Due to popular demand... The Ivanko Barbell crew!

[Keetman]

No worries man. I don't prefer a smith....but if you're going to have one, from what I understand that one is a good one. You also still have the freeweight capabilities, so I'd still lift with you.

You should do a review of the titan. I'd like to hear about it from an owner and there is very little on here about it. It is expensive and I don't know if you're going to make a lot of sales for them, but at least there'd be more info on it from someone who really knows.

[twodog]

First Post, 2 1/2 years of lurking. I want to first thank you guys for all the information over that time period. I look forward to contributing more around here.

I would be honored to have an Ivanko Barbell Crew #! Would someone mind embedding these pics for me. My gym and some of it's attachment. Thanks -Ryan

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Nice setup ! It's a beast for sure. I for one would love to see a review of the Titan in the powerrack sticky, those options seem limitless. Oh yeah, as far as the Ivankos go, nice plates. repped.

[rlundregan]

Psukydd, the plates look great! Strong first couple of posts!

[fishingeek]

Some nice new additions to the club!

ICEcap2 - Ivanko Crew #28
rlundregan - Ivanko Crew #29
psukydd - Ivanko Crew #30

[StinsonBarney]

These are OMC plates, too bad they are out of production, with a OBS-20 stainless bar and COX-C collars. I have a OBZ-30 curl bar as well.

The plates are machined on all sides, except for the indented recess area which is left with the rough sandcast finish, then and polished and chromed.

Wow, very nice plates bro. Mirin.

Wish I had the space and dinero for that. Amazing.

[rlundregan]

Some nice new additions to the club!

ICEcap2 - Ivanko Crew #28
rlundregan - Ivanko Crew #29
psukydd - Ivanko Crew #30

Thanks--I'll try to wear it well!

[dumb.bell]

I'd also love to see a review of the Titan, I've always been curious about that machine.

[rlundregan]

Just tryin' out the new sig line.....looks good!

[psukydd]

Rlundregan: Sig looks good. How's mine look? On a serious note, thank you for your all the help recently... It's been nice to have someone to bounce some equipment ideas off of. And it's even better that you're local!

I'll start taking some side notes while working out on the Titan and post a review here in a few weeks. There is a comprehensive review or two out there on other forums but more information/opinions are never a bad thing.

[rlundregan]

Looking sharp!

[IvankoBarbellCo]

I'm picturing a Mods and Rockers style brawl between the York crew and the Ivanko crew every summer.

We like the York guys I have a lot of respect for the heritage and for the owner's manufacturing knowledge.

[IvankoBarbellCo]

Don't know if there's any truth to the story, but I've seen those exact same Ivanko plates (with the same pics) up on Craigslist about a year ago. There was no story back then. And the seller asked for $300+ (don't remember the exact amount, but it was substantially higher).

Recently, I saw some OMC's up on CL myself that I tried to buy. Apparently, the guy was selling them to go his bail or his friend's bail, or something like that. Next to the plates was a "Law for Dummies" book. I e-mailed a few times but didn't get a response.

[IvankoBarbellCo]

My vote is for the regular iron.

When rubber gets old and worn it looks bad. When iron gets old and worn it looks fine (and you can always repaint it).

I'd be interested if anyone finds any of the old Ivanko rubber Olympic plates (RUBO). I'm especially interested to see photos of the condition -- however beat up they are. Just to see how well they've held up. Whether pristine or in really thrashed condition. In our experience, they've been a very durable plate, so it's interesting to see how they've held up for 20-30 years.

This is the model I have in mind:

http://www.ivankobarbell.com/products/rubo/

This is our oldest model of rubber-encased plate. It's not a bumper plate, but was designed for use in gyms where they didn't want the noise, or they didn't want their expensive, power-coated equipment to get all chipped up.

[rlundregan]

Hey Vinko, a few of us were wondering about the older unbranded Ivanko plates--the ones that just say "Standard Olympic Barbell". Can you tell us when those plates were in production, and where they were made? I am just curious about them.

[dumb.bell]

@rlundregan - This is some of the information I got from Vinko via PM:

Ben -- during the period of the unbranded plates when they were known as "Olympic Standard Barbell" plates would've been in the 70's up through 1975-76 I think. OB-84 was the first American bar, followed by the OB-20KG. I think both bars made in the early 80's. OB-20KG after 1980 or 1981. OB-84 I think was about '76 or maybe '78.

All the old plates were made in Taiwan, incl. Olympic Standard Barbell. I don't know the year of the change. Sometime in the (early) 90's (most of the) cast plates were made in China (PRC). Today, plates are made in US, China, Taiwan, and parts of South America. We're leaving China for a lot of things and going back to Taiwan or in some cases to South America or US. Small parts we've traditionally cast in the US, but all the foundries in Los Angeles are gone. I think there might be two foundries in Southern California but from my limited understanding the foundries aren't able to do much more than simple casting -- at least with something like a barbell plate. And we need machining on a lot of our plates.

[rlundregan]

@rlundregan - This is some of the information I got from Vinko via PM:

Ben -- during the period of the unbranded plates when they were known as "Olympic Standard Barbell" plates would've been in the 70's up through 1975-76 I think. OB-84 was the first American bar, followed by the OB-20KG. I think both bars made in the early 80's. OB-20KG after 1980 or 1981. OB-84 I think was about '76 or maybe '78.

All the old plates were made in Taiwan, incl. Olympic Standard Barbell. I don't know the year of the change. Sometime in the (early) 90's (most of the) cast plates were made in China (PRC). Today, plates are made in US, China, Taiwan, and parts of South America. We're leaving China for a lot of things and going back to Taiwan or in some cases to South America or US. Small parts we've traditionally cast in the US, but all the foundries in Los Angeles are gone. I think there might be two foundries in Southern California but from my limited understanding the foundries aren't able to do much more than simple casting -- at least with something like a barbell plate. And we need machining on a lot of our plates.

Thanks for the info! Repped!

[ICEcap2]

Recently, I saw some OMC's up on CL myself that I tried to buy. Apparently, the guy was selling them to go his bail or his friend's bail, or something like that. Next to the plates was a "Law for Dummies" book. I e-mailed a few times but didn't get a response.

I wonder if the seller is in also in jail now so can't respond.

Ivanko's website has a closeout on a few OMC plates, I wanted 2 more 45s but only 35 and 100 were available. I picked up 2 35s. I don't like lifting the 100s

Great price for them.

What is the reason for them being discontinued. My guess is cost of making them is high and the demand low.

[trnk1001]

I wonder if the seller is in also in jail now so can't respond.

Ivanko's website has a closeout on a few OMC plates, I wanted 2 more 45s but only 35 and 100 were available. I picked up 2 35s. I don't like lifting the 100s

Great price for them.

What is the reason for them being discontinued. My guess is cost of making them is high and the demand low.

It would be nice if Ivanko website has more OMC plates. That Craiglist poster doesn't respond to email, and he doesn't post any other contact info. I don't think he's in jail though, since I've seen him post a few pieces of exercise equipment recently.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...374966505.html

See the "Law for Dummies" book in the background?

[BloodType3R]

I'd be interested if anyone finds any of the old Ivanko rubber Olympic plates (RUBO). I'm especially interested to see photos of the condition -- however beat up they are. Just to see how well they've held up. Whether pristine or in really thrashed condition. In our experience, they've been a very durable plate, so it's interesting to see how they've held up for 20-30 years.

This is the model I have in mind:

http://www.ivankobarbell.com/products/rubo/

This is our oldest model of rubber-encased plate. It's not a bumper plate, but was designed for use in gyms where they didn't want the noise, or they didn't want their expensive, power-coated equipment to get all chipped up.

I saw a set of RUBO's (minus the 45's) pop-up on ebay last week. I want to say they were being sold out of Minnesota???
They're apear to be gone already but the condition looked great on them... for what it's worth.

[ICEcap2]

It would be nice if Ivanko website has more OMC plates. That Craiglist poster doesn't respond to email, and he doesn't post any other contact info. I don't think he's in jail though, since I've seen him post a few pieces of exercise equipment recently.

How does he expect to sell anything?

[amgben]

How does he expect to sell anything?

He actually sold those items LONG AGO at a much different price. He makes bogus for sale posts in order to lower the market price for items in the area.

[dumb.bell]

Are "OM" series plates marked with an "OM" on the back of the plate?

[amgben]

Are "OM" series plates marked with an "OM" on the back of the plate?

No it isnt stamped with an OM but rather "IVANKO BARBELL COMPANY U.S.A. M SERIES". I have over half a ton of mixed O and OM series plates. The OM series are noticeably finer quality and better made. The regular O series plates look and feel rough.

[dumb.bell]

No it isnt stamped with an OM but rather "IVANKO BARBELL COMPANY U.S.A. M SERIES". I have over half a ton of mixed O and OM series plates. The OM series are noticeably finer quality and better made. The regular O series plates look and feel rough.

So the OM are marked M and the O series isn't marked?

[rlundregan]

I can confirm that the O series is not marked on the back. Also, the OM series is that greenish grayish color with the numbers/lettering painted silver. On the O series, the numbers/lettering are not painted. Obviously, that is not as reliable as the stamping (or lack thereof) on the back, because there are people who have painted the lettering themselves on their O series plates.

[dumb.bell]

Today, I'm going to look at some older black Ivankos that the seller claims are OM and I was just trying to determine if there is a fail safe way of knowing.

[rlundregan]

Today, I'm going to look at some older black Ivankos that the seller claims are OM and I was just trying to determine if there is a fail safe way of knowing.

I would wonder if the black plates aren't actually O2B's.

[dumb.bell]

I would wonder if the black plates aren't actually O2B's.

I'm suspecting the same thing. When I first asked if they were O, OM, or O2B, the seller didn't seem to follow my question, and responded that they were Ivanko. I reiterated my question, explaining these were types of Ivanko plates. It took a little while before I got a response, but he came back and said they were OM quality. So before I went to look at them, I was just trying to arm myself with as much information as I can. I new the OMs had much better castings than the O2Bs, but I'm not sure I've ever seen regular Os. Sounds like they are distinguishable based on what amgben said.

[rlundregan]

I'm suspecting the same thing. When I first asked if they were O, OM, or O2B, the seller didn't seem to follow my question, and responded that they were Ivanko. I reiterated my question, explaining these were types of Ivanko plates. It took a little while before I got a response, but he came back and set they were OM quality. So before I went to look at them, I was just trying to arm myself with as much information as I can. I new the OMs had much better castings than the O2Bs, but I'm not sure I've ever seen regular Os. Sounds like they are distinguishable based on what amgben said.

Most of my Ivankos are O series. If I can remember to do it, I'll take some close up pics tonight. You may need to remind me to do that

I have always kind of thought that the O2B's are like the O's, but with some additional blemishes. I'm pretty sure that I have a few O2B 10's, they were black when I bought them. Of course, I spray painted everything with that grey color, so they all look the same.

I'd be willing to bet that a lot of guys don't know the difference between O, OM, and O2B. I certainly didn't until after I bought my O's, and then started learning about them. I'm happy with what I have, because all I care about is accurate weight. But I can see a lot of potential for guys to try to pass their O's off as OM's to people who don't know any better.

[dumb.bell]

I'm actually purchasing these for a friend who doesn't have time to go and look at them. He already has some slotted grips and some OMs, and wanted them to match. However, at .40 cents/lb it may not matter.