Australians

[simonrest]

Anybody used or have the ATX safety squat bar or the Iron Edge SSB ?
They both seem to be the best options and properly cambered so the angle isnt straight with the handles

my gym has the Aussie strength one, it's also offset. It's unfortunately also an odd weight (32kg)

[InsideOutside]

Anybody used or have the ATX safety squat bar or the Iron Edge SSB ?
They both seem to be the best options and properly cambered so the angle isnt straight with the handles

my gym has the Aussie strength one, it's also offset. It's unfortunately also an odd weight (32kg)

Bit strange being so heavy.

I will have a look at it also and see what I can find
Thanks!

[Sumo]

Just dropped 250 + 20 for shipping on a new flat bench from Verve. Doesn’t ship until Aug 8 when it comes in stock but I’m excited AF for it. IPF spec bench, commercial grade at a fraction of the price. Haven’t found anything like it in terms of price and spec and I’ve been looking for almost a month.

https://www.vervefitness.com.au/collect ... and-wheels

[Col]

Sorry if a resurrection of this thread is not desirable - happy to start a new one but this is a fairly niche, Australian-centric, question:

Anyone used the Valhalla Strength Power Bar and care to comment?

For those who are curious: https://valhallastrengthshop.com.au/pro ... power-bar/

[Sumo]

Sorry if a resurrection of this thread is not desirable - happy to start a new one but this is a fairly niche, Australian-centric, question:

Anyone used the Valhalla Strength Power Bar and care to comment?

For those who are curious: https://valhallastrengthshop.com.au/pro ... power-bar/

For only $11 more you get the Rogue Power Bar, it's not even a contest to be honest.

I've only ever used their Deadlift bar, it was an unpleasant experience and one I never wish to repeat during a meet.

[OCG]

The power bar is just a rebranded Australian Barbell Co bar, the deadlift bar is a speciality variant also made by ABC. The power bar is cheaper from ABC direct (~$440 is memory serves?) but ABC likes to really get their monies worth from their tooling so they can be a little inconsistent in the knurl. The ABC bars I've use are fine bars, BUT, as mentioned, Rogue is in Australia now, and they do the Ohio power bar for a very similar price. It's much nicer and more consistent. No contest there. For slightly more than the ABC bar, you can get a regular Ohio bar, for slightly more than Scott's markup, you can get a 20kg Ohio competition bar.

Sumo, what was so bad about the deadlift bar?

https://www.australianbarbellco.com/BOP ... Bar/pd.php

https://www.rogueaustralia.com.au/rogue ... e-steel-au

https://www.rogueaustralia.com.au/rogue ... r-20-kg-au

[Sumo]

@OCG The bar whip.

It almost tipped me over on my first attempt and I almost dropped my second attempt even though I hook grip. This was the only time ever where I almost dropped a deadlift, something I've never done. I looked over the videos after the meet and there was almost as much whip of the bar upwards, when I reached lockout, as there was before the bar broke off the floor. Not sure what to tell you, maybe I'm too explosive...

The bar whip aside, the build quality seemed really good and the knurling was super agressive, it looked and felt like quality.

[Sumo]

Anybody used or have the ATX safety squat bar or the Iron Edge SSB ?
They both seem to be the best options and properly cambered so the angle isnt straight with the handles

Might want to consider the ABC SSB, $255(excludes shipping), I'm saving up for it as we speak. Shipping cost looks to be really good, Melb to Syd is only $52. They are currently out of stock but spoke with them and their shippment is on the way, expected arrival last week of September.

https://www.australianbarbellco.com/BO_ ... ell/pd.php
- Bar weighs 27kg, which is about right.
- The handles are offset from the camber angle as well, as it should be.

I was considering the Aussie Strength SSB, even though it's more expensive, until I checked their reviews on ProductReview. I'm glad I did because they appear to be very scummy.

[InsideOutside]

Anybody used or have the ATX safety squat bar or the Iron Edge SSB ?
They both seem to be the best options and properly cambered so the angle isnt straight with the handles

Might want to consider the ABC SSB, $255(excludes shipping), I'm saving up for it as we speak. Shipping cost looks to be really good, Melb to Syd is only $52. They are currently out of stock but spoke with them and their shippment is on the way, expected arrival last week of September.

https://www.australianbarbellco.com/BO_ ... ell/pd.php
- Bar weighs 27kg, which is about right.
- The handles are offset from the camber angle as well, as it should be.

I was considering the Aussie Strength SSB, even though it's more expensive, until I checked their reviews on ProductReview. I'm glad I did because they appear to be very scummy.

That is a nice price.
I think I mentioned it earlier but ABC showroom isn’t far from me so I’d be able to go check it out.

Did the Verve flat bench arrive?
Been looking at that also

[Sumo]

@InsideOutside bench arrived a day early, woo, and it is all I expected it would be. It looks and feels like quality, I'd highly recommend it based on my experience so far.

[InsideOutside]

@InsideOutside bench arrived a day early, woo, and it is all I expected it would be. It looks and feels like quality, I'd highly recommend it based on my experience so far.

Nice looks like that’ll be on my order.
Going to grab the weight tree also I think.

Have you looked into IronEdge’s SSB.

https://www.ironedge.com.au/safety-squat-bar.html

Doesn’t look too bad either.
I don’t really understand the camber I’m looking for but I just assumed that if the handles matched the camber it probably isn’t a good bar

[Sumo]

@InsideOutside Yeah I checked them out, but then I saw the bar weighs 14.5kg - I daresay the whip and bend on that would be horrible once there's a appreciable amount of weight on there and you move forcefully.


There are 3 big reasons I see for not using an SSB where the handles and the camber are at the same angle:

1. If the handles and the camber are at the same angle it exacerbates the pitching forward effect you feel when coming out of the hole. Instead of feeling like someone is trying to push your head into the ground it feels like someone is kicking your head into the ground...most people automatically push the handles up at this point, and that lessens the pitching forward effect and can aslo cause you to lose tightness in the lats and back.
2. The secondary issue with the over-emphasised pitching forward effect is that some will also raise their chest in an attempt to fight it, they end up hyperextending or simply unstack their back because only the chest is raised.
3. Lastly, you will not be able to squat or do anything with the bar on your back without holding onto the handles.

[BenM]

I've decided I like Hatfield squats so 3 is important

[InsideOutside]

@Sumo well you’ve sold me on it now.

Looks like I’ll be waiting on it also!

In other news I’m looking at grabbing another set of J hooks preferably looking for sandwich style.
Tossing up between
https://www.littleblokefitness.com.au/p ... RIG-Jhooks

Or the https://www.rogueaustralia.com.au/monst ... up-pair-au

Both will fit my Verve rack through measurements and the little bloke ones are almost half price
( factoring shipping ) not sure if they’re a weird shape but seem to be a good amount of coverage to protect the barbell ( if and when I purchase one worth looking after )

[51M0N]

I have the Rogue J hooks, I'm not sure they are worth the price compared to the standard hooks.

On the Iron edge SSB, the 14kg weigh seems like a mistake, there is no way you could make a SSB that light, and IE gear isn't normally rubbish. I've emailed them to check as it wouldn't surprise me if it was more like 24kg.

[InsideOutside]

I have the Rogue J hooks, I'm not sure they are worth the price compared to the standard hooks.

On the Iron edge SSB, the 14kg weigh seems like a mistake, there is no way you could make a SSB that light, and IE gear isn't normally rubbish. I've emailed them to check as it wouldn't surprise me if it was more like 24kg.

You'll have to let us know what they say because that is incredibly light lol

[InsideOutside]

in this review from a fellow aussie he confirms the weight and says he feels zero flex ( works up to 155kg if i heard correctly )

[Sumo]

Hmm, weird...yeah the reviewer says it's 15kg. That aside it does look solidwith 0 flex or whip, and just like he says most cheap/crappy SSB start to bend and whip once you get anywhere near 150kg. That's a good review @InsideOutside nice find.

[BenM]

Well my ATX SSB is only 17kg, and I've squatted 147kg with it (albeit only for a single). Didn't feel any flex. Unfortunately the video is dead side on so you can't see from that if there is any.

[51M0N]

Reply from Iron Edge confirms it is 14.5kg

"That is correct, the Safety Squat Bar is 14.5kg.

Compared to a typical Olympic Barbell, we don’t need to incorporate whip (or flex) into the Safety Squat Bar; allowing for a different construction that allows for a lighter bar without sacrificing its integrity."