Normal Carbon steel is strong without heat treatment because of their carbon content. But usually the tensile strength and yield strength is not strong enough. These normal carbon steel is used for econ bars or low quality bars as they don’t need to hold much weight. In order for the steel to gain its rigidity, sometimes elements like Chromium, Nickel and Molybdenum are added to the steel. Without heat treating process, alloy steel is softer than carbon steel. However, with heat treatment, it strongly reinforces the strength of the steel. Heat treated alloy steel can take much more weight. Both the tensile strength and yield strength will greatly increase after the heat treating process. This type of alloy steel shaft is used for elite or competition grade bars such as our men’s competition bearing bars.

Tensile Strength is the force that needed to break the steel apart. It is usually measured in PSI (Pound per Square Inch). For example, if a bar has a tensile strength of 240,000 psi, it means you will need 240,000 pound per square inch of force to put the bar apart.

Yield Strength is the force that needed to cause permanent deformation to the steel.
In other words, it is the force needed to bend the bars. It is also measured in PSI. For example, if a bar has a yield strength of 216,000 psi, it means you will need 216,000 pound per square inch of force to bend the bar.

To be honest, bearings are not necessarily needed in the making of the bars. Bearings are there to provide better and smooth rotation. However, sometime if the sleeves spin too fast, it will cause harm to the lifter. Fast spins will cause the bar with weight to become unstable. This might throw the lifter off balance. We have heard lifters who injured their shoulder because the sleeves spin too fast. The best way is to use the bearings but in a controlling manner. That is why most of the top end bars do not spin fast.

All you need to know is, all surface treatment can only prevent the bars from rusting for a period of time. They will not hold against rusting forever. Normally, silver surface treatment is better than black surface treatment. However, if you really like the color black, the most often seen black treatment is black oxide, black zinc, black EPD, black Chrome and black hard chrome. And the performance of these surface treatmentsis this sequence. Black oxide has almost no protection against rusting, the wearing resistance is very low as well. For the best black surface treatment, I would say it’s the black hard chrome. However, due to the time consuming process, black hard chrome is also the most expensive surface treatment.

Yes, you definitely need to maintenance the bars. No bar can last three month with maintenance, no matter what. We all know sweat cause the most damage to the bars. The salt in you sweat will cause the bar to rust very, very fast. It is ideal to maintenance your bars twice a week, especially right after your use of the bars. This will clean away the sweat that causes the bar to rust, making sure the longevity of your bars. After all, you don’t want a 300+ USD bar to rust after 3 month.

All you need is a copper brush (or plastic one). First, brush away the chalk that is stuck in the knurling. After carefully brushing, apply a thin layer of 3-in-1 oil to the surface of the shaft. If you want, you can also apply some oil on the sleeves. This will keep your bars nice looking for a very long time.