OlympicBars.co.uk
6 shops

Where to buy an Olympic bar in Britain

Three UK brands selling their own kit direct, two long-standing UK retailers, and the two overseas manufacturers that run their own British or European storefronts. Every shop below was reachable and listing barbells when this site was built.

There is no ranking here, and no shop has paid to appear. The notes below describe what each one stocks and the practical things worth knowing — who manufactures their own bars, who publishes full specifications, and where importing means you need to read the delivery terms carefully.

Brand-direct

Mirafit

A UK home- and garage-gym brand selling only its own kit. The widest single range of own-brand bars on this site, from a budget 7ft bar up to specialist deadlift and squat bars, with full published specifications on every listing.

Visit Mirafit12 bars listed here
Retailer

Strength Shop

A UK powerlifting and strength retailer that also manufactures its own Riot, Bastard and Original bar ranges, and stocks the US-made Texas Power Bars. Several of its bars are IPF-approved.

Visit Strength Shop15 bars listed here
Brand-direct

Bulldog Gear

A UK brand aimed at functional-fitness gyms and home gyms. Publishes steel grade, straightness tolerance and bearing counts on each bar.

Visit Bulldog Gear6 bars listed here
Brand-direct

Eleiko

The Swedish manufacturer used at IWF and IPF world championships. Sells into the UK through its own en-GB store. The most expensive bars listed here and the only ones carrying federation certification.

Manufactured in Sweden.

Visit Eleiko8 bars listed here
Brand-direct

Rogue Fitness

The US manufacturer, selling to Britain through its own GB storefront. Bars are machined in Columbus, Ohio. Check the delivery and duty terms at checkout before ordering.

Manufactured in United States.

Visit Rogue Fitness8 bars listed here
Retailer

Fitness Superstore

A long-established UK retailer with physical showrooms, carrying Jordan Fitness, Body Power and Hammer Strength bars alongside commercial gym equipment.

Visit Fitness Superstore3 bars listed here

Buying from a UK brand

Mirafit, Bulldog Gear and Strength Shop all design and sell their own bars, which has two practical consequences. Delivery is cheap and quick — Mirafit caps UK delivery at a few pounds however much you order — and there is no customs step to go wrong.

It also means the specification you are reading comes from the people who commissioned the bar, and all three publish it in full: shaft diameter, tensile strength, knurl type, bearing or bushing count and a load test figure. That is more than many larger brands manage.

Buying from an overseas manufacturer

Rogue and Eleiko both sell into the UK through their own storefronts rather than through a distributor. That gets you the full range and the manufacturer’s own warranty, and it means you should read the delivery and duty terms at checkout before you commit. Shipping a 20kg steel bar across a border is not cheap, and the headline price is not the landed price.

Rogue machine their bars in Columbus, Ohio; Eleiko make theirs in Sweden. Both publish genuinely complete specifications, and Eleiko are the only maker on this site whose bars carry IWF and IPF certification.

Buying from a retailer

Strength Shop and Fitness Superstore both carry other makers’ bars alongside their own ranges, which is how the US-made Texas Power Bars and the Jordan Fitness and Hammer Strength commercial bars reach British buyers without an individual import.

Fitness Superstore also has physical showrooms, which makes it one of the few places on this list where you can put your hands on a bar and feel the knurl before buying. For a purchase that comes down to how something feels in your hands, that is worth a drive.

What this site does not know

Stock levels, lead times, current prices, how any of these shops handle a warranty claim, and what their customer service is like. None of that has been tested here, so none of it is claimed. Check the shop’s own returns and warranty terms before ordering anything heavy enough to be awkward to send back.

Before you order

Worth checking every time

  • The current price on the shop’s own page, since this site publishes none
  • Whether delivery is included, and what it costs for a 20kg to 25kg item
  • For overseas orders, whether duty and VAT are charged at checkout or on arrival
  • The warranty term and what it actually covers — bending, or everything
  • The returns policy on something this heavy, and who pays the return carriage
  • That the specification on the page still matches what is listed here, since makers revise them
  • Lead times, because specialist bars are often made to order
Not listed here

Shops we left out

Several UK sellers — including Wolverson Fitness, Watson Gym Equipment and Primal Strength — sell Olympic bars but do not publish specifications complete enough to put in a comparison table. They may well sell excellent bars. We simply cannot tabulate what is not published, and we will not guess.

Compare the bars first

All 52 bars with the shop named on every row, so you can see who stocks what.

The full table

How these links work

No affiliate programmes, no paid placements, no commission. The disclosure page spells out exactly what that means and what would change if it ever stopped being true.

Affiliate disclosure