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Older guy starting home gym, advice wanted
Timeah
Captain Kunce
Pappy O'Daniels
New member
Thanks Timeah, good to know.
Does anyone know anything about servicing needle bearings? Most bars have bushings that are simple to look after (lots of videos on youtube), but there's not much about needle bearings. Are they even serviceable by an end user?
Does anyone know anything about servicing needle bearings? Most bars have bushings that are simple to look after (lots of videos on youtube), but there's not much about needle bearings. Are they even serviceable by an end user?
Timeah
Captain Kunce
Really? Did you buy a real Texas bar??
I seen years of abuse on those bars barely affect them at all.
Interesting.
Tim.
WoodyAllen
Well-known member
Sort of. Like bushings, needle bearings are in the sleeve, not on the bar. So you have to get the sleeve off to clean and lubricate the shaft and sleeve internals.
Cheap bars have lots of slack in the bearing department. You can tell a cheap bar by giving it a shake, the sleeves rattle around. That looseness and gap allows dust and dirt to make their way into the bearings.
My bar has no rattle at all. Helps a lot with deadlifts as there is minimal slack to take out of the bar. Since it's so snug and well engineered, Eleiko say that the sleeve should never be touched. After about 20 years, if it gets a bit stiff you just send it back and they pull it apart for you.
Goosey
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A poor tradesman always blames his tools.
When i I was a fitness first they were bending bars all the time (ABC) and they couldn't work out why.
its the dudes doing there he-man t-bar rows in the corner
no no matter how good or bad the steel is poor use will damage them.
another favorite is when idiots load the bar and rest them on the supports of the rack, doing stupid half arsed rack pulls
When i I was a fitness first they were bending bars all the time (ABC) and they couldn't work out why.
its the dudes doing there he-man t-bar rows in the corner
no no matter how good or bad the steel is poor use will damage them.
another favorite is when idiots load the bar and rest them on the supports of the rack, doing stupid half arsed rack pulls
Pappy O'Daniels
New member
Interesting ... I'll report on whether this is a problem with the Muscle Motion needle bearing 1500lbs bar.
It was a real Texas bar.
You just don't need perfect rotating collars or an expensive bar for the home gym lifter. Sure they are nice but not needed.
Guys here are probably using the lines they used to convince their Mrs they needed to spend $1000 on a weightlifting bar when she sees them in the sports store for $50.
Guys here are probably using the lines they used to convince their Mrs they needed to spend $1000 on a weightlifting bar when she sees them in the sports store for $50.
Pappy O'Daniels
New member
Haha, thanks Bazza! I imagine you're correct. But I want to indulge myself a little, which is why I bought a barbell with specs waaaaay beyond what I need. So sue me. 
On another topic, I have a lot of spare rubber lying around so I'm thinking of lining the bar catchers with it to prevent damage to the knurling. Too much? It's because I noticed in one of the videos (above in this thread) that cheaper bars lose their knurling where they rest on the brackets / pegs / bar catchers of the frame. Has anyone seen this done before? So cheap and easy to do, wonder why more people don't do it ... or even why equipment does not come with rubber lining. Just makes everything look nicer and last longer.
On another topic, I have a lot of spare rubber lying around so I'm thinking of lining the bar catchers with it to prevent damage to the knurling. Too much? It's because I noticed in one of the videos (above in this thread) that cheaper bars lose their knurling where they rest on the brackets / pegs / bar catchers of the frame. Has anyone seen this done before? So cheap and easy to do, wonder why more people don't do it ... or even why equipment does not come with rubber lining. Just makes everything look nicer and last longer.
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WoodyAllen
Well-known member
Its a problem with cheap bars as the steel is softer, plus the knurl is pretty smooth to start with. Good quality bench press racks have rubber or, more commonly, hard plastic to stop the steel to steel contact. Power racks generally don't have that.
That said, most people don't need the knurling on the outer ends, unless you are a fat heavyweight with stuffed up shoulders. But of course, no one wants their bar to get damaged so just glue on some hard plastic. If it breaks and falls off after a year or so, no problem. Just replace it.
The high end competition racks have plastic rollers which are replaced every few years.
The power rack at one gym I used had set steel hooks, not adjustable hooks. Anyway, squatters tended to rotate the bar as part of their setting up. The hooks ended up ground out by the knurl rotating against it. The same can happen to the bar if it's softer than the rack steel.
Another thing: the tensile strength rating of a bar does not tell all the story. For a start, the numbers can be fudged, such as testing a shaft known to be of better quality steel and using those results to all the lesser shafts. Not that you can do much about that.
Best way to protect the bar is to never do rack pulls. Just use blocks or boxes instead to do the same exercise. That way the plates are the contact point, not the shaft. That and rerack the bar under control, don't just slam it down.
That said, most people don't need the knurling on the outer ends, unless you are a fat heavyweight with stuffed up shoulders. But of course, no one wants their bar to get damaged so just glue on some hard plastic. If it breaks and falls off after a year or so, no problem. Just replace it.
The high end competition racks have plastic rollers which are replaced every few years.
The power rack at one gym I used had set steel hooks, not adjustable hooks. Anyway, squatters tended to rotate the bar as part of their setting up. The hooks ended up ground out by the knurl rotating against it. The same can happen to the bar if it's softer than the rack steel.
Another thing: the tensile strength rating of a bar does not tell all the story. For a start, the numbers can be fudged, such as testing a shaft known to be of better quality steel and using those results to all the lesser shafts. Not that you can do much about that.
Best way to protect the bar is to never do rack pulls. Just use blocks or boxes instead to do the same exercise. That way the plates are the contact point, not the shaft. That and rerack the bar under control, don't just slam it down.
Pappy O'Daniels
New member
Woody, that's great information. Thanks man.
A situation that should really never happen, unless something is very wrong.
I'm going to use a rubber strap cut into pieces and superglued to the metal. Straps looks like the rubber strap you see here:
Didn't plan to. I'll be doing basic bodybuilding like in the old days (e.g. Weider, Park, etc)
A situation that should really never happen, unless something is very wrong.
I'm going to use a rubber strap cut into pieces and superglued to the metal. Straps looks like the rubber strap you see here:
Didn't plan to. I'll be doing basic bodybuilding like in the old days (e.g. Weider, Park, etc)
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WoodyAllen
Well-known member
Pappy O'Daniels
New member
Yep. old school all right
Pappy O'Daniels
New member
I met him, a great guy, huge. His look was old fashioned, pre-steroids.
vonfram88
Active member
The Force 1500lb bars aren't too bad if you don't abuse them or leave them loaded up for several days. I have two. One is a little bowed from rack pulls so it makes a good squat bar now. The other has off-set knurling marks making it difficult to get an even spaced grip without a texta and tape. Haven't had any issues with the sleeve assembly. Just don't store them on their ends and they should be fine. People with smaller hands might find them a bit hard to grip. I think they are a few mm thicker than ABC bars. My gym is open to the weather and surprisingly the force bars show less surface corrosion than the nitride black bars.
Darkoz
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Where abouts did you meet him paps?