Reply With QuoteThe one on the bottom is an old york. They are very good bars. Hopefully it is straight and still in good order.
The one with the rubber cap is probably junk.
Member
Anybody recognize these barbells?
Considering buying them, does anyone recognize them? They don't look like junk to me, other than the rust, which I can fix.
Edit: New picture shows that one is a York Bar. Excellent.
Barbells2.jpg
Barbells.jpg
Last edited by RussB; 11-30-2012 at 08:27 PM.
Member
The one on the bottom is an old york. They are very good bars. Hopefully it is straight and still in good order.
The one with the rubber cap is probably junk.
Starting Strength Coach
Pretty sure the split sleeve is a York.
Member
The one with the split is definitely York. As for the other one, it clearly has a logo on it, we can't see it. Just google it.
Member
If the price is decent and they're straight, just buy both of them. If you decide not to keep the unknown bar, just clean it up well, re-oil it, snap some nice clear pics of it, and put it on Craigslist. There are always people looking for used olympic bars.
ETA: The other is a York. I have two like it right now- one marked York Barbell and one almost identical to it, but unmarked.
Member
Yeah I definitely want both of them, seller's about an hour and a half away and has a squat rack, the barbells, couple hundred pounds in weight, and a tree for $250 so it might be gone before I have time to get them. I really mostly just want the York bar then I'll sell the rest of the stuff (after I clean it up) and use the money to buy another squat rack (the Powerline PSS60x which was reviewed well by several on here). I also have one of those lined up used for $110, if it doesn't sell before I get it, as well. So this is all part of a larger picture in my scheming to upgrade my basement gym.
Member
Well I got these barbells, an incline bench, a squat rack (too big for my basement), ~200 pounds of plates, two weight stands, and a decline situp bench for $225. From another seller I got the Powerline PSS60x squat rack for $110, and that's probably the one I'll end up using, unfortunately. Some of the weights were also old York plates, including one 35 lb. milled plate. Too bad it didn't have a match. I'll keep the York bar, and then I'll probably get rid of my 30 mm aggressive knurling bar, and probably also the other bar I bought last night. The York should work for everything I do (squat, dead, bench, press, power clean), although the lack of center knurling isn't ideal.
Anybody who uses old York bars, are they whippy or rigid? Also, compared to my current bar, the knurling is really light. Is this normal?
As for the other bar in this deal, the writing on the plastic end cap says "1500", so I'm assuming it is rated for 1500 lb. It's also a thicker bar (haven't measured as of yet). Funny thing is, it has no center knurling.
Member
I use an old York bar fairly often, but I never noticed it's whippiness. What I have noticed is that they're fucking durable. The guy who owns the bar was squatting I think about 500 lbs with bands. The bands lifted up the rack, so he had to dump the bar onto the box he was squatting onto. A lesser bar would have been bent to hell, but this one is nearly straight as an arrow.Originally Posted by RussB
The lack of center knurling might mean it's a deadlift bar. And knurling is probably going to be fairly light on old York bars just because they're about 30 years old. The one I used is about 45 years old.
Member
Good point on the knurling. Probably just worn. I bet deadlifting will be easier with the York even though my current bar has really aggressive knurling, since the York has a smaller diameter.
As for the other bar, aren't deadlifting bars usually thinner? This one seems to be at least 30 mm.
Member
The knurling on my Yorks (and all of the other York bars I've seen) isn't as aggressive as some other companies'. It's almost like they cut the knurl and then flattened the peaks, if that makes any sense. One of mine spent the majority of its life in a squat rack, and there is a noticeable difference bewteen the areas of knurling that were in contact with the rack and the areas that weren't, but even the "unflattened" knurling isn't very aggressive.
Posting Permissions