Tirofijo
Level 6 Valued Member
I'm a sucker for a good deal, so I bought a 16kg CAP 'Competition' KB from Amazon. I put 'Competition' in quotation marks since it's not a competition bell. It's just their powdercoated KB, which I suppose is a step up from their enamel bells.
I paid $40 shipped, while the same size Kettlebell King bell costs $79. Rep Fitness would have been $64. CFF K2 would have been $89.
Alas, the bell came with a casting seam on the bottom of a handle. The seam isn't prominent, but just enough to feel it and therefore be annoying. I don't know if the seam would irritate in high rep snatches. I tried to take a picture but they didn't come out.
So there's the review.
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Now for the question.
I took a file to the casting seam, and now the bottom of the handle is as smooth as a baby's bottom. But 7/8ths of the handle has the powdercoat, and the other 1/8 where I filed is smooth bare metal. Much like my competition 24kg KB. (My competition bell spent years less than a mile from the sea in an area where everything rusted, and has a nice patina on the bare metal and spots of rust coming up from the painted portion. I'm okay with that.)
I guess I don't get the interest with powder coating. If bare metal is good enough for GS, when why do I need a powder coat on a hardstyle bell? Yes, the handle will be thicker and therefore a little harder to hold on swings/snatches, but maybe that's a good thing, right? Forcing me to work my grip, etc.
I ask because the 16kg is probably too light for ROP (which is in my future) and am looking for a 20kg bell. Then I'd like to do a double kettlebell program (either with the 16kg or 20kg or both, which means purchasing two more bells). The savings adds up. If i have to file away the seam, I think I'm okay with that.
Granted, I've only played around with snatches to try to learn the movement. So it's possible I don't know what I don't know.
But when I see the photos of some of the spartan gyms in Russia or the Ukraine with their well used KBs, I get the feeling who ever is training there probably doesn't fret about the coating on his KB. And he's probably stronger than me.
I did have to buy a Rep Fitness 32kg bell since the CAP didn't come in that size for some reason on Amazon.
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TL;DR. Should I buy a cheap KB knowing I'm going to have to sand/tune the handle?
I paid $40 shipped, while the same size Kettlebell King bell costs $79. Rep Fitness would have been $64. CFF K2 would have been $89.
Alas, the bell came with a casting seam on the bottom of a handle. The seam isn't prominent, but just enough to feel it and therefore be annoying. I don't know if the seam would irritate in high rep snatches. I tried to take a picture but they didn't come out.
So there's the review.
-------------
Now for the question.
I took a file to the casting seam, and now the bottom of the handle is as smooth as a baby's bottom. But 7/8ths of the handle has the powdercoat, and the other 1/8 where I filed is smooth bare metal. Much like my competition 24kg KB. (My competition bell spent years less than a mile from the sea in an area where everything rusted, and has a nice patina on the bare metal and spots of rust coming up from the painted portion. I'm okay with that.)
I guess I don't get the interest with powder coating. If bare metal is good enough for GS, when why do I need a powder coat on a hardstyle bell? Yes, the handle will be thicker and therefore a little harder to hold on swings/snatches, but maybe that's a good thing, right? Forcing me to work my grip, etc.
I ask because the 16kg is probably too light for ROP (which is in my future) and am looking for a 20kg bell. Then I'd like to do a double kettlebell program (either with the 16kg or 20kg or both, which means purchasing two more bells). The savings adds up. If i have to file away the seam, I think I'm okay with that.
Granted, I've only played around with snatches to try to learn the movement. So it's possible I don't know what I don't know.
But when I see the photos of some of the spartan gyms in Russia or the Ukraine with their well used KBs, I get the feeling who ever is training there probably doesn't fret about the coating on his KB. And he's probably stronger than me.
I did have to buy a Rep Fitness 32kg bell since the CAP didn't come in that size for some reason on Amazon.
------------
TL;DR. Should I buy a cheap KB knowing I'm going to have to sand/tune the handle?
