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USC upgraded its football weight room with ~$100k+ of Nike Strength custom squat…

2026-08-07 · 17:12 UTC ·@homegymcoop ·1 min read

Brief

USC installed ~$100k+ Nike Strength custom squat racks using a 'Clear Grind' finish in its football weight room. The author warns Clear Grind—manual metal grinding followed by clear powdercoat—historically traps moisture and causes corrosion (Sorinex reportedly abandoned it; the author saw corrosion within a year). If Nike fixed this, it would be a lucrative, visually distinctive product.

Why it matters

USC upgraded its football weight room with ~$100k+ of Nike Strength custom squat racks; USC Football called it “the first weight room in College Football with Nike Strength custom racks.”

Key details

  • 'Clear Grind' finish (raw metal ground then clear powdercoat) is claimed to make it extremely difficult to remove all moisture prior to powdercoating, historically trapping moisture and causing corrosion; Sorinex reportedly stopped offering this process and the author’s Clear Grind rack developed corrosion in under one year.
  • The author asserts that if Nike Strength solved Clear Grind’s moisture/corrosion issues, they’ve solved a high-value problem buyers will pay premium prices for; the finish is visually unique because the grind is done by hand.
Source evidence

USC just upgraded their football weight room with ~$100k+ of squat racks with what has historically been the most notoriously rust prone coating process known to gym equipment.

‘Clear Grind’ -the process of grinding the raw squat rack metal and then spraying a clear powdercoat over the top, makes it incredibly hard to remove 100% moisture prior to powdercoating.

This causes trapped moisture and prevents-mature corrosion.

It’s so hard to get right that the company who was most known for this process, Sorinex, no longer even offers it to my knowledge.

This is a clear grind squat rack I used to have showing the corrosion developing in between the metal and powder coat after less than a year.

If Nike Strength figured out how to do this process without it leading to rust, they’ve solved a big problem that people will pay big money for. I hope they did.

It’s one of the coolest looking rack powdercoat options because every rack looks different thanks to the grind being done by human hands (one of the few processes still done by humans with racks.)

USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb)

The first weight room in College Football with Nike Strength custom racks 💪

Engineered to the exact specifications of championship athletes.

— https://nitter.net/uscfb/status/2085399335186120883#m