Buying a quality barbell

trofius said:

When I e-mailed ABC they said what I have, sounds like an old power bar. On their list their "power bars" are the black nitride. Mine is obviously chrome with stainless ends, a full 7 foot, 20kg (no collars, my scales say 20.2kg) Were my knurling is worn is is black, but doesnt appear to be rust at all, just dark grey steal looking.

The give aways aparently is my black end caps are recessed 10mm...I dont think their current bars have recessed caps..I have seen about 3 other ABC bars they are different. I have seen my bar pulled off the ground with over 300kg on it!, not a lot of flex.

What are yours like Marcos are the end caps recessed at all.

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Put simply, if you are looking at Olympic lifting or Powerlifting where the bar will be dropped, you will require a bar such as the Pendlay. If you are not planning on dropping the bar at all, then the Ironedge bar will certainly cater to your needs. There is a hell of a lot of science behind a bar such as the Pendlay whereas the ironedge bar comes out of China at a price. We've had a lot of input in their manufacture and hence there simply isn't a better economy priced bar on the market-It is a genuine bearing bar with great spin and a moderate whip. In terms of feel the Ironedge bar is every bit as good as a Pendlay or Zhang Kong. It is the longevity where the more expensive bars gain their reputation. If you are to drop an Ironedge bar consecutively and it lands unevenly it will not stay straight, whereas the Pendlay is designed to bend under pressure and return to the exact same straight shape. ​

The Pendlays have a lifetime warranty against malfunction. As we are the Australian distributor for them we will honour their warranty. Up until this point their has been a need to as there hasn't been a single bar returned. They're made in the USA and are a precision product. ​

Both bars are exactly the same dimensions (,28mm diameter shaft, 50mm collar).

For big deadlifts you're definitely going to need a quality bar for it to stay straight over a long period of time. No problems with the Power Cgae damaging the bar - They're generally built with a bars life span in mind.
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trofius said:

Yep I agree Oli, when you look at the specs it seems like a BO220 bar..ABC quoted me $564 to replace it a lot more than the OP has mentioned.

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Hi Alvin
BO220 $484.00

BO220BN (Black nitride bar) $484.00

BO220P (Power bar) $484.00
What is the difference between a black nitride bar and the normal BO220 one? - Just the finish (black vs silver)

What difference is there between the power bar and the olympic bar, BO220 vs BO220P? Power bars need to be treated with more care, they have a special internal bearing that can break very easily if not handled properly. We very rarely sell them as a result.

Also, how much would the ABC collars cost? $30.00 per pair

Hope this helps you Alvin, like I said, we would tag this order onto the back of a larger one to save you on freight (Alternatively the freight charge would be $150.00 + GST to send by itself)

The usual frequency for ABC orders arriving here is every three weeks, although this isn't set in stone.

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trofius said:

Marcos, do your bars rest on metal stays, or have you added rubber or cloth to them so they treat the bars better.

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Oliver04 said:

a bar thats going to bend is going to be a pain in the ass for powerlifts.

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blbarclay said:

What about the deadlifting bar they used at the vic state titles? Pretty sure it's designed to bend.

Or, maybe anything would bend with 200kg+ hanging off it...

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PTC said:

lol.........thats crap, I have 2 powerbars in black, they have lifted as much weight as any bar, been dropped from height, missed reps in the rack, dumped over heads, they are still mint.

Remember, a powerbar will have to lift a lot more weight than an Olympic bar.

I'm sure Wayne at ABC would like to know more about this problem. I'll mention this post and ask him, maybe this guys right, I'm just going by experience.

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Hi Alvin

The foam tubes are $40.00 + GST ea

And my apologies.. I gave you a bum steer on the Power Bar.. I was thinking of another model.
The major difference between the standard bar and the Power bar is the knurling.. it’s much deeper on the power bar.

Rgds
Rob

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macmad said:

Amac38, if you want to see the difference between the pendlay and a proper powerlifting bar, come down to the muscle pit. We have a pendlay, 2 ABC's, a Leoko, 2 older Texas bars, an old Ivanko, a Texas deadlift bar, and some crappy cheap shiny bars.
The Pendlay is ONLY suitable for olympic lifts despite what Jarrod says above. It is not a good bar for benching and squatting.

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blbarclay said:

Going to Melbourne Tuesday to pick the new bar up.

Wayne said dropping it isn't a problem, you just don't want to be using steel plates on concrete.

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amac38 said:

Sweeeet, that sounds great! What did you end up getting? Is this for your home gym? That'll last you ages!

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