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Kettlebell Buying a new kettlebell

Brian T

Brian T

Level 4 Valued Member
Certified Instructor
I’m planning to buy a new kettlebell soon and have found that the best deal seems to be from Rogue. Have any of you tried the bells from there? How is the quality? Thanks!
 
Brian T said:
I’m planning to buy a new kettlebell soon and have found that the best deal seems to be from Rogue. Have any of you tried the bells from there? How is the quality? Thanks!
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I have several bells from there, both e-coat and powder coat. They're good bells.

For the e-coat, I have gotten some that needed some work to fix, but they're also willing to send you a replacement if you get a substandard bell. The 24kg e-coat was fine, the 28kg e-coat I needed to spend a lot of time filing down the handle.

I never had issues with the powder coat (I have a 16kg and a 24kg). It is a pretty rough finish, but it smooths down over the years.

I would have no problem buying more bells from there BUT! I would be sure to compare prices with shipping - Rogue bells last I checked are not free shipping, while other companies have free shipping but have a higher sticker price. Sometimes this washes out, and sometimes one comes out ahead of the rest.
 
Same experience as John above, e coat was a bit jacked and the powder coat are fine. The powder coat Kettlebell Kings are similar to Rogue pc, and I have an Ader from Kettlebell Inc . which I like. I have a set of #18's showing up this week, a client purchase from Bells of Steel. I'll let you know once I get my hands on them.
 
I have a set of 18’s and 22’s from Rep Fitness that are 99.9% just as good as my Rogue and shipped for free.
Also my Titan’s are “good enough” bells and they shipped free also.
 
I’ve got a mix - StrongFirst powder coat, Rogue e-coat, and Kettlebell Kings comp adjustable. The StrongFirst, I like a lot, and I wish I had just gotten more of those than the Rogue e-coat. But I was ordering a fair amount of stuff from Rogue, and the more you order the cheaper shipping gets (relatively speaking). Like John, I spent a lot of time on the e-coat handles getting them to where they wouldn’t cut up my hands. I should have sent them back, but I’m stubborn (and the UPS delivery driver already hates my house).

I really like the comp adjustable. And if you run a program like Strong or Giant or anything where you stick with the same weight for a length of time, they are great. But changing the weight mid session sucks. Maybe it’s my barbell meatheadedness, but I always get the math wrong on them.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d get fixed weight comp bells.
 
I have a couple rep fitness powder coats, I can't tell the difference between them and the kettlebell kings that I've used. For their price, I'd highly recommend them if powder coat is your jam.

I have the Perform Better bells that SF used to sell before they started making their own. I'd skip em. The powder coat gets slick pretty quick. Skip those. Again if powder coat is your jam, go with rep fitness.

I also have a Rouge "made in america" e-coat bell. Its probably my favorite one I own. I've heard of others having some QC issues with them when they first came out, but mine was great. I've also heard that Rouge bends over backwards to make it right if you do have some QC issues. I'd highly recommend these if you like e-coat. And why wouldn't you?

I have an 8kg DD e-coat bell as well. Its great, but I barely use it. I got it on e-bay for cheap. My gym has a ton of old DD bells as well and they have certainly held up better than anything else there. If you find a good price on them, I wouldn't hesitate to grab those. e-coat is fantastic for longevity and feel.

I've unfortunately had some enamel coated bells. Skip these, they are trash.

TL;DR: Rep is the best powder coat, literally the same thing as a kettlebell kings for half the price. The Rouge E-Coat bell is great, but may run into QC issues that htey take care of quick. DD lasts forever, but are pricey as hell.
 
Mine are the older style onnit and rogue. Both serve there function but there is difference on the handles ( needing sanding) and the weight labels were not "pressed" into the bells but were apart of the finish on them ( onnit) so half my bells are missing thier wieght label. Over all they are a hunk of iron an do the job but I think if I was starting from scratch I would buy bells from the "kettlebell people" strongfirst. I have bells from 8kg to 48kg in 4kg increments and I honestly only use 4 of them.....I've also got alot of equitment second hand...market place, craigslist, uncle Henry's.
 
All mine are Rogue powdercoat and apart from a few minor rough spots on the handle finish I can't fault them really. They are however all slightly over weight, which I suppose is better than being under.

Wish Strongfirst bells didn't cost the earth to ship to AUS, they look to be very high quality from what I've seen
 
I have a couple of Rogue bells. Decent finish but I find the bases to be narrower than I’d like. Not a big deal for most dynamic movements, but I like to be able to do renegade rows and they’re almost impossible to balance on.

My bells initially were mostly the Metrixx e-coat from Kettlebells USA, and I still have a bunch of those. Over the last 2 years all of my new stuff is the SF bells, though, I love them.
 
I have many different brands. I think my favorite is gymreaper great feel and quality. I used to love kettlebell kings but they have quality control issues now.
 
lais817 said:
All mine are Rogue powdercoat and apart from a few minor rough spots on the handle finish I can't fault them really. They are however all slightly over weight, which I suppose is better than being under.

Wish Strongfirst bells didn't cost the earth to ship to AUS, they look to be very high quality from what I've seen
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Kettlebell kings used to be available in Oz. Not anymore, which is a pain as I have a 36 I’d like to eventually get a mate for.

Morgan make good bells too, but only go to 32. My 24’s have had by far the most use and are holding up nicely

I have SMAI 28’s, got them very cheap, they’re good too.
 
I’m loving my Kettlebell Kings adjustable competition bells. It’s nice to dial in the specified RM, instead of worrying about being over or under.
 
I recently sold all my Rogue powder-coated kettlebells. Like all powder-coated bells, they chip easily and tend to rust quicker.

My favorite kettlebells are Dragondoor (they are currently 30% off for Black Friday), and I have 30+ of them from 12kg - 36kg.

However, I am interested in the StrongFirst kettlebells and may pick up 1-2.

I have had all kinds of brands (Perform Better, Punch from Anthony Ditillo, Rogue, Kettlebell Kings, Kettlebells USA, Rep Fitness, Ader, etc.), but Dragondoor are still the best (and I still have my 16kg and 24kg that I bought in 2001!).
 
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