A deadlift bar is a specialist. The shaft is 27mm, the span between the sleeves is longer than a standard bar, and the whole thing is designed to bend. You pull, the bar flexes, the slack comes out, and the plates leave the floor a fraction of a second later and a fraction higher up your pull than they otherwise would. Lifters pull more on one, which is the entire reason it exists.
About the photographs. Product photography on this page is illustrative. We are licensing real images of each bar and will swap them in per product as they arrive — until then the pictures show a generic unbranded bar of that type, not the product named beside them.
The same 5 bars as a table, on the figures that decide it.
Every figure is the manufacturer’s or retailer’s own published specification. An em dash (—) means they do not publish that figure — it is never a number we have guessed. “Tensile” is tensile strength in thousands of PSI. “Rotation” is bushings, needle bearings, or both in the same sleeve. No prices are listed here, deliberately: check the current price with the shop.
Including the answers that tell you this is not the category you want.
Almost certainly, which is why federations distinguish between records set on one and records set on a stiff bar. The whip means the plates break the floor later and travel slightly less far. It is not cheating, it is a different implement, and if you compete under rules that use one you should train on one.
For rows, yes, with the caveat that it will feel bendy. For shrugs and rack pulls, be careful: a deadlift bar sitting in J-cups with heavy weight on the ends is taking exactly the kind of load its flex is not designed for. Use a power bar for anything racked.
More span between the sleeves gives more flex. Texas go to 56.5 inches and 92.5 inches overall to maximise it; Rogue sit at 56 inches and 90.5 inches. Both are deliberate design choices, and the longer bar needs more room.
Only if you deadlift seriously and have the space. It is a third or fourth purchase, after a good general bar, plates and a rack. If you are choosing between a deadlift bar and better plates, buy the plates.
The other 6 categories, and what each is built to do.
A 29mm shaft, almost no whip and a centre knurl that grips your back. Built for the squat, the bench press and the deadlift, and the standard diameter across powerlifting federations.
See the power bars →8 barsA 28mm shaft on needle bearings, so the sleeves spin fast enough to let the bar turn in your hands through a snatch or a clean. Marked to IWF grip spacing.
See the olympic weightlifting bars →11 barsOne bar for everything — 28mm to 28.5mm, dual knurl marks for both grip standards, moderate spin. What most home gyms and most mixed-training gyms actually need.
See the multipurpose bars →8 bars15kg, a 25mm shaft and 201cm overall — the IWF specification for women’s weightlifting. The thinner shaft also suits anyone whose hands struggle to close round 28mm.
See the women's 15kg bars →3 bars32mm to 35mm and 25kg, fully knurled and deliberately stiff. The extra diameter keeps a heavy bar dead still across your back instead of oscillating.
See the squat bars →5 barsLight bars for learning the lifts, and 6ft bars for garages where a 7ft bar will not fit between the walls. Lower load ratings — check them before loading up.
See the technique and short bars →