Weights wont fit onto a barbell?

barryd09

Bit of an odd one this (well ive never heard of this before)
During the week i bought a 6ft barbell (not an olympic bar) in elverys as i have some weights at home,these are standard weight plates and have a centre diameter of 2.5cm (these are the standard centre diameters for non olympic bars,arent they?) but they wont fit onto the bar!?

The bar is a spin lock bar,seems like a really decent bar except for the fact that none of the weights i have will fit onto the feckin thing!!

I suppose my question is, if they arent olympic plates going onto it surely just your bog standard plates from elverys or argos or something should fit it?
Its almost as if the inside of the weights plate centres need to be filed down.

Am i missing something with this? Are there plates with 3cm diameters? Because ive only ever seen 2.5cm ones and thats all i have!
Or could it be a case that only certain brand weights fit it? (ie york or something)

Satanta

elverys bars are thicker than normal diameter. I had this problem a few years ago when I bought my younger brother a set from there. He had to get any additional plates from elverys then. The catch is that they are more expensive than the other sport shops.

farmchoice

this happened to me elverys sell plates that seem to come with 2 or even 3 different sized holes. i bought 10kg and 20kg barbell plates and they would not fit onto the bar, the hole was too small.
i brought them to a local precision engineering firm and they drilled slightly bigger holes for me. the had it done by the following day.

barryd09

Ah fcuk that! Barbell is going back so,not a notion im paying for a load of new plates,esp at elverys prices (€27 for a 10kg plate).

Thanks for the replies,I knew something wasnt right with this!
Should argos barbells be ok does anyone know?
Might just pick up a set including a 5/6ft barbell plus two more dumbells and plates.

rubadub

I'd bring it back and get a refund. You could possibly reduce the size of the bar so your normal plates fit it, rather than having to drill out plates. Taking down the plate or bar is going to expose the metal underneath which will rust, so its not worth the bother IMO.

If you, or anybody has a 5ft solid spinlock standard bar they want to swap for a 6ft one let me know. I got a 6ft but its too long for my liking, I know many might have a 5ft from the standard york kit. I'm in south dublin.

marathonic

Can you get it exchanged? I wouldn't like to be stuck with a bar where I can only buy plates in one location.

What's your budget? You could get something like this for about 290 euro delivered if you order through www.FatCheese.ie (which gives you a 10% rebate).

This may be over your budget or you may not want an olympic set in which case you could always go for something like this.

If you're planning to stick at it, you'll probably outgrow the cheaper sets in a matter of weeks.

ray jay

barryd09 wrote: »

Ah fcuk that! Barbell is going back so,not a notion im paying for a load of new plates,esp at elverys prices (€27 for a 10kg plate).

Thanks for the replies,I knew something wasnt right with this!
Should argos barbells be ok does anyone know?
Might just pick up a set including a 5/6ft barbell plus two more dumbells and plates.

You could always try these ones. Contact them if you're worried about the diameter of the bar but I'm almost certain it's 25mm.

barryd09

The bar is defo going back to elverys for a refund & i will grab a set in argos instead.
I have a gym membership anyhow so this home setup is really only for when i cant make the gym.

Thanks lads!

rubadub

barryd09 wrote: »

i will grab a set in argos instead.

Be sure the get the cast iron sets, the vinyl ones have hollow bars which will bend. The standard will be 5ft in those sets which might be too short for some benches.

The york chrome set is on offer http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=13352&langId=111&searchTerms=50kg&authToken=

Not sure of the quality of the chrome, my normal black york plates do have a little rust on them.

barryd09

Ya i'll be going for the cast iron ones alright,just need to return the elverys bar tomorrow first.

Thanks lads!

Dotcomdolly

I have some (8 - so maybe 2 takers? ) York vinyl 1.1kg/2.5lb plates if anyone would like them.
free to collect from D12

barryd09

Brought the 6ft bar back to Elverys today and got a 5ft solid spin lock instead,brought a 2.5cm plate with me too and it fits,happy days!

Thanks lads!!

Gloveworm

Sorry to revive a zombie thread but I had the same problem with an Elvery's barbell.

I bought a (non-Olympic) barbell and some weights from them instore about 2 years ago. Just before Christmas, I ordered 2x20kg plates from their website. When they arrived, the holes were about 3mm too small for my barbell, aaaargh! They're taking them back but I just wonder why there are such tiny but significant variations in the plates they sell.

I'm going to look into buying an Olympic set as all the fittings are much more standardised.