Barbell Questions...Olympic?

katrina1025
katrina1025 Posts: 74 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently upgraded my combo weight bench and rack to a stand alone squat rack and bench. The squat rack is much wider than my previous one. That was intentional as I wanted to have room for squats. However, my current bar is not wide enough between the collars for plates. I've looked at a few local places but they only sell bar/weight combos. I'm looking specifically for just a bar. The bar needs to be greater than 45" between the collars. So here are my questions:

Do all "Olympic bars" have the larger diameter sleeves? My plates all have a 2" hole.
Can these sleeves be removed?
Do they sell decent bars without the larger ends?

Thanks in advance!!

Replies

  • creature275
    creature275 Posts: 348 Member
    wait what? is the issue the plates wont fit on the bar or the bar is too small for the plates? or was the issue that your bar wont fit on the rack?

    the only bars ive seen with the ends taken off were because they broke, idk, if I were you I would just invest is a good solid olympic barbell cant go wrong with those
  • katrina1025
    katrina1025 Posts: 74 Member
    Sorry if my post was confusing!
    I Have a bar. But the space between the collars isn't wide enough to fit my NEW rack. I have weight plates that all have a smaller center hole. The Olympic bars I checked out at the sporting goods store all have a larger diameter on the ends where the weights will so my (preexisting) weights won't fit.

    What is my best option for using my weights with the new rack?
  • Drastiic
    Drastiic Posts: 322 Member
    Your 2nd post is as confusing as the 1st. I still have no idea what you're asking. If you're looking for just a bar, search on craigslist. If you're looking for a cheap set option, the one at Dic k's sporting goods is decent.

    Olympic bars have 2" sleeves, so 2" plates are the only thing that work on them unless you can find a 2" to 1" adapter which would make the bar really long.

    Standard bars have 1" sleeves for 1" plates, but you can also buy an Olympic sleeve adapter to fit 2" plates.

    I just measured my 7' Olympic bar (86"), and it's 51.5" between the sleeves which means it fits well on my 48" wide rack.
  • CuedUp
    CuedUp Posts: 2
    I was in a similar situation. After buying a power rack, I realized my 6' standard bar was too small for the pins. I looked around online and found some options for a 7' standard bar (just google it, I think Walmart had some actually..), but I ended up getting a used 7' standard bar from a secondhand exercise equipment store.

    I also bought an Olympic plate adapter sleeve for my 2" hole plates, and used a saw to cut the adapter into plate-thickness lengths. I plan to glue them into the plates' holes, as right now they are a bit finicky about staying put.

    Long story short, they make 7' standard bars that sound like they'd be a good fit for your situation. And if you ever get Olympic plates, you can use the adapter sleeves to get a better fit around a standard bar. Hope this helps!

Categories