Have I just bought a rubbish bar? (UK)

Printable View

04-20-2021, 03:56 AM
Moment

Have I just bought a rubbish bar? (UK)

Hey

I'm about a month into SSLP. Put on about a stone in weight and doubled my strength. Going great so far.

In the UK as you know we don't have the best value barbell options, especially currently. I purchased a cheapo £99 job to get me started, as it was the only thing i could find on the market. It did the job despite being 17kg and the knurl was so lacking in grip might as well have been drawn on. Just last week I took delivery of a newly released 'power bar' by the same company. Not tried and tested, no reviews, took a punt. £249.

20kg Power Bar | Mirafit

I have very little experience with bars and this is the first power bar i have used. The knurl seems to have inconsistencies. I first gave it a brush just to make sure it wasn't debris. I struggled to take some macro shots so I could have a close up look at it, but just going from feel, there's a bunch of microscopic slightly sharp / snaggy bits. Nothing major, just little imperfections.

After deadlifting, I discovered some little microfine steel particles on my hands, like i'd been messing around with glitter. Is anything like this 'normal' on a new bar?

Also, the knurl keeps on going right underneath the sleeves, it doesn't stop a few mm before, i've never seen this on a bar before, is this weird?

I realise these are shit Chinese bars i'm dealing with, but budget isn't too high. I thought this one would be a considerable step up. I was looking at B&R and OPB from Rogue EU but catching them in stock is difficult and they'd work out about £100 more, so I just went for this one. I have some other Mirafit gear - rack, bumper plates, bench, etc, that is pretty decent quality.

I can still send this thing back so just wanted a bit of advice. Thanks.
04-20-2021, 12:43 PM
AndrewLewis

Nothing on the webpage makes me think it's bad.

Your descriptions make it sound like the manufacturing is more imprecise and lazy than dangerous.

Does it handle okay with load during the lifts?
04-20-2021, 02:14 PM
Oso Rojo

The debris on your hands are likely the hard chroming coming off knurling. If it's the only bar you can get then it's the only bar you can get. It's better than your existing 17kg and holds the weight, so maybe you use it until you can get the bar you really want. The important issue is training today and tomorrow.
04-28-2021, 12:03 PM
Sib

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moment

Hey

I'm about a month into SSLP. Put on about a stone in weight and doubled my strength. Going great so far.

In the UK as you know we don't have the best value barbell options, especially currently. I purchased a cheapo £99 job to get me started, as it was the only thing i could find on the market. It did the job despite being 17kg and the knurl was so lacking in grip might as well have been drawn on. Just last week I took delivery of a newly released 'power bar' by the same company. Not tried and tested, no reviews, took a punt. £249.

20kg Power Bar | Mirafit

I have very little experience with bars and this is the first power bar i have used. The knurl seems to have inconsistencies. I first gave it a brush just to make sure it wasn't debris. I struggled to take some macro shots so I could have a close up look at it, but just going from feel, there's a bunch of microscopic slightly sharp / snaggy bits. Nothing major, just little imperfections.

After deadlifting, I discovered some little microfine steel particles on my hands, like i'd been messing around with glitter. Is anything like this 'normal' on a new bar?

Also, the knurl keeps on going right underneath the sleeves, it doesn't stop a few mm before, i've never seen this on a bar before, is this weird?

I realise these are shit Chinese bars i'm dealing with, but budget isn't too high. I thought this one would be a considerable step up. I was looking at B&R and OPB from Rogue EU but catching them in stock is difficult and they'd work out about £100 more, so I just went for this one. I have some other Mirafit gear - rack, bumper plates, bench, etc, that is pretty decent quality.

I can still send this thing back so just wanted a bit of advice. Thanks.

It wasn't much more than that for me to import the ss bar which is a lovely piece of kit. Otherwise I've heard atx bars are good. I don't know the mirafit bar but I've got some of their microplates which have been OK.