Customer Reviews

Apex Olympic Hollow Bar Kit

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The bars are very light and feel cheap when you pick them up. No worries I say, they're CHEAP and I don't want to shell out the Benjamins for real, solid professional equipment. Besides, I'm not running a professional gym; it's just me and my son working out in our home gym.

All goes well until the end piece (where the weight plates sit) on the curl bar pops off with no warning. The force of gravity causes the weights to fall with loud noises, YIKES what surprise. Loud noises, cussing, the curl bar twists violently in my hands (one side is now considerably lighter then the other), dents in floor, etc. No injuries, but certainly could have been broken feet, crushed toes, and serious wrist and forearm injuries from the sudden violent twist when one side unloaded quickly.

Well, now I'm out what I pad for the damn bar and I'm feeling silly to boot. I share my pain only to prevent you from making the same stupid mistake I did. You don't get something for nothing, you get what you pay for, and cheap equipment will cost you more in the long run.

I will now do what I should have done in the first place, namely belly up to the (curl) bar and pay for a solid professional well made curl bar, not this junk.

First of all, for those wondering, the weights of these bars are: 3 pound dumbbell handles and: 6.5 pound EZ curl bar. Anyway, I know that dumbbell handles and EZ curl bars can both run into well over $100 (separately, not together) for the highest quality stuff. I have been using these dumbbell handles for a couple of months now and I am very pleased with them, especially for the price. The best part about them is you can use them in conjunction with micro loading plates, so that you can effectively add weight to your lifts in as little as 1/2 pound increments. 2" APT Free Weight Weights fractional Plates Chrome Pro Grade I have included a link for the micro loading plates that have been an enormous help to improving my lifts. They are a bit expensive, but they are invaluable. If you have lifted for a while you know increasing lifts in 5 pound increments from workout to workout is next to impossible unless you are still learning the proper form on an exercise or you are lifting 400 pounds.

My only suggestion would be to invest in some better collars. These collars are pretty awful and will not safely hold more than about 15 pounds on either end of a dumbbell handle. This is bad if you want to do exercises where the weight stack faces the floor for a period of time such as when getting in position for a dumbbell bench press, a behind the head dumbbell french press, etc. When trying to do the latter exercise, the bottom half of the weight stack that was facing the floor crashed to the ground when I was getting the weight into position. If you want to avoid this potential danger and frustration, buy some stronger collars. Valeo Olympic Spring Collars I have included a link for some collars that I have not tried myself, but the reviews are good and they also look very cost effective.

I purchased this item for two reasons: it had the dumbbell handles, and it was cheaper than almost all of the other similar sets. While I've used the dumbbell handles numerous times and like them, I've only used the curl bar once.

The principle behind the "ez-curl" bars is that they're more ergonomic and supposed to allow you to do a more natural grip on the bar. Of all of the curl bars I've used in the last 17 years, this is the only one that hurt just like I was using a regular straight bar. In fact, I'm contemplating cutting the ends off this thing and welding them onto my Harbinger "threaded super curl bar" which I love the feel of but unfortunately can't handle olympic plates.

I do not recommend this product to others.

Well, heres the thing. When you think you're getting a steal because of such a low price, remember...You get what you pay for. That being said, the bar is not horrible, but it lacks quality. One end of the bar was actually pouring out some sort of dark colored dust that i can only assume is iron oxidation. The rest of the bar is chromed, however, when i turned the bar vertical you could clearly see the dust fall out and dissipate into the air. Anyway, the dumbell handles are alright. no complaints. However, if you're used to regular weights, these olympic dumbells will take some getting use to (particularly the length of them) All in all, you really cant beat the price for the 3 pieces. Trust me, i checked and looked. So, may not be the highest quality but it will certainly get the job done.

Great product...delivered quickly...has made lifting weights a breeze with easy to change clips for each bar...good quality with easy to grip handles...

It works fine. I loaded up the weights and did all kinds of lifts. The weights stayed on fine and the bars are sturdy and light

This is a very nice for the money bar set. Very lightweight because of it being hollow yet very solid. Great for curling and not too heavy just in case the women want to use also.

This is about what you would want. It cheaper than the others out there. It work well for the most part. The clips do slip sometime if you are using it sideways, like over the head triceps extension. I have not had it slip all the way off, but it does slip sometimes. They are hollow and weight a little less than others of this type. But for curls, barbell bench press, and etc it works great.

This set of bars are all hallow (of course, it says so in the title) but are cheaply made. The plastic end caps normally interfere with the attachments of the sleeves that would fit over them to hold weight plates from falling off. (Have fun taking them off as well) You don't want to remove those plastic end caps either or you will be presented with a sharp jagged edge that won't hesitate to rip into your flesh.

Every bar is also covered in a oily mucus that stains anything it touches a dull gray, so make sure you have an old towel or wash cloth ready for these babies as they are removed from their respective packages.

In closing, I would say these bars are sufficient for a child or amateur if you're on a tight budget, but would not recommend them for any adult or person serious about lifting. Just spend the additional $10-20 on a set of solid bars.

This is a easy, cheap option for adding a set of olympic dumbell handles and ez curl bar to your gym.

The bars are all quite light and if you are considering loading them up with some serious weight, you might look for other options.

Great value for the price.