Kabuki Kadillac Bar review

I ordered a new Kabuki Kadillac Bar (KB) about 2 months ago knowing that the wait time would likely be around 3-4 months from the order date to shipping date. About 3 weeks ago, I noticed that they had some blemish KBs in stock so I went ahead and purchased one of those and cancelled my original order. I received the blemish KB about 1 week after my order date and it's hard for me to tell where the blemish is. If I had to guess it's the nickel coated area between the sleeves and the powder coating - the area that attaches the sleeves to the main powder coated section. Any other company would have sold that nickel plating as new, so I am 100% glad that I opted for the blemish bar instead of the new bar. It was $50 cheaper then a new bar, but than main reason I bought the blemish bar was the manufacture and shipping delay with the new bars.

My first impression after 3 workouts with the KB is very good. It has the best powder coating of any equipment that I have. The handles are not knurled, but the powder coating is very textured. I don't think I'll miss the knurling, especially when pressing. Due to the shape of the main handle part it does not want to shift front or back when bench pressing. Your handles are higher than the sleeves are. This makes the bar automatically find center when pressing. That is the main thing that separated this bar from other football bars to me (not shifting front/back when pressing) in addition to the build quality, angle of the neutral grips, and how perfectly my wrists and elbow stack up when pressing.

My elbows naturally flare less compared to a strait bar. That is one on my main issues I need to work on with a strait bar. Everything feels really tight with the KB when my shoulder blades are retracted and elbows and wrists are stacked.

Overall, I'm happy with the purchase being that I'm the only person using this equipment and it will last forever. It is definitely a luxury purchase, but it does feel a little different than a strait bar bench press.

Strength wise my KB press is nearly the same as my strait bar bench press, maybe slightly lower. Last week I got 9 reps with the KB that I may have been able to get 10-11 reps with the strait bar, so that has been negligible.

Feel free to ask any questions.