Barbell Components
At Rogue, we make the world's most durable barbells. We understand things happen from time to time and you may need to replace components or want to freshen up the look of your bar without buying an entire replacement. This is why we offer our premium barbell components to be purchased on their own. Dive into learning about the essential components of your barbell and understand the makeup of your barbell, which will not only ensure you can maintain its optimal performance, but also prolongs its lifespan.
Barbell Components:
Barbell Shaft: At the heart of every barbell lies the shaft. Crafted from premium steel, our barbell shafts provide the necessary rigidity and durability for heavy powerlifting, while still having enough whip, or flex, to perform optimally for Olympic lifting.
Barbell Sleeve: The dynamic counterpart to the bar shaft, facilitates smooth rotation during lifts. Its low-profile design and tight tolerances ensure seamless plate loading and no end float, essential for fluid lifts and changing weight.
Barbell Hardware: The “guts” of a barbell sleeve, the barbell hardware secures every element in perfect unison. Different bars require different hardware, from bushings or bearings, to snap rings and washers, each piece plays a crucial role in the barbell's structural integrity, longevity and function.
Regardless if you have a 20KG or 15KG barbell, their components will be nearly identical.
Disassembling a Barbell:
While there may be more that goes into a barbell than what it seems, taking apart a barbell can be an easy task. Armed with the right tools and knowledge, dismantling each component becomes a seamless process. You can find a full breakdown of how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble your bushing barbell in the link here.
FAQ:
The choice of bushings versus bearings being used in a barbell comes down to what the intended use of a barbell is. For powerlifting specific or multi-purpose barbells, we make them with business as they don’t require as much spin in their sleeves as an Olympic weightlifting barbell. This is not to say that our multi-purpose bars cannot be used for Olympic lifts, but that to be a barbell that serves multiple purposes we have found that bushings work best for this purpose. Olympic weightlifting barbells will utilize bearings as they do require sleeves that spin more easily for movements like the snatch and clean.
Yes, the sleeves on a barbell are designed to spin. The ability for a barbell’s sleeves to rotate freely takes excess stress off your wrists when performing dynamic movements, like Olympic lifts, minimizing the risk for injury.
We manufacture our barbells to Olympic spec, which use a 50MM, or about 2”, sleeve diameter. We make them this way so they are compatible with Olympic spec plates which have a 50.4MM collar opening. By keeping these tight tolerances, we ensure our barbells and plates perform optimally for any type of use.
Each barbell typically features one or two sets of marks, or rings, referred to as knurl marks. These marks serve as indicators for hand placement guidelines in powerlifting for bench press, and a reference point for hand placement in Olympic weightlifting. Our multi-purpose barbells will have both knurl marks, or as we refer to them as dual knurl marks, while our powerlifting or weightlifting specific bars will only have one set of knurl marks.