G1981C need help ASAP

[idlehands]

Ok, I'm trying to get a friend to lift with me on Friday and he's a bar nut. How can I tell him what bars my gym has? There's a whole set of random bars and I can't tell anything about them. Do you have some hidden skill where you can tell a bar from a picture? How can I investigate this for him assuage his fears that my gym's bars suck?

[Cody]

If the bars have hex bolts holding the sleeves on, 99% of the time they are junk. Take a picture off the sleeve end, where the sleeve joins the bar, overall pic of the sleeve, and overall pic of the bar. I know some guys that can tell from quality pics what you have.

[greywar]

Ok, I'm trying to get a friend to lift with me on Friday and he's a bar nut. How can I tell him what bars my gym has? There's a whole set of random bars and I can't tell anything about them. Do you have some hidden skill where you can tell a bar from a picture? How can I investigate this for him assuage his fears that my gym's bars suck?

If he is a bar nut he should be able to tell you what they are from almost any picture.

Not sure GC will answer here since this would approximate something like being useful. He doesn't seem to do that.

[G1981C]

i would take the picture of the bar end cap, like this:

http://www.garage-gyms.com/wp-conten...ll-end-cap.jpg

a picture of the knurl, like this:

http://www.garage-gyms.com/wp-conten...ng-barbell.jpg

and maybe one of inside collar like this:

http://www.d8fitness.com/wp-content/...lay-Sleeve.jpg

and of course the picture of the bar overall, like this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg

if you can make a video put the bar on the rack and spin the collar to see how long it keeps spinning on its own and what sound it makes. then put the bar on the floor, put a pair of plates on the bar and kick the bar in the center, then film how long it keeps vibrating for. a good weightlifting bar should spin and vibrate for a long time and feel flexible when you kick it. a good powerlifting bar should be stiff when you kick it, not vibrate much, and not spin very long but the spin should be smooth and quiet.

the spin is going to be the most reliable indicator of bar quality. if it spins like this:

http://youtu.be/C2AJFAdDT_o?t=5m13s

you know it's a $1,000 bar ...

and if it spins like this:

http://youtu.be/uD62uFad804?t=1m7s

then it is not just a piece of trash, but altogether unusable for olympic lifting.

to summarize:

if your friend is into olympic lifting or crossfit show him the spin video. if he is into powerlifting show him the knurl picture.

finally, weigh the bar - it should be 20 KG / 44 lbs. measure its length - it should be 2.2 meter. and use a caliper to measure diameter - it should be 28 mm for olympic. 28.5 mm for crossfit and 29 mm for powerlifting. if the weight is off by more than 1 or 2 pounds it is a cheap bar. if the diameter is off by more than half a millimeter it is a cheap bar. these dimensions assume a men's bar.

measure the distance between knurl marks. if it is 32 inches it is a power bar. if 36 inches it is a bar for olympic lifting. if it has 2 sets of knurl marks it is a crossfit bar.

[idlehands]

That was actually quite helpful ! I'll have to make some notes when i lift tomorrow. Pretty sure they are all shit bars by that criteria. Probably why my cleans suck so bad.
Thanks for the responses !

[franklie]

That was actually quite helpful ! I'll have to make some notes when i lift tomorrow. Pretty sure they are all shit bars by that criteria. Probably why my cleans suck so bad.
Thanks for the responses !

as my daddy used to say, "it's a poor craftsman that blames his tools..."

[idlehands]

as my daddy used to say, "it's a poor craftsman that blames his tools..."

Yah. I need a sarcasm tag.

[Dastardly]

Many cheap nasty bars contain one race of needle bearings per sleeve. They rotate extremely well when spun, but the sleeves usually come detached and the bars almost instantly bend.