the steel of unprotected J-hooks. Not sure about full UHMW lined J hooks, but I’d be optimistic about that too because it seems to be such a hard coating.

I’m beginning to think that cerakote bars should be regarded as the highest-end option on a par with stainless steel bars, not just as the second best option behind stainless steel bars. Up to now stainless steel bars have been regarded as the absolute best you can get, but I think cerakote bars are now every bit as good as that, albeit in a different way. On one hand, stainless steel bars have a more natural feel than cerakote bars, so yes, on this regard stainless steel bars are still superior, but on the other hand the steel used for cerakote bars is stronger, as stainless steel is a type of steel alloy that can’t be hardened like you pointed out, while the raw steel that is covered with cerakote in cerakote bars is indeed hardened. And then you have the fact that the mere presence of cerakote on a bar increases its lifespan. As for residtance to rust, I guess they’re both more or less there, with Cerakote being perhaps slightly better. I think that stainless steel bars and cerakote bars are in a draw in a contest for maximum quality when everything is taken into consideration and you don’t care specifically for any of those points of comparison (feel in your hands, bar lifespan, etc.) more than you care for the other ones. What do you think?

Lots of Cerakote bars popping up lately! For the US readers, bellsofsteel.us is the US facing store.

Thanks, I’ll get the Texas bars added to this guide in the next update!

Good to know you like it! What you did is ideal, having both a 28mm and a 30-32mm bar so you’re getting the best for each kind of movement.

So finally, in a moment of weakness, I ordered the Wright power bar, based on how pleased I am with the 28mm bar with bearings I got from them. $250 shipped to my door. Arrived in perfect shape, very well-packed. Fit & finish are excellent. The 31mm diameter is IMO the way to go for pressing movements, you can really feel the extra diameter spreading out the load on your hands–it’s significantly more comfortable. The Cerakote is nice & grippy. I think the bar is a great value for the money. Caveat: The 31mm shaft is a trade-off, the 28mm is better for pulling movements. I wouldn’t want either 1 for my only bar; I guess that’s why the standard diameter for all-purpose bars is 28.5mm. I have 1 of those too, so I wouldn’t bother with a 29mm power bar–not different enough.

Thanks Gil, I added it!