Straight bar from Ironmaster - any thoughts?

[GiveMeAdvice]

I love the equipment from Ironmaster. I was considering the straight bar. Anyone have it? It states its good for squats and deadlifts. What are your thoughts? Is there something significantly cheaper than can fit the ironmaster plates? I know the plates won't spin on this bar. Don't some exercises require the plates to spin on a barbell for better performance of a said exercise?

[KBKB]

I love the equipment from Ironmaster. I was considering the straight bar. Anyone have it? It states its good for squats and deadlifts. What are your thoughts? Is there something significantly cheaper than can fit the ironmaster plates? I know the plates won't spin on this bar. Don't some exercises require the plates to spin on a barbell for better performance of a said exercise?

I have a lot of Ironmaster equipment, but I would not get that bar...

My opinion is that you should be looking for an Olympic bar and then get Olympic plates to use with it.

However, if you're constrained on space or money, and want to use your Ironmaster plates with a bar, then just get a standard bar (which has one inch diameter sleeves). You'll be able to use your Ironmaster plates with it if you want and you'll be able to purchase heavier standard plates to use with it too.

For squats and the deadlift, I don't think it's critical that the plates be able to spin. There are at least two other considerations though...

1) Ironmaster plates are all either 5lbs or 22.5lbs. For doing many lifts, it's nice to be able to just put another pair of plates on the bar and be done. This is why I think you should look for a solution that will allow you to use heavier plates too.

2) The square Ironmaster plates are not the standard size for doing deadlifts. You'll have to reach a lot further down than is normal when doing a deadlift.

[trnk1001]

Just a question out of curiosity, but would standard bar fit these square Ironmaster plates? Keetman can fit standard pancake plates on his Ironmaster dumbbell handles, so I guess it'd be possible to do the reverse. The bar on Ironmaster website looks just like standard spinlock.

And KBKB brought up two good points against using small & odd shape plates for deadlift. Plus you'd need a ton of those plates for deadlift anyway (Don't know how much the Ironmaster bar is rated for, but I doubt it's much higher than a standard spinlock bar).

[Buccaneer82]

I love IM products also but I'd skip this piece also. If you want to do bar squats and deads get a power rack and olympic plates or bumpers.

[PaulRivers]

Just a question out of curiosity, but would standard bar fit these square Ironmaster plates? Keetman can fit standard pancake plates on his Ironmaster dumbbell handles, so I guess it'd be possible to do the reverse. The bar on Ironmaster website looks just like standard spinlock.

And KBKB brought up two good points against using small & odd shape plates for deadlift. Plus you'd need a ton of those plates for deadlift anyway (Don't know how much the Ironmaster bar is rated for, but I doubt it's much higher than a standard spinlock bar).

I know it's any old thread, but I had the same thought as the OP. The ironmaster site says their plates use a "standard" 1" diameter hole which would fit a standard (not Olympic) bar - I had put a link here but 50 post limit, yada yada, search on google for -
"Quick-Lock Dumbbell FAQs" ironmaster

Problem is, "standard" barbells only handle 200-250 pounds. Apparently it's impossible to find one that's rated for more than that (from doing an hour of research on the internet). If you want to life much above that with a barbell, you need a 2" Olympic barbell and olympic plates.

[KBKB]

Problem is, "standard" barbells only handle 200-250 pounds. Apparently it's impossible to find one that's rated for more than that (from doing an hour of research on the internet). If you want to life much above that with a barbell, you need a 2" Olympic barbell and olympic plates.

Check out the Ivanko B-86. They claim it'll hold over 1,000lbs of standard plates. The bar is 1-1/16" at the ends though so there may be some plates which won't fit.

I checked the hole diameter in a couple of my Ironmaster plates. They are only slightly bigger than 1" in diameter. The caliper I used showed them being around 1.01" in diameter.

[PaulRivers]

Check out the Ivanko B-86. They claim it'll hold over 1,000lbs of standard plates. The bar is 1-1/16" at the ends though so there may be some plates which won't fit.

I checked the hole diameter in a couple of my Ironmaster plates. They are only slightly bigger than 1" in diameter. The caliper I used showed them being around 1.01" in diameter.

This was from a while back, but wanted to say thanks for the link. :-)

[donforeman]

This was from a while back, but wanted to say thanks for the link. :-)

I have the b-86 its a very nice bar for $225! Some people complain about the cost, but seriously its a very good price for the quality you get. Its a made in the USA bar, not some imported China stuff.

[dskoo65]

i'd love to see ironmaster make a bar that swivels on the ends such that you could place the dumbbells and have them get picked up by the ends of the bar.

....maybe some type of attachment like the one used on the weight carriage for their cable tower??

[Garage Rat]

The best all around bar you can get is the Texas power bar IMO.
A one time buy that will last a life time.
Useing a bar that will only take one type of weight plate is not very economy minded IMO since you can find plates cheap at yard sales and craigs list ect.
All bars should have rotating sleeves if your using oly plates.
Standard weight sets dont have that type of bar.

[donforeman]

It sounds like the b-86 will not fit the IM plates any way but just for thought!

"One of my recent and favorite lifting pieces came from my discussions with Ivanko Barbell Company founder Tom Lincer as we dissected the use of the barbell with rotating sleeves. Our facility has a lot of bars. Your barbell is the core of your training center and program, it has to be “right” and it has to allow for the various applications you utilize it for. We deal with football players of widely varying physical development and ability. We serve Olympic athletes and junior high school novices. Rehabilitation is performed on eighty-five year old stroke victims and robust thirty-ish strongman competitors. Our barbells have been purchased from a variety of manufacturers through the years and a number of them have been custom made by Jim Sutherland. Specialty bars of various thicknesses and shapes have been manufactured by or obtained from Reflex, Ironmind, John Wood, and Atomic Athletic. I have crafted some bars in my brother’s iron works and welding shop. I believe we have whatever bar is necessary for the task at hand but a recent favorite sprang specifically from the columns on the Titan site......We have utilized it as the sole piece of training equipment for complete workouts. In every application, it has proven to be durable and it does the job we want it to and with or without rotating sleeves, one can become larger and stronger with the proper focus on hard, consistent training."

Taken from the article below its an interesting read


http://www.titanstrengthandpower.com...g_part_44.html