Olympic Collars

[BackI00]

So I am trying to buy a decent and cheap set of collars. Looked through the older threads and it seems the Jesup ones were recommended for their cost/performance.
http://www.jesupgym.com/products.php?cid=15 (middle ones)

Anyone have these collars? The picture is so small i can not tell if they are compression or just a screw that will screw into my bar and scratch it up.
Any other suggestions for cheap i may have missed?

[ProtienandIron]

In that price range, as long as you are not olympic lifting, I find the spring collars are just right for me. Quick to take off or put on, grip sufficently, and very difficult to break. Compare brands though, as the quality varies. I have the york branded ones and they are the best I've used (look exactly like the ones at the bottom of your link).

[copiouskris]

To be honest with you for $8.00 plus freight it doesn't look like you're getting much. Like you said its hard to tell because of the small pic, but if you are going cheap I would have to with ProteinandIron's suggestion of getting spring collars. Good for everything but Oly lifts really.

On another note, about 2 months ago I got some lock jaws, the red ones, and I love them. I can't link the website but if you put this into bing: LJC-PRO-RED they will come right up. To me if you are going to spend money to upgrade, make it worth it. My $00.02.

[BackI00]

Thanks for the replies, I will do some research on the lock jaws/ muscle clamps, etc. I do enjoy oly lifts, not in my current program but i would still like to get some nicer collars.

I remember the Jesup collars being linked and I think Keet might have commented on them, but was unable to dig up that thread. Any preference over compression ring vs. lock jaw/clamps?

[Keetman]

They should be compression collars. I would call to make sure, but I bought them from there a couple years ago and they were. They are a great collar for the price if they are the same as mine. I use mine all the time and even with my tendency to upgrade, I can't justify buying the much more expensive Ivankos.

There is no comparison to these and the spring collars. I have three sets of these and got rid of all my spring collars when I got these. Even for genetic they work well.

[roboelmo]

Thanks for the replies, I will do some research on the lock jaws/ muscle clamps, etc. I do enjoy oly lifts, not in my current program but i would still like to get some nicer collars.

I remember the Jesup collars being linked and I think Keet might have commented on them, but was unable to dig up that thread. Any preference over compression ring vs. lock jaw/clamps?

If you are looking into both lock jaws and muscle clamps. Do not get muscle clamps, I personally find them worst than spring clamps. When ever you drop the bar, the clamps move a couple of centimeters; but muscle claps are very fast and easy to remove to switch out plates.

When I do Olympic lifting, I alway use my lock jaws because they just hold the bumper plates so well. However, if I do things curls with a ez bar, I switch to spring clamps because lock jaws can become hard to take off some times.

[copiouskris]

They should be compression collars. I would call to make sure, but I bought them from there a couple years ago and they were. They are a great collar for the price if they are the same as mine. I use mine all the time and even with my tendency to upgrade, I can't justify buying the much more expensive Ivankos.

There is no comparison to these and the spring collars. I have three sets of these and got rid of all my spring collars when I got these. Even for genetic they work well.

I should mention that when I suggested using spring collars that I assumed (somewhat ignorantly) the OP already had them. Personally i got several pairs for free (3 to be exact, 1 I paid for) and my spring collars worked fine for me until I got into Olympic lifting. That's when I had to upgrade and probably the only reason I did.

[twodog]

Thanks for the replies, I will do some research on the lock jaws/ muscle clamps, etc. I do enjoy oly lifts, not in my current program but i would still like to get some nicer collars.

I remember the Jesup collars being linked and I think Keet might have commented on them, but was unable to dig up that thread. Any preference over compression ring vs. lock jaw/clamps?

The compression collars by Ivanko have the best holding power by far, that being said, I have the muscle clamps and they work real well for oly lifts. Spring collars work well for general fitness, but not all clamps fit all bars and that's why I steer clear of them.

Good luck.

[lllDBOlll]

I have spring collars for my barbell that are great, really strong and grip ridiculously tight! My only problem with them is when I transfer them over to my oly dumbbells they make them rather cumbersome. If barbell is all you use, spring collars will see you proud, if mix of both, i'd opt for clamps as they tend to take up less space on a bar (which is critical on oly dumbbells).

[Keetman]

I should mention that when I suggested using spring collars that I assumed (somewhat ignorantly) the OP already had them. Personally i got several pairs for free (3 to be exact, 1 I paid for) and my spring collars worked fine for me until I got into Olympic lifting. That's when I had to upgrade and probably the only reason I did.


My spring collars worked fine too, I understand what you meant. I think I bought my genetic compression collars because they had a ridiculously good deal on them at the time. I think I bought them for $20 shipped and I got 6 pair. They are not quite as pretty as the ivankos, but they lock up very tight. I'd trust them with dumbbells. I have muscle clamps too and they were fine too prior to the generic compression collars.

[twodog]

For all interested, I contacted Jesup and the collars in the middle http://www.jesupgym.com/products.php?cid=15 are indeed compression collars. I will be ordering some soon.

[keeko]

I have these collars, and they are indeed compression. there was a thread a while back comparing them with the ivankos. here is one thing you should be aware of: the crossbar of the twist screw can get in the way of the plates on your bar. since i have a bunch of grip plates where there is a ridge sticking out from the middle of the plate, the crossbar on the collar doesn't get in the way. however, i did try once to use them with regular old olympic plates, and it was not possible to properly twist the screw on the collar.

[twodog]

I have these collars, and they are indeed compression. there was a thread a while back comparing them with the ivankos. here is one thing you should be aware of: the crossbar of the twist screw can get in the way of the plates on your bar. since i have a bunch of grip plates where there is a ridge sticking out from the middle of the plate, the crossbar on the collar doesn't get in the way. however, i did try once to use them with regular old olympic plates, and it was not possible to properly twist the screw on the collar.

Thanks Keeko ! reps given.

[Cleveland33]

I have these collars, and they are indeed compression. there was a thread a while back comparing them with the ivankos. here is one thing you should be aware of: the crossbar of the twist screw can get in the way of the plates on your bar. since i have a bunch of grip plates where there is a ridge sticking out from the middle of the plate, the crossbar on the collar doesn't get in the way. however, i did try once to use them with regular old olympic plates, and it was not possible to properly twist the screw on the collar.

The crossbar should be able to slide back and forth in the head of the screw so that if one end makes contact/is interferred with by the plates, you slide it out and continue to tighten.

[BackI00]

Placed the order today, this will be mainly for barbell work until i finish my current program and get into dumbbells again. Will definitely keep everyone posted with pictures, updates and so on. Thanks for all the input!

[Keetman]

The crossbar should be able to slide back and forth in the head of the screw so that if one end makes contact/is interferred with by the plates, you slide it out and continue to tighten.



That's the way they're supposed to work, but since they're generic....they're not perfect! Keeko was right that these can work improperly. There is a not so painful remedy though. If you have access to a grinder, you can take off just enough of the t handle to allow for proper use, but not too much that the handle slides out. I can post some pics later, but I can't right now.

[Squeebo]

These guys are dropping cleans with spring collars.

http://californiastrength.com/videos/viewvideo/46/clean/clean-how-to-video-part-three?tmpl=component