Bomba Bar vs. Wonder Bar - what's the difference?

One of the most frequently asked questions we get at Fringe Sport is “what’s the difference between your Bomba Bar and Wonder Bar?” 

The Bomba and Wonder Bars are two of our most popular bars, and sometimes they cause a little bit of confusion for our customers. We’re going to clear all of that up for you.

A lot of the confusion often comes from not knowing which bar is the right bar for our customers when they’re searching for a new iron excalibur.

THE BOMBA BAR

The first distinguishing factor, and the easiest to point out, is that if you’re looking for an amazing USA-made, all-around barbell made for everything barbell related, then we highly recommend that you go with our Bomba Bar.

Our Bomba Bar is made and manufactured in the USA from US steel. It’s a great entry to medium level barbell for garage gym and commercial gym use. If you’re looking to have USA pride in your bar, go with the Bomba Bar and be proud every time you lift.

THE WONDER BAR

Now, let’s talk about the Wonder Bar. The Wonder Bar is our bread-and-butter barbell. When PK developed the Wonder Bar, he was looking to do something very simple: he wanted to make the best barbell on the market that is fully warrantied and able to stand up to commercial or garage gym use, at the best price possible.

If all you’re looking for is a general purpose bar, that covers all barbell grounds and is amazing quality, life-time warrantied, then go with the Wonder Bar. The Wonder Bar is truly a perfect barbell for garage-gymers and commercial, box gym-goers alike. PK can have anything he wants in his garage gym, and he chooses this barbell again and again for his own personal use. You can consider our Wonder Bar to be the “Clark Kent of barbells.” Seriously. Our Wonder Bar is unassuming, inexpensive, easy to buy, yet handles all of the abuse you throw at it.

Sometimes, people talk about “beater” barbells, and what they mean by that are barbells that aren’t the greatest bar, but one that takes all the abuse. We couldn’t disagree more with the idea of having a typical “beater” barbell. A “beater” barbell should be like (bear with us here) having a Toyota Tacoma. An AWESOME vehicle or item that takes all of the abuse you throw at it, keeps coming back for more in great shape and quality, and is an absolute joy to use the entire time you’ve got it. If that’s what a “beater” barbell is, then that’s our Wonder Bar.

Let’s dive into a few more differences.

When taking a look at the two, they look fairly similar. But, aesthetically, there are a few differences between the two barbells.

On the Bomba Bar, there is a ridge between the shaft and the sleeve with a ridge that contains a rubber band with some Fringe Sport & Bomba Bar branding. Here’s where the fun comes in: you can take that out and exchange it for another rubber bracelet (much like the LiveStrong bracelets) to customize it and make the barbell more your own.

The Bomba Bar has a beautiful, black zinc finish on the collars as well as the sleeves, and both will experience some wear in the form of patina and change with use. The barbells shown below are ones that have been in the Fringe HQ commercial gym for years as we thought it was more effective to show you honest, highly-used barbells that have been used and abused for quite a while than a brand new, out of the box shiny barbell.

The Bomba Bar has a moderate knurling, but it’s more on the aggressive side of a moderate knurling. The cross-hatching is going to bite into your hands a little bit more than it would with a Wonder Bar.

Both the Wonder and Bomba Bars feature dual rings in knurling to get your hands set where you need to for both powerlifting and olympic lifting. Both bars also feature a smooth patch in the middle of the knurling instead of being knurled all the way around the shaft.

The shaft on the Bomba Bar is a cerakote finish, which means it has a ceramic finish applied on top. As far as the spin on the bar, there’s a nice, smooth, predictable spin provided by bushings.

The Wonder Bar, cosmetically, looks different from the Bomba because it does not have the ridge with the rubber band branding around the collar. The finish is slightly different as well. Where the Bomba is a cerakote finish on the shaft, the Wonder Bar features a black zinc or manganese phosphate finish across the entire barbell - from sleeve to sleeve. The bars featured are used bars at the Fringe HQ gym, so you can expect some of the same wear in the future of your Wonder or Bomba Bar.

The Wonder Bar has a moderate knurling, but this one is considered moderate to mild instead of being on a more aggressive end like the Bomba. The Wonder Bar will bite into your hands slightly less, but this is a personal preference thing and not something to worry or think too much about if that isn’t something that matters to you. Both bars are great options and aren’t too soft of a knurl, but are definitely not on the cheese-grater-end either.

The Wonder Bar also features dual rings and lacks the knurl in the center. Both bars lack the knurl down the center because these are made for Olympic lifting or CrossFit-type workouts, and most of these workouts and the people doing them do not require the knurling down the entire bar. Olympic lifters are cleaning to their shoulders often, and don’t want the knurl to cut up their shoulders, and CrossFitters are often squatting and lifting and working out without a shirt on so they don’t want the knurl to rip up their backs.

Both bars feature a 28mm shaft diameter, so they’re going to feel similar when your hands are wrapped around them. They’ve got very similar width, and very similar spin around the collars.

If you’re looking for a USA made, slightly more aggressive knurling, go with the Bomba Bar. If you want a slightly less expensive, but AMAZING, Super Man or Super Woman barbell, go for the Wonder Bar.

Both the Wonder and Bomba Bars are made to serve you in your garage or commercial gym excellently. They’re both life-time warrantied and built to last a lifetime. No matter what barbell you choose, you’re going to love the one you get.

Do you have your next barbell in mind? Let us know below! Which barbell are you more likely to choose?

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Grab your next barbell, and lift heavy, lift happy :)