New toy

[jwhal]

I'm going to dump the ghetto weights I've been using now that I've saved enough and got the "okay" from the CFO.

Looking at this combo:
York

Anyone have any experience/info on this before I commit? Seems rather decently priced at $300 CAD. There aren't a whole hell of a lot of choices for equipment for my area.

jon

[Dastardly]

That bar looks suspiciously like one of the cheap chinese york bars which does not spin at all. Before you by a bar make sure it is not thicker than 29mm and that the sleeves spin.

[jwhal]

That bar looks suspiciously like one of the cheap chinese york bars which does not spin at all. Before you by a bar make sure it is not thicker than 29mm and that the sleeves spin.

Good to know. Thanks. I will definitely keep that in mind. However, even this will be MUCH better than what I currently have. Too bad York doesn't have any more specific details about it.

Jon

[veryhrm]

What kind of budget are you looking at ? What other equipment do you need to buy ?

Today i was at Sports Authority (a big US chain) and they had a house brand 300lb Olympic set on sale for $209 US from $245. Can't say anything about the quality of the bar otherwise, but the sleeves did spin.

Since this is SS.com, if you can muster $300 for the bar alone check out http://www.roguefitness.com/burgener...-men-s-bar.php (or perhaps the slightly cheaper but seemingly very similar and better warrantied "Rogue Castro Bar" http://www.roguefitness.com/the-castro-bar.php )

or, just start w/ that York set (assuming it has rotating sleeves ) and then you can replace the bar later on if you don't like it or it bends or whatever. Afaict getting plates themselves for less than ~$1 / lb is hard to do so the set would be worth it for that (even IF it includes dumb 35lb plates). Your local chain stores don't have anything ?

[EDIT: i'm guessing by "ghetto" you partly mean that they're not 2" (olympic) weights. If you already have olympic plates i'd def suggest you'd prob get more out of just a bar replacement unless they're REALLY ghetto in some other manner.)

[jwhal]

Budget is about the $300. Wife is on maternity leave, and she surprised me by telling me to buy it already and shut up about it. I'm going to start with this set, and the plan is that eventually when/if this York bar shits the bed I'll replace it with a much better one. I hope to get one of the Rogue's, but it isn't possible at this point, and I need something now.

I'm in Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick). I haven't bothered with Sportschek or Cleve's. I can't imagine they would be able to compete. Spartan Fitness and Fitworks are my two best choices, and they're pretty much the same. Canadian Tire has a set, but the bar is a piece of shit (rated to 300 lbs). Didn't even bother looking at it that closely. Craigslist is a bust around here, however we do have Kijiji (online classifieds) which I check every other day. Assuming the sleeves rotate, I'll go for this set and build up from there.

And by 'ghetto', I'm talking about a mix and match of the plastic concrete shit plates and steel ones with 1" diameter holes and a piece of steel 7' long I picked up at a metal supplier to use in the meantime (knowing I was eventually going to join a gym or buy some 'better' stuff). Babies can really screw with goals sometimes, but they're worth it. Anyways, the shitty equipment was available and the funding for new stuff was not (and still isn't enough for the good stuff, but it'll keep me quiet). I got a start with the shitty stuff, and I bent the steel bar (surprise surprise), so now I had a really good excuse for spending the money on this instead of putting it towards the family vacation next year (will make up for it, I promise).

[OCG]

What is your squat/deadlift like?

If it's not that high then a shitty bar will do for now until you can buy a decent one.

Wait, I just read the rest of your post above. A shitty oly bar will most certainly do for now. The one in your link doesn't look like a great bar, but also looks like it will also rotate, which is all you need at this point. I wouldn't trust it with much above 400lbs though. Should be fine for +300.

[jwhal]

Yeah, I think this bar will do me just fine for the time being. I'm not sure if I'll ever reach a 400 squat, but we'll see. The squat is only around 205-210 lbs right now.

Thanks,

Jon

[veryhrm]

... The one in your link doesn't look like a great bar, but also looks like it will also rotate, which is all you need at this point. I wouldn't trust it with much above 400lbs though. Should be fine for +300.

Now that OCG mentions it, i'm not sure why Dastardly thinks it wouldn't spin. It has a bolt on the end of the near side sleeve and on the far side you can see some sort of brass insert. It LOOKS like any other bar of that construction. If you're doing SS though... time to start saving for another pair of 45s as your DL is likely to go past 300 sooner rather than later.

[jwhal]

If you're doing SS though... time to start saving for another pair of 45s as your DL is likely to go past 300 sooner rather than later.

Yup. Was definitely considering that. Also good to know that it'll rotate. I'll look at it before I buy it though. The shop is out of stock but should have some more next week.

Thanks guys,

Jon

[jwhal]

Just in case anyone cares, I've picked up the York barbell set. The plates are, well, plates. The bar does indeed rotate, and quality-wise it seems good enough for me for now. Honestly I wouldn't be able to tell if it was a shitty quality bar. It would've been nice to get another set of 45's instead of the 35's, but whatever, I have them now. Big difference between this bar and the piece of shit steel bar I had to use...pfft.

Jon