olympic bar suggestion

MFdaveIreland

Hi there folks, im on the look out for an Olympic bar for a home gym. I have come across a few, yet I was wondering if anyone has experience of these for sale by 'servicesport'. they are based in England.

here is what I came across: http://www.servicesport.co.uk/olympic-bar-86-x-28mm-dia-x-1500lbs-chrome-5-grip/

Im looking for a bar that wont break the bank, yet wont fall apart, so I believe im looking for one with sealed bearings? im not sure . thanks

dor843088

Thats a generic Chinese bar if im not mistaken. If your only using it for powerlifting or bodybuilding and thats all your budget will allow then it will do the job but it is what it is. Im pretty sure you could pick one up from a shop in ireland cheaper. Try adverts.ie.

Alf Veedersane

Couple on adverts for €95.

Not even sure the crowd at the link above deliver outside the UK. 'United Kingdon' is the only option in the Country field

DylanJM

I have this bar and it's one of the best value bars I've come across. Holds it's own against bars two or even three times the price.

http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-d8-olympic-lifting-bar/

MFdaveIreland

literally going to link one on d8 fitness also! I was going to ask about what they sell. Any opinions, do they make them or are they imported?, many thanks for your help so far !#



edit:
what is the difference with this one?
http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-olympic-oxide-bar-28mm/ seems to pretty much same spec ???

Edwardius

Those d8 bars are serious value for money, they can take dogs abuse.

dor843088

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

literally going to link one on d8 fitness also! I was going to ask about what they sell. Any opinions, do they make them or are they imported?, many thanks for your help so far !#



edit:
what is the difference with this one?
http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-olympic-oxide-bar-28mm/ seems to pretty much same spec ???

Just from the picture you can see one is knurled all the way to the sleeve with a finer knurl and one has a more aggressive knurl and doesnt go to the sleeve. The description is pretty poor on both id contact or call in to them.

MFdaveIreland

i contacted them and they said the 170 one is higher rating, yet doesnt say that in the description. would seem foolish to pay more for a bar that is basically the same ?

DylanJM

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

i contacted them and they said the 170 one is higher rating, yet doesnt say that in the description. would seem foolish to pay more for a bar that is basically the same ?

They are not basically the same. The bar I linked is a good quality bar for the price and will last for a long time if treated right. It has bearings, good knurling and stays straight. The cheaper one you linked doesn't look like a good quality bar at all. It most likely uses bushings, the knurling probably won't be great and it'll probably bend over time as well.

Just because to things might have the same specs on paper doesn't mean they will be of equal quality.

The numbers manufactures post about their bars are often very dubious as well, especially the so called load ratings of 450kg, 600kg, etc. These numbers don't really mean anything. The important number for determining the quality of a bar is the tensile strength which is only provided in the specs for better bars as cheap bars are made from rubbish steel with a low tensile strength. Good bars will have a tensile strength of at least 180,000 psi or 1240Mpa (it's more commonly noted in psi though).

If there's one piece of equipment you shouldn't look to save money on it's a barbell.

Hanley

DylanJM wrote: »

They are not basically the same. The bar I linked is a good quality bar for the price and will last for a long time if treated right. It has bearings, good knurling and stays straight. The cheaper one you linked doesn't look like a good quality bar at all. It most likely uses bushings, the knurling probably won't be great and it'll probably bend over time as well.

Just because to things might have the same specs on paper doesn't mean they will be of equal quality.

The numbers manufactures post about their bars are often very dubious as well, especially the so called load ratings of 450kg, 600kg, etc. These numbers don't really mean anything. The important number for determining the quality of a bar is the tensile strength which is only provided in the specs for better bars as cheap bars are made from rubbish steel with a low tensile strength. Good bars will have a tensile strength of at least 180,000 psi or 1240Mpa (it's more commonly noted in psi though).

If there's one piece of equipment you shouldn't look to save money on it's a barbell.

All of this.

The cheaper bar you linked is basically junk and the sorta thing you buy and never use again.

I have a few of the more expensive ones linked from d8 in my gym and they're still going strong after 2 years of daily use and abuse.

MFdaveIreland

hi guys, il probably go with d8 ,
I was on website there, and spotted a black oxide bar , 20 euro cheaper than the bar someone linked in:

here are the 2 bars:

170 euros: http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-d8-olympic-lifting-bar/

150 euros black oxide bar : http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-cross-training-open-bearing-bar-28mm/

only difference on paper that I could see was the latter black one is rated at 800kg vs 600kg of the previous, and it has open bearings? anyone any idea what this really means,

sorry for all the questions, thanks

dor843088

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

hi guys, il probably go with d8 ,
I was on website there, and spotted a black oxide bar , 20 euro cheaper than the bar someone linked in:

here are the 2 bars:

170 euros: http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-d8-olympic-lifting-bar/

150 euros black oxide bar : http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-cross-training-open-bearing-bar-28mm/

only difference on paper that I could see was the latter black one is rated at 800kg vs 600kg of the previous, and it has open bearings? anyone any idea what this really means,

sorry for all the questions, thanks

Your overthinking this sh1t man. You got a good recommendation of a decent bar from two people earlier in the thread. If your spending less than a few hundred then a fairly decent bar that will last is what your looking for. At the end of the day unless you want a bar for a specific reason then it doesnt really matter.

Edwardius

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

hi guys, il probably go with d8 ,
I was on website there, and spotted a black oxide bar , 20 euro cheaper than the bar someone linked in:

here are the 2 bars:

170 euros: http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-d8-olympic-lifting-bar/

150 euros black oxide bar : http://www.d8fitness.com/product/7ft-cross-training-open-bearing-bar-28mm/

only difference on paper that I could see was the latter black one is rated at 800kg vs 600kg of the previous, and it has open bearings? anyone any idea what this really means,

sorry for all the questions, thanks

Get the 170 one, I've used both and it's more than €20 better than the Oxide bar.

MFdaveIreland

Update, got the 170 bar from d8.

top job and thanks for recommending it, high quality stuff!