For the record, I dont think 4-foot bars offer enough versatility to be worth your time \_()_/. The sleeves are completely smooth with no side-to-side play. Short Olympic bars come in several sizes, including 4-foot, 5-foot, and 6-foot versions. This knurling is clearly designed for the type of high rep work typical in CrossFit-style functional fitness workouts. The lack of decent spin plus the single markings on the bar make it pretty clear this bar is intended for traditional powerlifting rather than Olympic lifting or CrossFit. Sleeve loaded with 70kg weight and Lockjaw collar, should have used a spring clip collar instead. Theres not a lot of spin in the sleeves, and I noted a little bit of side-to-side play in them. Thankfully several companies offer shorty Olympic bars, which are great for use in confined spaces.
The Shorty Bar can hold over 400lbs of weight if you use metal plates, so it should be usable by all but the most beastly of you out there. Given that this is an Eleiko bar, the build quality is top notch. Would you recommend the Fringe shorty over the GetRxd bar? Speaking of sleeve length, theres only 6.68 of loadable sleeve length on the Junior bar. If you'd like to build your own home gym, start here. The sleeves have a very mild ribbing, and bumpers slide on and off easily. The Eleiko XF Short Bar is great for CrossFit-style WoDs and MetCons, Olympic lifts, and also good for Powerlifting as long as you use a compatible rack or squat stands. So if you typically grip the bar just outside the outer knurl mark when you snatch, youre good! Even though the sleeves are smooth, sliding bumpers on and off resulted in a high-pitched scraping sound. So, if youre looking at this bar and want to use it with a rack, you do have some choices. Value wise you cant beat GetRxs shorty, but the feel of the Fringesport Knurl and build quality is top notch. CAP OB-73UL size comparison to a 20kg Olympic barbell. Fringe Sport Shorty Bar size comparison to a full size 20kg barbell.
Zinc provides better corrosion resistance than hard chrome, but not as good as Cerakote or stainless steel. Thanks! Bonus! Not yet! Bottom line, this is a great bar for entry level lifting, workouts in tight spaces, or as a secondary bar for accessory lifts. So, Im also evaluating short bars that arent rackable but still offer some extra benefit that make them worth considering. Most of the plates were tested using a set of Rogue competition plates (full review), although I recently replaced them with a set of Titan Fitness urethane competition plates (full review) after getting a good deal on them during a Black Friday sale. All in all, this is a great bar for the asking price. Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Bar size comparison to a 20kg Olympic bar. Most of the other rackable short bars Ive tested so far weighed between 30-35lbs. Its perfect for a small home gym and will even work as most peoples main barbell. This meant the short barbell needed to have at least 50 of shaft length between collars. I prefer not to use chalk in my spare bedroom home gym due to the mess that comes with it, but theres no getting around the need for chalk when using the XF Short Bar. However, my motto is Buy Nice or Buy Twice, so buying a high quality barbell like the Eleiko XF Short Bar that will last you for many years is a worthy investment. GetRXd Shorty Bar size comparison to a 20kg Olympic bar. You can find a good compact barbell for less money, but you will not find a better compact barbell for less money. It works exactly like Rogues flagship Ohio bar, just shorter and lighter. CAP managed this by extended the overall length of the entire bar to 73 to accommodate the extra length. I would love to see this bar offered with a cerakote option for improved grip, especially since Fringe Sport has recently introduced a cerakote-coated Bomba Bar. The product info on the Titan website doesnt specify whether or not this bar can be dropped from overhead under load, so I reached out to customer service to ask them. However, other companies like GetRXdand Rep Fitness do sell power racks with posts spaced 48 apart. The list below documents other bars I considered for inclusion, but ultimately rejected for not meeting the criteria I defined in the Requirements section. The OB-73UL is a decent bar that I found myself using a lot. This is not a bar for use with Olympic lifts, and is unlikely to make a good WOD bar. Theres only so much real estate on a 72 bar (actual measured length is 71.5), so they cut down the sleeve lengths to accommodate the full size bar length. This bar can also be used for pulling lifts and high-rep sets, as long as youre okay with using some chalk for adding grip to the light knurling and zinc finish. Standard knurl width (top) vs Titan knurl width (bottom). It looks like a beautiful bar and its likely to be extremely well made, but it would need to be head and shoulders above other similar offerings to justify the price point ($475 when I last checked). I cant wait to get a hold of a C-70S bar and put it to the test. Even though the finish is hard chrome, the knurl provides plenty of grip with a feel closer to stainless steel than chrome. In fact, the XF Short Bar is so good it has taken the title from the American Barbell 10kg Performance Training Bar as The Bar With the Best Build Quality. The Rogue C-60B Bar is built to the same specs as the Rogue Cerakote Ohio Bar, but in a smaller package. Hi John, Elieko was kind enough to send me an XF Short Bar to evaluate, and my review has been posted! Its easily one of the best short barbells Ive tested for Olympic-style lifting, workouts in tight spaces, or as a secondary bar for accessory lifts. Competition plates are the among the thinnest bumper plates available, and 140kg is likely the most weight any of these bars will be able to fit on the sleeves without moving to steel plates. Like the recently released C-70S bar covered above, the C-70 is a cut-down version of Rogues flagship Ohio bar. The Fringe Sport 15kg Shorty Bar is the most versatile and well made 28mm short bar I could find. Buy The Troy Barbell 6ft Olympic Chrome Bar. I'm a software product manager with a full-time job, family, and a desire to stay strong, mobile, and fit. The Eleiko XF Short Bar is built to the same specs as the full size Eleiko XF Bar but in a smaller package. Recently, Rogue has started offering it separately and I was able to snag one during a brief window of availability before it sold out like everything else right now. When I originally started my research, I focused primarily on short barbells that could be used in a rack for squats, overhead presses, and bench presses. Most commercially available racks like the Garage Series Squat Rack from Fringe Sport (full review), are roughly 50 wide. Based on my experience with the American Barbell T-Grip Shorty Bar(which I love by the way) I thought 25mm would be too narrow for me to use effectively for regular lifting, but I was wrong. The GetRXd Shorty bar works great for nearly any kind of workout, including WODs and CrossFit-style workouts. The Rogue C-60B bar has an interesting history. Making allowances for how affordable this bar is, I consider these things to be annoyances more than anything else since they dont take away from the usability in any way. TheTroy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Barsleeve is long enough to hold the full 140kg of test weight, although as you can see from the picture above theres not much room left over for a full size collar.
At the time of this writing, an XF Short Bar will set you back $475. Although not explicitly stated in the product info, I confirmed with customer support that the Shorty Bar can be dropped while loaded. For the asking price, theTitan 6 Technique Olympic Baris almost a no brainer purchase for a basic barbell. The grip provided by the finish on this bar is among the best of all the barbells I reviewed for this article. I mention this in case you have pets or small children, since the sound really annoys my dogs and I have to be extra careful when using this bar. The one caveat is that snatching with the XF Short Bar will be difficult if you use a very wide grip. The new and improved GetRXd Shorty Bar now fits on all standard squat racks up to 50 wide. It was originally only offered as part of a bar and bumper plate set, which meant you had to spend a minimum of 500 bucks just to get your hands on it, regardless of whether or not you needed the bumpers. The Buyers Guide has answers to every question I had when first researching barbells, including questions Ive seen asked elsewhere. Including the weight of the bar, this adds up to a grand total of 341.71lbs. Despite the small size, this bar has room to grow. What are your thoughts on the Eleiko one?
Although the Junior Bar has a tensile strength strong enough to hold at least 300lbs, youll never get there unless you use steel plates. The GetRXd Shorty Barcan hold the full 140kg of test weight, although I only have 120kg loaded in the pictures above. Use it for slow grinding lifts like bench press, squats, overhead press, and rows.
I mean that literally I submitted a product request for this exact barbell two years ago! After logging in you can close it and return to this page. As long as you dont need a rack, you can do any lift with this bar that you can do with a full size Ohio bar. The Rogue Fitness C-70S Bar weighs in at just under 15kg, and Rogue is careful to note that it only weighs a full 15kg with collars included. The Hampton 6 International Bar has only 48 of space between sleeves, so it wont fit on most standard power racks like those sold by Rogue Fitness and Fringe Sport. The Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Barhas amedium knurl that extends to within 1 inch of the collar. It looks and feels like Rogues flagship Ohio bar, just shorter and lighter.
The biggest drawbacks are that it isnt rackable and may be too short for snatches if you use an extra wide grip. The biggest drawbacks are that it isnt rackable on a standard full size rack and may be too short for snatches if you use an extra wide grip. The CAP OB-73UL, aka the Ultra-Light Olympic Training Bar, is an interesting product that doesnt quite seem to know what it wants to be.
On the other hand, the bar is wildly over-specd for a youth bar. So if you typically grip the bar just outside the outer knurl mark when you snatch, the XF Short Bar will work for you. The American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Baris the second 25mm bar Ive owned and trained with, after the Rogue Junior Bar. Bottom line, I really like the Rogue C-60B bar. This bar can also be used for pulling lifts and high-rep sets, just keep in mind that the short sleeve length is going to limit the amount of weight you can load. Please log in again.
Thankyou for this excellent article. There is no wobble whatsoever in the sleeves, nor is there any slack that allows me to move the sleeves even a millimeter up or down on the bar. The C-60B Bar is great for CrossFit-style WoDs and MetCons, Olympic lifts, and also good for pressing lifts like front squats and overhead press. Ill cover the specs I used to choose the bars I tested in the Requirements section, but the short version (ha ha) is that I chose bars that met the following criteria: The following table is for those that are short on time or just want the TL;DR version. When I originally bought theCAP Ultra-Light Training Bar bar, the product specs listed the weight rating as 300lbs. On the other hand, thehard chrome finish is great for corrosion resistance, but not so great for maintaining grip during pulls. For reference, I tested all of these bars with a 140kg set of competition bumper plates. The bar is marketed for use by youths and beginners, so my guess is the narrower knurling is intended to make it easier for young lifters to use. I was able to fit 70kg of Titan Fitness urethane competition bumpers per sleeve, leaving just enough room for a spring clip. In fact, I dont think Ive seen any short bars with a center knurl, so if thats important to you youll have to go with a full size bar. The second is the use of recessed welded sleeves. This is just over 330lbs for those of you whod rather not do the kilogram-to-pound conversion. I was only able to fit 55kg of competition bumpers per sleeve, leaving just enough room for a spring clip. I was only able to fit 60kg of Titan Fitness urethane competition bumpers per sleeve, leaving just enough room for a spring clip. Hi Greg, Elieko was kind enough to send me an XF Short Bar to evaluate, and my review has been posted! The knurling on the Junior Bar is good, but no one would ever call it aggressive. Troy Barbell 6 ft Olympic Chrome Bar Review, American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar Review, CAP Barbell Olympic 2-Inch Solid Chrome Bar, American Barbell 10KG Performance Training Bar, Titan Fitness urethane competition plates, Titan Fitness urethane competition bumpers, http://pinterest.com/http://fitnesstestlab, 1 oversized oil-impregnated bushing per collar, Distance between the inside edge of the sleeves: 52.18, Finish: black zinc shaft + bright zinc sleeves, 72 bar length (14.75 shorter than the Ohio Bar). The Shorty Bar is specd at a full 52 bar length, which is the same length between sleeves as a regular 7ft bar. The XF Short Bar is finished entirely in chrome, which I personally do not like in a bar designed for functional fitness. Its a shorter version of the Cerakote Ohio bar, it can be used for any style of training, and its my pick for the overall best compact barbell. The sleeves on the Titan 6' Technique Olympic Barhave decent spin, but nothing special. The C-70S is similar to the Rogue C-60B covered earlier in this article, but with more loadable sleeve length and enough width between collars to fit on a standard sized rack. Eleiko has provided the barbells for several Olympic games as well as the majority of IWF competitions in the United States and Europe. I didnt find the shorter sleeves to be a hindrance though. Bumpers slide on and off easily, with very little noise. Despite the inclusion of Olympic Training in the product name, this isnt really a bar designed with Olympic lifts in mind. The sleeve spin is decent, better than the Junior Bar and on par with other full size barbells from Rogue. Even though the bar has a tensile strength strong enough to hold 300+ lbs, youll need to use steel plates to get there. This is the shorty bar Ive been waiting for. The Junior Bar is great for CrossFit-style WoDs and MetCons, occasional Olympic lifts, and also good for pressing lifts like squats, bench press, and overhead press. However, a good compact barbell can still meet the needs of most home gym lifters. Why?? Given the narrow dimensions of my gym, The standout feature on the Eleiko XF Short Bar is the amount of sleeve length it has. Im not a fan of black zinc as a barbell finish because it doesnt tend to hold up well over time. Boo! The collars stick out from the end of the bar by only about a quarter of an inch, leaving plenty of collar in contact with the bar to keep the plates secure.
