PDA

View Full Version : The Barbell Thread



liquidboi69
08-26-2009, 01:42 AM
I was skimming through the Crossfit thread thread, and I was noticing people were looking for weight sets/bars. So I decided to make a thread about it.

Barbell Info:
Most people that buy bars from any Canadian retailers are getting cheap China made CAP brand barbells (the ones with hex bolts at the ends). These bars have a low weight capacity. Most of these bars come with 300lb, 500lb, or 1000lb capacity (Go Mango's are 1000lb caps.)

These capacity numbers are basically determined by putting a bar on a rack, and adding weight until it breaks. These ratings are extremely inaccurate as most Crossfit/Olympic lifters will be using dynamic lifts. Basically, a stationary weight capacity does not translate to the bar moving. Therefore, bars will most likely bend before this given rating.

I have heard that the 1000lb capacity bar bent after loading 600lb on it a few times. A 500lb cap bar would also most likely bend if you dropped it 3 feet with ~200lb on it (not great for Olympic lifters).

What to look for when buying barbells:
There are really only three things to look for when buying a new barbell (coating is personal preference.)

#1: Type of bar
Olympic bar: Olympic bars will be a bit whippy, and will have Olympic knurling/ring marks spaced for the Oly lifts. These bars will be more expensive than powerlifting bars, as they have to have a high PSI rating to cope with the dropping/have a whippy+strong metal characteristic making the metal processing more difficult.

Powerlifting/General bar: These bars will most likely not be whippy, as you do not want it to whip on your back while doing rep work on squats and bench. Most people will want to use this bar, as most gym bars have powerlifting knurling marks. There are also bars with both powerlifting and olympic knurling marks. These are general use bars, and are the best IMO.

#2: PSI rating (not lb capacity)
One should should look for PSI ratings when buying a barbell, and not lb ratings (which are extrapolated from PSI ratings.) These PSI ratings are yield strength/tensile strength ratings. These are the readings where the bar will start to PERMANENTLY deform. Bars...especially whippy Olympic bars will deform before this rating, but will bend back HOPEFULLY to their original spec.

The following are rough PSI ratings of popular/non specialty bars, and their respective US online pricing excluding shipping/customs:
Cap bar (1200lb rating): 130K PSI (~$150)
Pendlay Econ: 125K PSI (discontinued. Non econs are $300, unsure of PSI rating on those)
Sonirex all terrain bar:150k PSI (~$350)
Rogue bar: 155K PSI (~$250)
Hampton bar (1500lb rating): 165K PSI (~$250)
Texas Power Bar: 185K PSI (~$300)
York Elite-Olympic Bar: 195K PSI (~$450)
York Burgerner and Rippetoe bar: 205K PSI (~$300)
Regular Ivanko bar (IPF approved): 200K PSI (~$500)
Stainless Steel Ivanko or Eleiko IPF competition bar: 210-220k PSI (~$1000 USD) **For reference, this bar bent when loaded with 900lb and dropped 3 feet.

#3: Dimensions
All Olympic barbells have sleeves that are 2inches in diameter, and range from 5-7 feet in width. However, one would need to get one that is 6 to 7 feet if you want the bar to fit in a cage/Olympic bench. As for knurling dimensions, ideally you would want to look for a bar that has both PL/OLY knurlings.

Another important criteria is how thick it is. Normally, crappy quality bars are 30-32mm thick because they need the thickness to make up for their lack of material/processing quality. IPF uses 29mm thick bars, and IWF uses 28mm. A thicker bar may help develop grip strength, but it will hinder rep work. I would say a good median is 28.5 or 29mm for general gym work.

A good place to get bars:
While looking for a bar myself, I stumbled upon this website:

http://www.roguecanada.ca/store/bars.php

This place just opened up in Edmonton a month ago, so delivery/customs will not a problem. The pricing is the best I've found if one includes shipping/custom fees. I'm thinking of picking up a B&R bar when I bend my 1000lb CAP bar. The lifetime warranty against bending on the Rouge Bar sounds tempting, but the B&R is superior, has a center knurl for squats, and has less whip. If I have the extra $50 to spare, I will buy the B&R.

Go-Mango fitness can order in most bars. You'll have to call for a quote however.

lint
08-26-2009, 08:52 AM
Originally posted by liquidboi69
The lifetime warranty against bending on the Rouge Bar sounds tempting, but the B&R is superior, has a center knurl for squats, and has less whip. If I have the extra $50 to spare, I will buy the B&R.


this really depends on what you're doing. IF you're going to be doing ANY oly lifts, the rogue bar is a better choice for the reasons that you say the B&R bar is better. 28.5mm vs 29mm, whip, no center knurl (front squats, cleans). I believe the B&R bar is made by York, while the Rogue bar was made by Pendlay. Pendlay also has new bars out now, http://www.pendlaybarbell.com/bars.html

liquidboi69
08-26-2009, 02:42 PM
That is true. I agree that the Rouge bar is the better bar all round. However, I only do the powerlifts.

I do hear GREAT things about the Pendlay + Rouge bar's knurls. The B&R bar is unfinished for a workhorse look...and people may not like that.

Some people might find the Rouge's 28.5mm too thin. Anything less than 29mm would be detrimental to powerlifters and grip developement IMO. 28.5mm I guess would pass, but if it was 28mm I would not consider getting it.

The B&R center knurl is helpful for back squats, but sucks for cleans and front squats like you said.

The rouge bar is more well rounded, and the B&R is more power lifting geared...but uses stronger steel. Both good bars and good choices IMO.

wintonyk
08-27-2009, 01:18 AM
good post

i have been thinkin about picking up my own oly bar for some time, because as you mentioned in reading the crossfit thread it is a ton of power movements. thanks

kutt3r
08-27-2009, 06:50 AM
Interesting to see Rogue in Canada... that is an awesome find.

liquid are you heading to Edmonton in November?

Oz-
08-27-2009, 08:30 AM
Originally posted by kutt3r
Interesting to see Rogue in Canada... that is an awesome find.

liquid are you heading to Edmonton in November?

Jay - Are you heading there? I want to go to watch, but doubt I would lift. Want to see how much different the IPF is then the other multi-ply feds.

Beyond road-trip?

liquidboi69
08-27-2009, 01:40 PM
Originally posted by kutt3r
Interesting to see Rogue in Canada... that is an awesome find.

liquid are you heading to Edmonton in November?
I'm going to Edmonton if everything goes well with school, and my lifting partners go up as well.

Also Oz-, I hear that next year's provincials may be in Calgary. If they do indeed hold it at U of C, that would be awesome for all us Calgarians.

Oz-
08-27-2009, 02:07 PM
Originally posted by liquidboi69

I'm going to Edmonton if everything goes well with school, and my lifting partners go up as well.

Also Oz-, I hear that next year's provincials may be in Calgary. If they do indeed hold it at U of C, that would be awesome for all us Calgarians.

Would be nice for them to be in Calgary. How long has it been since they were held here? I think 2003 is the last time there were here, probably due to the fact not many IPF members are located in Calgary.

kutt3r
08-27-2009, 10:17 PM
Yea Calgary is pretty GPC...which I support and competed in, but variety is the spice of life.

Oz - Thinking about it if I can drop down to 181 and my squats are looking betting.... check out IA's I have squat vids up in my briefs.. they are not pretty and certainly not IPF low. I also want to get into a shirt here pretty quickly, although my bench sucks so bad I might just bench raw.

Dude we have to crack your cherry sometime... hehe

Where you training out of Liquid?

liquidboi69
08-28-2009, 01:24 AM
U of C gym + my house. I wish we had one gym where all the powerlifters went to so everyone could help each other out.

All the lifters are pretty spread apart in Calgary.

gmoney82
08-28-2009, 10:23 AM
Hey good info thanks.

I'm am looking to get back into training this fall. Do you know of any places that sell hex bars for squats/deadlifts?

lint
08-28-2009, 12:06 PM
Originally posted by gmoney82
Hey good info thanks.

I'm am looking to get back into training this fall. Do you know of any places that sell hex bars for squats/deadlifts?

If you're looking for a trap bar, talk to TurboD. He loves them

lint
08-28-2009, 12:07 PM
Originally posted by liquidboi69
U of C gym + my house. I wish we had one gym where all the powerlifters went to so everyone could help each other out.

All the lifters are pretty spread apart in Calgary.

the old Gym in the NE, before it moved to Workout World used to have strongman gear and seemed to be more hardcore. Nothing's opened up like that since?

liquidboi69
08-28-2009, 01:59 PM
Originally posted by gmoney82
Hey good info thanks.

I'm am looking to get back into training this fall. Do you know of any places that sell hex bars for squats/deadlifts?
Go Mango fitness sells trap bars for around 250 I believe. They also hold a tonne of weight. I've seen it being loaded with around 750 and it hasn't bent.

lint
08-30-2009, 04:06 PM
How is it that Rogue sells the B&R bar for $295 USD, but Rogue Canada sells it for $315 USD when it's MADE IN CANADA???

kutt3r
08-30-2009, 09:56 PM
Originally posted by lint


the old Gym in the NE, before it moved to Workout World used to have strongman gear and seemed to be more hardcore. Nothing's opened up like that since?

ProBodies is the biggest that I know of.

Iron Werks on Centre is supposed to have some big guys there, but I have never been in there so not sure.

The gym on Glenmore and Ogden had a mono and some big guys when I worked out there a couple years ago... not sure what it is like now. (Was kinda funny to see people try to use the mono not having a clue what it was)

liquidboi69
08-30-2009, 10:24 PM
Originally posted by lint
How is it that Rogue sells the B&R bar for $295 USD, but Rogue Canada sells it for $315 USD when it's MADE IN CANADA???
Ya it's like that with tires too. Apparently Fountain Tire orders stuff in for 115/tire for some winter tires I ordered. They sold it to the USA for 250, and sold it to Canadians for 350 (all came from the same warehouse)

It's all because that's how the market/competition is in Canada. The markets better in the US because there's more people buying tires/weights, and therefore they can wholesale for cheaper.

But even if it's an international company that wholesales to both CAN + USA, they exploit the pricing in the region for profit. That's how it is for anything. Sucks

Oz-
08-31-2009, 09:23 AM
Originally posted by kutt3r


The gym on Glenmore and Ogden had a mono and some big guys when I worked out there a couple years ago... not sure what it is like now. (Was kinda funny to see people try to use the mono not having a clue what it was)

My understanding of the gym there, much of that PL equipment is owned by 1 guy there. He is a pilot and brought all that stuff in to train. I can just imagine people trying to figure out the mono...

2EFNFAST
09-03-2009, 01:03 AM
Does anybody know how good the old Northern Lights stuff is? I bought a lot of stuff back in the 90s from fitness depot (all Northern Lights) and it's still holding up quite well, 10yrs later. I've had 700lbs on ther olympic barbell at it hasn't bent at all.

KRyn
05-09-2012, 08:24 PM
Just ordered up the Pendlay HD NexGen Bushing bar... I hope it spins real nice. Didn't want to spend the extra coin on the bearing bar as I can't Oly lift worth a damn. Ill let you all know how it is next week.

liquidboi69
05-11-2012, 04:56 AM
Yea haha. Can't wait. We'll have three of the bars I wrote/read about years ago.

Also Oz- and Kutter. We all train at strive now (the GPC guys AND the IPF guys under run roof/getting along.) Not sure if you guys train with any of them/if we have met in real life already? Jay = James?

KRyn
05-16-2012, 09:01 AM
Barbell arrived today. I ordered from Muscle Driver Canada on Friday and it arrived today. It was shipped via UPS and for the first time ever my package arrived and I didn't have to pay any extra sort of fees, what a feeling. Going to give the barbell a test run today. I am expecting big things as it is highly rated and has recieved a ton of positive feedback. Expect an update with pictures shortly.

KRyn
05-16-2012, 11:14 PM
The bar is simply amazing. For the small price of $400.00 it is as good as some bearing bars. Well worth it for anyone interested in Oly lifting. Note that this bar can't be used to back squat as it has no knurling.