My video review
Key Points
- This is the best Titan Fitness product I own
- The finish has held up perfectly for 5 years
- The pad is sewn as all one piece
- The angle of the sleeves and handles is excellent
- It’s as good or better than safety squat bars from any other mfr. and costs a good deal less
My Quick Take
I’ve purchased some great products from Titan, and I’ve bought some stinkers, too. The Titan Fitness safety squat bar is one of the great ones. Too many companies want to charge an arm and a leg for what is really a straightforward specialty bar. There are only a couple of things to get right, and Titan nails them.
The handles are high quality and have not shown any wear over the 5 years I’ve had this bar. The pad is sewn as all one piece, unlike many bars that use 3 separate pads, leaving uncomfortable gaps and extra places to wear.
The angles are all spot on (many other SS bars don’t have the right angles and they feel very uncomfortable. This one is very comfy and a pleasure to use.
After 5 years of use, my bar looks brand new. All I do is clean the pad after each use so the salt from my sweat doesn’t degrade the pad. If you are looking for a safety squat bar, this is a great option! You can see even more details here on the Titan Fitness website.
GymCrafter score: 9/10
- Shaft Diameter – 38 mm
- Sleeve Diameter – 49 mm
- Overall Length – 90.5-in.
- Loadable Sleeve Length. -16-in.
- Sleeve to Sleeve Length – 48-in.
- Shoulder Pad Inside Width – 8-in.
- Shoulder Pad Grip Spacing – 12.75-in.
- Shoulder Pad Grip Length – 6-in.
- Shoulder Pad Grip Diameter – 43 mm
- Camber Drop – 22- Degrees
- Sleeve Coating – Chrome
- Shaft Coating – Chrome
- Weight Capacity – 1,500 lb.
- Product Weight – 61 lb.
What I Like About The Titan Fitness Safety Squat Bar
There are a couple of things that make or break a safety squat bar, and the pad design is one of them. It can’t be too soft, or the weight of the bar will be uncomfortable. If it’s too firm, it might as well not be padded. I think this pad is just right. I’ve loaded it very heavily, and it’s firm yet comfortable.
The pad on a safety squat bar should also be all one piece. Some manufacturers like Rogue Fitness make their pad in 3 sections. I found that on the Rogue bar, the spots where the pads meet pinched me a little bit. Three separate pads also give a lot of extra places to wear out
With the Titan pad, there are very few seams or places for wear to occur. As I mentioned, after 5 years, mine still looks brand new. It also feels very stable because of the single-pad design.
The second thing a safety squat bar has to get right is the camber and angles of the bar itself. The purpose of an SSB is to move the load in relation to your center line and change the emphasis of it. If the camber is off (how the sleeves are lower than the main bar), the bar can feel unsafe (the opposite of what we are going for!).
If the angles are wrong, it won’t sit on your shoulders the right way, and you’ll find yourself fidgeting with it.
Titan gets the overall design of this bar right in every way.
Sometimes, budget gear comes with a lot of drawbacks. You can see exactly why it’s a lower-priced option. Not so with this bar. I bought this bar with my own money about 5 years ago, and it was priced at $299, just like it is today.
For comparison, the Rogue safety squat bar is priced at $445 plus shipping, and the Titan bar is better!
What I Don’t Like About The Titan SSB
Some of the newer safety squat bars on the market allow you to screw in different attachments to the handles. This helps people with mobility issues who can’t reach the handles and allows for different grip widths and angles.
This won’t be important to many people, but for some, it will be a big deal. If you have significant mobility issues and don’t think you can reach the handles when the bar is loaded, you may want to consider a different bar.
Who I think This Bar Is Best For
If you’ve determined you want to add a safety squat bar to your garage gym, then this Titan model should, at the very least, be a finalist for you.
If you don’t need the extra handle attachments found on some more expensive options, there is no reason to spend anything more than whatever the Titan currently costs. I didn’t need anything extra, so I chose to buy mine from Titan.
Alternatives To The Titan SSB
The only real reason to depart from the Titan model would be handle attachments. I’ve evaluated several safety squat bars with handle attachments, and Bells of Steel makes the best one for your money. It usually runs about $100 more than the Titan model, and the attachments are sold separately.
You can check this bar out, along with all of the available attachments here.
