USAWA

“In the past we (at the Dino Gym) have went through several “junk bars” a year. When they get bent I pitch them on the junk pile north of the gym and buy another one. I consider these bars as “throw away” bars and just a normal casualty of heavy lifting. But the past few years we have been using a junk bar that has held up surprising well. This bar is the Midwest Power Bar from Solid Bar. It is a cheap bar as well. Right now we have two of them in use (one with center knurling and one without) and they are still staight as an arrow! Surprisingly they are manufactured only 30 miles from where I live!!!!”
Just curious.
Jim

2 of the strongest bars I have that have lasted through abuse were from Jesup gym. I don’t think they sell the same bars anymore as I have had 2 of mine for 10+ years. Cap Barbells products have really gone downhill as I have bought some of the their better bars and bent them all, granted they had warrantys on them and they covered it. My favorite bar I have recently bought is the Pendlay Nexgen bar.

Jesse

Jesse – I’ve been waiting on a review from you on your Pendlay NexGen bar. I take it you have liked it – but is there anything about it that you don’t like?? Lately I’ve been using the Pendlay Elite Bar as my primary OLY platform bar.

I’ve been fortunate to have owned 3 Jesup bars (the old ones). I wish now I would have bought several of them when they were available. The old Jesup bars had a thick shaft (1-1/4″ and were stiff bars. The new Jesup bars are not the same bars. I still have one left, and its very loose in the sleeves from wear. I don’t use it anymore.

Al

Jim, In answer to your question – this is the website for Solid Bar: http://www.solidbarfitness.com/

They mainly deal through distributers,but do sell directly with better prices. The bar I like is the Midwest Power Bar. It’s a great bar for the price and is rated well (165000PSI). Now I have bent a couple of them, but only after lots of use. I abuse them like crazy, and use them for things a bar is not designed for (like Harness Zercher Squats and harness Front squats). You can get the bar with center knurling and without. Al

Another thing –

I’m glad you guys liked my article. There really is not much on the internet covering proper evaluation of lifting bars. And what is available – is heavy in propoganda as its from bar manufacturers. There’s some info in discussion forums – but much of that is BS.

My wife never reads anything I write in the USAWA Daily News. Last night, after finishing that story, I was so proud of it I tried to get her to read it. I brought it up on the ipad as we were sitting around the living room watching TV, and gave it to her. She only spent 20-30 seconds looking at it, and said nonchalently, “it looks good”. There’s no way she read that LONG PIECE in that short of time! Even my wife doesn’t want to read the crap I write – so I sincerely THANK ANYONE who read it all and got something out of it!!! haha Dinoman

Al, the whole topic is kinda funny in that most regular gym goers don’t give a damn. Case in point:
Bought a competition Werksan bar 1 1/2 years ago. WOW!! A superb Olympic Lifting bar. Upon first getting the bar, I’d bring it to my cousin’s gym once a week. EVERYONE who tried it immediately knew it felt smooth. It was funny cuz at first they’d be skeptical. “What do you mean ‘try out the bar?'” was often expressed. These folks never gave it a thought that there’s something possibly something different to use. This bar became a BIG HIT whenever I brought it in. Are they or the gym in a position to drop almost a grand on just one bar? Nope.
Dedicated lifters that compete, salivate over a chance to get a ‘better bar’
On a related subject but not really, Rigoulot became the first to Clean & Jerk 400 and One Arm Snatched 250+ on a springy 10ft. bar. He knew how to use the whip to his advantage. Chances are he could not have repeated these lifts on a 7ft Olympic style bar.
Do you know what the diameter of the bar was? What ever happened to the bar? Maybe we could do some Exhibition lifts with a bar like his. The lifts could be called Clean & Jerk-Rigoulot Bar and One Arm Snatch-Rigoulot Bar. could be fun.

I really enjoyed that article as well. This is going to sound like a joke, but I started it last night and my laptop battery died halfway through so I finished it this morning. Very good information, in there for sure! The gym I go to actually has a york bar, but I think they got it from the gym they bought out which was a pretty good hardcore gym. They have 2 good bars that I prefer and a couple of others I use when I need to. I never use the chrome ones, but it’s funny how many people swap out the good bars in favor of those. It is great to have Al as a resource, he helped me pick out the first bar that I bought. Of course it did bend after only a half dozen uses….hmmmm

JK, there was a defect and the bar was replaced at no charge!

Al is a guru when it comes to equipment. Just don’t let him talk you into putting capsaicin on you equipment (Al will appreciate that!).

As for bars, Al about has me talked into a nexgen…..

Great article!!

Best bars i’ve ever lifted was those Eleiko Olympic bars in Glasgow, very very high revolving with perfect knurling, LFDL felt easy 🙂 Perhaps not easiest bar for two arm Ciavattone grip DL??

What about you Al? Did you get that 28mm Leoko IWF bar? Just remember you mentioned about it on the way to Dinnies.

[b]Quote from dinoman on February 25, 2013, 15:21[/b]

There really is not much on the internet covering proper evaluation of lifting bars. And what is available – is heavy in propoganda as its from bar manufacturers. There’s some info in discussion forums – but much of that is BS.

Hey, that sounds just like all of the training and nutrition advise you get from all of these self-proclaimed gurus and supplement companies.

Al, thank you for bringing the science of statics and dynamics into your presentation. Regardless of whether we’re talking about barbells or how a muscle adapts to training stressors and supplements, science is the answer not hype, myth, personal opinion, and conjecture.

Dan

Timo – I’m still WAITING on the Leoko bar! But I’m looking forward to it.

Jim – the extra long bar that Rigolot used definitely assisted him in those lifts. I’ve seen the pictures of it and it looks like it would get a good flex and whip. But the question to ask is this – did it provide any more assistance than the quality WL bars that we have today??? Probably not.

dinoman

I’d like to make a couple more points about Olympic Weightlifting bars. The High Quality bars can be IWF certified if the manufacturer decides to. This means meeting the specs set by the IWF, and paying the fee. I just got this off the IWF site:

USA Weightlifting Barbell Certification Opportunity

Barbell manufacturers whose barbell sets meet IWF certification standards, but are not currently certified by the IWF, now have the opportunity to receive USA Weightlifting certification for use of their barbell sets in USA Weightlifting national and non-national events.

In order to receive this certification, manufacturers must meet the following requirements:

•Barbell sets must meet all IWF standards for IWF certification as specified in the most current IWF Technical & Competition Rules;
•The manufacturer must make produce 20 kg and 15 kg bars, to the most current IWF certification standards available;
•If the IWF standards change during the one-year certification period, the USA Weightlifting certification is voided thereafter for the balance of the certification period;
•Barbell sets for which manufacturers seek certification, are subject to independent testing and evaluation, as USA Weightlifting, in its sole discretion, shall determine;
•USA Weightlifting retains all rights to approve or deny certification.

The USA Weightlifting annual non-refundable certification fee is $10,000.

I have not been able to find a current list of IWF certified bars. I assume these are: Eleiko, Werksan, Zhangkong

Does anyone know of others? What about Uesaka? I know they were at one time, as well as the Leoko.

However, bars can meet the specs of certification without being identified as “certified bars”. I call these spec bars, meaning they could be certified bars if they just wanted to “pony up” the money for it. Al

RJ – I hope they didn’t buy some of those “smart bars” from Power Systems!!! haha