# Where do you guys buy your equipment?



## Stork (Jun 21, 2008)

I bent my second barbell today from dropping the bar on a concrete floor after I failed my set of front squats. It wasn't even really a cheap bar either, a 2m York 'beefy bar' rated for 150kg!

So now I want some olympic gear with rubber plates in the hope that it'll be more robust. Where should I get the equipment? I'd like about 100kg in plates to start off with..

I'd like some real quality so I can use it forever and not have to keep replacing it all the time!

Really annoys me cuz I've got like 140kg of 1" standard cast iron plates at home that I won't be able to use if I get an olympic bar


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## Inggasson (Jul 13, 2008)

Maybe buy the same bar but be more careful with your form and rep ranges next time?


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## Stork (Jun 21, 2008)

Form was fine, I was just too exhausted to lower the bar so I let it drop from shoulder height :|


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## Inggasson (Jul 13, 2008)

Ouch, man. Glad to hear you didn't injure yourself!

It's just a random accident, man. At the end of the day, you're best off buying a bar that your weights will fit onto or you'll end up shelling out a lot more to replace it all.


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## DEJ (Mar 11, 2007)

maybe just buy sum rubber padding for the floor so if you buy same bar again and have to drop it it might not bend!

jonesy


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## Porky Pie (Aug 2, 2007)

Quality olympic bars are hard to source in the UK. You are looking at shipping in from either Finland or the States.

You want a hugely over rated bar with something like 1500lbs. Google up Ricky Crain's "Oke squat bar" or "Sportscraft" from Finland. You are looking at a lot of cash though, sadly. In the UK Pullum sports are the main suppliers of Elieko and Iron mind bars - these last forever.


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## Stork (Jun 21, 2008)

Inggasson said:


> Ouch, man. Glad to hear you didn't injure yourself!
> 
> It's just a random accident, man. At the end of the day, you're best off buying a bar that your weights will fit onto or you'll end up shelling out a lot more to replace it all.


Yeah, you're probably right. I do wish I'd started off buying an olympic bar though 



jonesy2411 said:


> maybe just buy sum rubber padding for the floor so if you buy same bar again and have to drop it it might not bend!
> 
> jonesy


rubber flooring is pretty expensive too  I figured 3 layers of lino and a carpet would be good enough, you reckon I should put some wood under there too? Would that even help?



Porky Pie said:


> Quality olympic bars are hard to source in the UK. You are looking at shipping in from either Finland or the States.
> 
> You want a hugely over rated bar with something like 1500lbs. Google up Ricky Crain's "Oke squat bar" or "Sportscraft" from Finland. You are looking at a lot of cash though, sadly. In the UK Pullum sports are the main suppliers of Elieko and Iron mind bars - these last forever.


That's a damn shame, looks like the ones from Pullum Sports are way out of my price range  I was thinking the cheapest one from powerhouse-fitness since I won't be loading it up with any more than 150kg.. And some of these olympic rubber plated discs from the same site. Comes up to like £250 for the 7' bar and 100kg of discs not including delivery or collars. I wonder how long that would last.

Does anyone here have experience with powerhouse-fitness equipment before? I might phone them tomorrow and ask if they have a guarantee.. Also try and get my old standard bar replaced/refunded.


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## Greyphantom (Oct 23, 2003)

not being funny but if you drop the rubber weights from that height you will still damage them even though they are rubber... argos to a marcys set for 199 thats 140kg... not sure what the bar rating is though...


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## Stork (Jun 21, 2008)

Greyphantom said:


> not being funny but if you drop the rubber weights from that height you will still damage them even though they are rubber... argos to a marcys set for 199 thats 140kg... not sure what the bar rating is though...


I don't get it, why? The bar's rated for huge weight


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## Ollie B (Mar 14, 2007)

I dont buy any equipment to be honest. the only thing i need occasionally is a weight belt but my gym provides those.


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## Stork (Jun 21, 2008)

Ollie B said:


> I dont buy any equipment to be honest. the only thing i need occasionally is a weight belt but my gym provides those.


Lucky! The gym near me has no barbell, smith machine, and the dumbells only go up to 20kg...


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## Ollie B (Mar 14, 2007)

Stork said:


> Lucky! The gym near me has no barbell, smith machine, and the dumbells only go up to 20kg...


What kind of gym is that?? :confused1:


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## Greyphantom (Oct 23, 2003)

Stork said:


> I don't get it, why? The bar's rated for huge weight


It might be rated to hold a huge weight on the bar when its lifted in the manner it was meant, but impact resistance, whats its rating for that??? impact with the weight loaded on the bar, has it been rated/tested for that? This is why in most gyms they ask you not to drop the weights as they get damaged.


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## ~The~Prodigy~ (Jul 21, 2008)

> I don't get it, why? The bar's rated for huge weight


I understand your frustration but like you say the bar is designed for huge weight not huge impact, two totally different things.


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## Stork (Jun 21, 2008)

Ollie B said:


> What kind of gym is that?? :confused1:


It's a 'fitness suite'    Going to bristol uni in september (fingers crossed I get the grades) and they should have a sick ass gym.



Greyphantom said:


> It might be rated to hold a huge weight on the bar when its lifted in the manner it was meant, but impact resistance, whats its rating for that??? impact with the weight loaded on the bar, has it been rated/tested for that? This is why in most gyms they ask you not to drop the weights as they get damaged.





~The~Prodigy~ said:


> I understand your frustration but like you say the bar is designed for huge weight not huge impact, two totally different things.


Damn shame, I dunno what I'm gonna do. I will work on my power-clean technique today so I can try and de-rack the bar without dropping it [or killing myself].

What should I do in the short-term about my bar? Is it worth investing a huge amount of money in a new olympic set, or should I just get a replacement bar of the same kind I just bent?

If I do buy a new olympic set that renders my nice collection of 1" plates (maybe 120kg or so) totally useless so I'd have to see if I can flog them on ebay or something.. 'Tis a bad day.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2008)

jonesy2411 said:


> maybe just buy sum rubber padding for the floor so if you buy same bar again and have to drop it it might not bend!
> 
> jonesy


what i was thinking


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## N2GB (May 23, 2008)

why not buy another bar which will take the weights you have now..If your going to uni would you be taking the weights with you or using a gym there?,,if the later why spend upwards of £200 on weights when students are always short of cash..

did you not say u`d bent your 2nd bar does that mean you have shafted 2 bars or do you still have the 1st one?,,if so why not use that for now


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## adesign (Jun 10, 2008)

Uni in Sept? Mate I just bought a **** Argos bench and a load of weights. Even that small amount of gear is hell to move about all the time! I'd stick to the Uni gym seriously. If you go there and aint happy then consider getting some. Most likely you could find some students who are about to graduate as well who would want to get rid of all their gear asap for dirt cheap!


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## Stork (Jun 21, 2008)

Mrdaveyk said:


> what i was thinking


Rubber flooring is damn expensive.



need2getbigger said:


> why not buy another bar which will take the weights you have now..If your going to uni would you be taking the weights with you or using a gym there?,,if the later why spend upwards of £200 on weights when students are always short of cash..
> 
> did you not say u`d bent your 2nd bar does that mean you have shafted 2 bars or do you still have the 1st one?,,if so why not use that for now


Yeah, I guess I will do that. Literally just about to phone up and see if I can get a new one sent out. I have a 5' bar that's not bent but it's too small for me to use but my old 6' bar is bent from deadlifting.



adesign said:


> Uni in Sept? Mate I just bought a **** Argos bench and a load of weights. Even that small amount of gear is hell to move about all the time! I'd stick to the Uni gym seriously. If you go there and aint happy then consider getting some. Most likely you could find some students who are about to graduate as well who would want to get rid of all their gear asap for dirt cheap!


I will be using my universities gym and I will leave all my weights at my parent's house until I get my own place then I'll drag them over and keep using a home gym.


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