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Thread: 30mm barbell with bearing

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2024
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    Default 30mm barbell with bearing

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    Hello folks,

    does anyone know of a 30mm barbell with bearings?

    I am currently using a barbell without bearings with a maximum load of 350 kg (Langhantelstange newfitness(R) RB76-RS 30 mm). As strength training is only a support for my main sport, this is more than sufficient and I am therefore reluctant to switch to the Olympic barbells. However, I have now added the cleans to my program and a bearing would be nice.

    I couldn't find a 30mm barbell with bearing on Google. Maybe someone here knows something?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
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    54,949

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    Every 30mm bar I have ever seen was a piece of junk, made with cheap bar stock. Why not use an actual Olympic barbell? Why do you think you can't clean on a well-maintained bushing bar?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Posts
    960

    Default

    Looking at the link, I think you're using the equivalent of exercise plates, Juergen, and not Olympic plates, is that correct?

    If so, you're going to be severely limited with this type of bar and plates vs. the larger inner diameter plates and the bars that go with them.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2023
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    731

    Default

    If you're getting a new barbell anyway why do you care about it being 30mm?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2024
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    6

    Default

    Thanks for the quick answers.

    Yes, that is correct. I use plates with a diameter of 30mm. I had them long before I started with starting strength.

    I used to do the program without the cleans, but now I want to improve my power and have therefore started training the cleans. And only since then have I been thinking about a barbell with bearings.
    I'm looking for a barbell with a 30mm plate diameter so that I can continue to use my existing plates. Bushing would be fine as well.
    I am not restricted in terms of strength with my current barbell.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2023
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    Russia, Yekaterinburg
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    You will never find a 30 mm rotating sleeve barbell.

  7. #7
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
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    Default

    Rip, I think John meant a bar with 30 mm sleeves, not the bar itself. Juergen is using 1 inch inner diameter plates (exercise plates) or their European equivalent, and hence is looking for a bar with rotating sleeves that will fit those.

    Juergen, consider that a rotating sleeve must add diameter to the section of the bar around which it sits. Barbells with sleeves for 50mm ID plates have that 50 mm sleeve around a 27-30 mm bar that runs nearly the full length of the sleeve, so the 27-30 mm steel bar is bearing the weight. For a bar with a 30 mm grip section, the ends would have to be milled significantly smaller than a 30 mm diameter to fit inside the 30 mm outer diameter sleeves while leaving sufficient sleeve thickness + the bushings/bearings. This would sacrifice far too much structural integrity to be safe for use.

    Think also about dumbbells made from these kind of plates (e.g. the ones Rip discusses here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7pVtXPYtGM ). They use sleeves for the hand to grasp and allow the bar stock to rotate inside of them. This is cheaper, but it also reflects the same need - adjustable dumbbells that take this size plate either do not rotate, have a rotating sleeve, or depend on slop between the bar and the plates for rotation. If you're going to stick with these plates, you'll need to get your rotation from something other than the sleeves on the barbell.

    The 2"/50mm ID plates and their associated bars are better in the long term for this and many other reasons.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2024
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    6

    Default

    Unfortunately those are all barbells with a 50 mm sleeve

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2023
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    starting strength coach development program
    I think these are all 30 mm *shaft* bars, whereas OP is looking for bars with a 30 mm *sleeve*. This confused me as well. I think John Poe may be right if only because sleeve diameter isn't even listed for most barbells, because no one uses 30mm sleeve diameters.

    As others have said, cleaning with a bushing bar isn't all that bad, unless you are really fiddly about it, and if you are fiddly about it you should invest in some normal sized weights. If I had to lift with one type of bar, I'd choose a bushing bar because the slightly chunkier rotation on a clean is less disruptive than the wobbly feeling of pressing with a bearing bar.

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