Stork

I bent my second barbell today from dropping the bar on a concrete floor after I failed my set of front squats. It wasn't even really a cheap bar either, a 2m York 'beefy bar' rated for 150kg!

So now I want some olympic gear with rubber plates in the hope that it'll be more robust. Where should I get the equipment? I'd like about 100kg in plates to start off with..
I'd like some real quality so I can use it forever and not have to keep replacing it all the time!


Really annoys me cuz I've got like 140kg of 1" standard cast iron plates at home that I won't be able to use if I get an olympic bar :(

Inggasson

Maybe buy the same bar but be more careful with your form and rep ranges next time? :P

Stork

Form was fine, I was just too exhausted to lower the bar so I let it drop from shoulder height :|

Inggasson

Ouch, man. Glad to hear you didn't injure yourself!

It's just a random accident, man. At the end of the day, you're best off buying a bar that your weights will fit onto or you'll end up shelling out a lot more to replace it all.

jonesy2411

maybe just buy sum rubber padding for the floor so if you buy same bar again and have to drop it it might not bend!

jonesy

Porky Pie

Quality olympic bars are hard to source in the UK. You are looking at shipping in from either Finland or the States.

You want a hugely over rated bar with something like 1500lbs. Google up Ricky Crain's "Oke squat bar" or "Sportscraft" from Finland. You are looking at a lot of cash though, sadly. In the UK Pullum sports are the main suppliers of Elieko and Iron mind bars - these last forever.

Stork

Yeah, you're probably right. I do wish I'd started off buying an olympic bar though :(
rubber flooring is pretty expensive too :( I figured 3 layers of lino and a carpet would be good enough, you reckon I should put some wood under there too? Would that even help?
That's a damn shame, looks like the ones from Pullum Sports are way out of my price range :( I was thinking the cheapest one from powerhouse-fitness since I won't be loading it up with any more than 150kg.. And some of these olympic rubber plated discs from the same site. Comes up to like £250 for the 7' bar and 100kg of discs not including delivery or collars. I wonder how long that would last.



Does anyone here have experience with powerhouse-fitness equipment before? I might phone them tomorrow and ask if they have a guarantee.. Also try and get my old standard bar replaced/refunded.

Greyphantom

not being funny but if you drop the rubber weights from that height you will still damage them even though they are rubber... argos to a marcys set for 199 thats 140kg... not sure what the bar rating is though...

Stork

I don't get it, why? The bar's rated for huge weight :(

Ollie B

I dont buy any equipment to be honest. the only thing i need occasionally is a weight belt but my gym provides those.

Stork

Lucky! The gym near me has no barbell, smith machine, and the dumbells only go up to 20kg...

Ollie B

What kind of gym is that??

Greyphantom

It might be rated to hold a huge weight on the bar when its lifted in the manner it was meant, but impact resistance, whats its rating for that??? impact with the weight loaded on the bar, has it been rated/tested for that? This is why in most gyms they ask you not to drop the weights as they get damaged.

~The~Prodigy~

I understand your frustration but like you say the bar is designed for huge weight not huge impact, two totally different things.

Stork

It's a 'fitness suite' :( :( :( Going to bristol uni in september (fingers crossed I get the grades) and they should have a sick ass gym.
Damn shame, I dunno what I'm gonna do. I will work on my power-clean technique today so I can try and de-rack the bar without dropping it [or killing myself].




What should I do in the short-term about my bar? Is it worth investing a huge amount of money in a new olympic set, or should I just get a replacement bar of the same kind I just bent?

If I do buy a new olympic set that renders my nice collection of 1" plates (maybe 120kg or so) totally useless so I'd have to see if I can flog them on ebay or something.. 'Tis a bad day.