Two different problems, one page. Light technique bars exist so somebody can learn the snatch and the clean and jerk without 20kg in their hands. Short 6ft bars exist because a 220cm bar does not fit in a lot of British garages. Both have lower load ratings than a full bar, and both are worth checking carefully before you load them.
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 An em dash (—) means they do not publish that figure — it is never a number we have guessed.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.
If an empty 20kg bar is too heavy to move through a full snatch with good positions, a technique bar is worth it. That is common with teenagers, with older beginners and with anyone coming back from a shoulder injury. If you can handle 20kg, skip it.
It depends entirely on the centre section, not the overall length. The bars listed here keep a 131cm or 132cm collar-to-collar span, which is what standard rack spacing is built around. A cheap short bar with a 110cm centre will not rack.
Check the load rating and the sleeve length separately — both can be the limit. Mirafit’s M3 6ft is load tested to 680kg but has only 250mm of sleeve, so in practice the plates run out before the steel does.
Within the rating, which is low. Strength Shop’s aluminium bar is rated to 20kg of load. Going beyond a stated rating on a light bar is how bars bend.
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 →5 barsA 27mm shaft and a longer span between the sleeves, so the bar bends before the plates leave the floor. Aggressive knurl, no centre knurl. Not for squatting or benching.
See the deadlift 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 →