When we had Janae Kroc come down to visit our team at the Lab and get in a sick training session with Chris Duffin, we knew we had to do something special on a collaboration. Inspired by Janae's insane feats of strength - especially the legendary Kroc Row with up to 300lbs - we set out to make a loadable DB of sufficient sleeve length so she wouldn't have to use a 36" threaded pipe to have enough room for plates (seriously).
Like our barbells, these high quality DBs are manufactured in-house using American steel by skilled Kabuki machinists, fabricators, and technicians on high-tech CNC machines.
We are honored and thankful to partner with legendary strength athlete and bodybuilder Janae Marie Kroc to offer the official Kroc Handle, named after and inspired in length by Janae's legendary and famous Kroc Rows.
Kroc Loadable DBs are available in two finishes, a beautiful bare steel and a premium, high-corrosion resistance nickel finish.
Bare Steel bars maintain the truest feeling of the raw machined material. Over time they develop a beautiful deep blue/grey patina that can last for generations with minimal maintenance. Depending on how humid your environment is, we recommend regularly brushing down your bare steel DBs to clean them and applying a light coat of oil to prevent corrosion.
Nickel is our more premium plating option, and is typically used in engineering applications where high-wear, corrosion resistance, and hardness are needed. It is a beautiful, soft gold finish that is extremely durable and will retain its warm, mirror smooth polish for years to come.
Available in two lengths, "Regular" and "Kroc", the Kabuki Loadable DB is among the longest of any on the market. Even our Regular length (coming in at 7.5" loadable sleeve length) is longer than most loadables on the market. The Kroc version is on a whole other level, with a whopping 10.5" of loadable sleeve (about 65% of a standard barbell).
You'll have to do you own math to determine how much weight you can fit on the sleeves, and it will of course vary depending on how thick your 10s or 25s are. But let's just say we got 10x pretty fat 25s on the Kroc's with no issue.
Like all of our barbells, this loadable dumbbell features the coolest end caps in the iron game. The regular version includes a metal stamped end cap with our squat face icon and the 15lb weight of the empty dumbbell.
The Kroc includes a laser-engraved custom design with Janae in the middle of a 300lb row and a minimum load rating (please respect this). The Kroc's empty weight is it doesn't matter.
We take pride in producing the highest-quality barbells and strength equipment in the world, bar-none. Pun intended. Our small team is located at a joint manufacturing-training facility called Kabuki Strength Lab in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where we invest, design, engineer, test, and manufacture all the Kabuki products you've come to know and love with passion and purpose. Learn more about us and our "why".
Great
So I already have a single 185 pro-style dumbbell made by a CA-based shop that I use for rows. That's far from adjustable though, and my spinlocks only go up to 110 or so before running out of sleeve length. What about those poundages in between though? As well, what about going beyond 185? That's where a Kroc Handle came in and filled a niche for me. I went with the nickel since I'm in Florida but also for the aesthetics of it. Thing is, if you're strong enough to need something like this, you're gonna probably wind up shopping for more plates...
Luckily for me I was able to find some nice Japanese chrome 10s, 5s, and 2.5s to give me "enough weight" to load it up with. Mixing and matching with other Olympic plates I already had, I've so far been able to load this beast up to 230 with some "open" collars (which fit VERY snugly) at the heaviest and go for broke without any fear of breaking it or the plates. Great USA construction and the knurl is balanced enough to not rip your hands up. You will start feeling it on your later sets though, especially if not using straps.
30mm is a good handle diameter as something smaller tends to start really "digging" into the fingers (a problem I have with my aforementioned 185 Lb pro DB, as it's got a 25mm handle if I'm not mistaken). Long story short - if you need this kind of implement for your training, it's a go-to item. Plus it has the endorsement of a certified badass champion, to boot.
I bought the regular sleeves, nickel plated Kroc Dumbbell. Just got one, for heavy single-arm stuff. It is a beautiful little mini barbell. Machining is perfect. I like to disassemble, put some 3-in-1 on the inner workings, then re-assmble. This thing is super solidly made! Very impressive construction. Knurl is much more passive than other things I own (Shoulderok, Ohio Power Bar, Titan Fitness shorty loadable dumbbells, which can only go up to 40 LBS each, with my plates) but the knurl feels exactly right for this beast of a dumbbell. Great knurl for higher reps, without tearing up your calluses. With the iron plates in my garage, I can get this "regular sleeves" Kroc up to 125 LBS with HG 2.0 collars, which fit reassuringly tight. I was very happy to see Kabuki collaborating with and supporting a strength athlete who is openly trans. If you haven't seen the Netflix documentary "Transformer" about Janae's journey, it's definitely worth watching. Her endorsement swayed me toward this product, away from stainless steel Rogue DB15, to be honest. Very happy with my purchase. And the Kabuki stamped endcaps are just as amazing as everyone always says! Proud to own this awesome American-made dumbbell handle.
Bought a pair of nickel dumbbells in September. They shipped fast. They are my prized possession, despite owning Transformer, Kadillac, ShouldeRok, Pain Pill, Boomstick, etc.
I can’t get enough of the nickel plating. These are a work of art. But the knurl is what really gets me. I’ve never felt better knurl than this thing. Just hoping my nickel Duffalo matches it when it arrives.
Lastly, they’re amazing for rows.
The title says it: dope. I have the regular ones; I am relatively strong and would likely never exceed the length of these, given they are longer than standard ones. I cannot imagine anyone except some 1-5% of people who lift weights could reasonably need the Kroc ones. If you are among them, then kudos to you, and you will love them.
For us mere humans, the regular are still amazing. And dope.