ExRx.net

Is it worth the $$$?

Here's the basic info I dug up so far:
- Bend is good for olympic lifts, bad for bench/squat/deadlift/OHP
- Oly vs PL: knurl is understated vs "cheese grater" respectively (oly knurl marks are farther apart too)
- Center knurl MIA on Oly bars which is bad for low back squats-- is that REALLY true? that center knurl keeps it from sliding?

Burgener & Rippetoe Bar would have been perfect had it not been bare steel--people really hate the effort of keeping the rust away.

Here is a narrowed down selection--any thoughts?

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Westside

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Thanks TimD.

I don't think it'll really make that much difference. Just buy the cheapest one

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Thanks TimD.

I have the B&R bar, and I use it in an attached garage. It is definitely getting a nice patina on it - I want to say I got it about 3 years ago but I can't recall for sure. I would not call it rusty. Knurl is fantastic and diameter is very comfortable. I use it for standard "movement" style lifts and power variants of oly lifts, and it is great. It is straight as an arrow, and I have had to dump on pins quite a few times. I don't use bumpers but I am not gentle on it when I DL or when I'm doing the oly moves.

IMO, a barbell is a tool and is meant to be used, not to look shiny and beautiful every day - and raw steel does feel really good in your hands. The ritual of rubbing it down with some 3-in-1 every week or so is actually kind of nice, like a knight sharpening his sword. Most worthwhile things in this world require some upkeep.

Thank you for all the replies! I decided to shell out the $$$. Ever since main lifts replaced nearly everything I do with weights, I have sold the powertec half-rack with lat tower and was about to buy the Westside cage (really liked the idea of such close safety spacing to save both the ribs and the ROM) from Rogue.

Robert, getting another sears-type bar just felt wrong :)

Kenny, thanks for the breakdown - I realized that a very stiff PL bar is the best way to go.

Hoosegow, the westside was out of stock, so I got the York Power Bar. Oddly, Rogue calls it USA PB, but it's in fact the old-school York 32004 and it is drop-shipped directly from York, PA (it's easy to overlook as just a gimmicky named bar, but it's the real deal). My research showed that it's much stronger than anything in the $300 range.

Tuco, thank you for the insight on your B&R bar. It actually made me more comfortable with the choice as York manufactures the B&R!

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It seriously costs £180 for a bar?

It's possible to buy a used one from Craiglist, but you gotta get lucky. I sold my generic barbell for $100 after 4 years of use.

From what I saw, any barbell that is 28-29mm and is made of half-decent steel will be over $250. Maybe I did not do enough digging...

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dude, google "Eleiko"

A few trainers in my local gym said that the affordable ones came bent from the factory or became bent after dropping on safeties with very moderate weight. Poliquin actually has a promo video on youtube saying that the bars are meant to be bent or to bend, because they target dynamic olympic lifts.

Most Eleiko bars I saw in passing on various websites retail for 500-1000 USD.

PS
Google Ivanko :)

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This would do me:

http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/wei ... gn=Froogle

I don't even know how much my olympic bar costed originally, bought it from an uncle about 10 years ago along with an amount of weights that I still haven't out grown!

now we're talking