Advice for Finding 2nd Hand Weights in UK

[NorthstarUK]

Looking to set up a home gym in my garage on a shoestring budget.

Does anyone know of any companies / websites specialising in used / second hand olympic free weights or whether they are commonly advertised in local papers?

I live in the North West of the England.

Thanks guys.

[ricepower]

Nope there really isnt some miracle source of used bumper plates!

There isnt as much of a weightlifting culture here as there is in the USA or Eastern Europe. Its tough to find gyms with proper free weights and even if there is a barbell it is often only used for bench pressing.

Hardcore lifting gyms tend to be real dungeons which only have old heavily used equipment anyway. There isnt many organisations which would be buying olympic free weights and disposing of them after light use.

Most peoples home setups rarely include olympic barbell, its far more common for UK home gyms to comprise of a multi-gym thing with lat pull down and leg curl etc. And the most common barbells being those thin bars with plastic weights.

So this is the stuff youll commonly find second hand, stuff originally purchased from argos for some teenager to do curls & 10kg bench presses in their bedroom.

Just keep an eye on gumtree & ebay anyway, you never know.

[NorthstarUK]

I suspected as much, though I kinda hoped there would be a company somewhere that buys equipment from Gym's that have gone bankrupt and sells it on.

I'll probably end up having to buy brand new, but thought it was worth asking the question!

[Wellhairedbeast]

You wont find second hand olympic plates/barbells very often, its mainly dumbbells and standard bars, which are found at most car boots but also surprising at council tip sites ( i have seen exercise equipment there, perfectly good on a number of occassions, i dont know if they do chuck or just keep it incase someone asks for it. My mother recently rescued and ornamental item they had left by the side) May seem an odd place but the stuff is usually free / bung them a tenner or so for beer money.

[lovestolift]

I've heard tale of companies that do just that - buy up gym equipment from bankrupt gyms - but I think you have to be connected to the industry to get your hands on it. They probably wouldn't sell only one set of weights, you'd have to buy in bulk. Your best bet is to scan your local papers and pawn shops.

[AD69]

Try craigslist or gumtree for sets, or even ebay, but as its usually pick up only, its a rare thing to find.

You could try Powerhouse Fitness, as they are usually good value, and willing to do deals on larger orders.

[NorthstarUK]

Thanks guys, i'll keep my eyes peeled in local papers, might even try a wanted ad!

I suppose most people who invest in decent weights are pretty committed and they last potentially a lifetime, I guess that add's up to not many being available second hand. So i'm fully expecting to have to shell out for new!

Wish i was still a novice cos i'll need at least 250kg for heavy rack pulls and GMs!

[lionize]

At my old gym there were bumper plates (thick black things, not olympic style), but when it was busy things got a bit scarce. During those times I'd just set up the bar with whatever bumper plates I could find, sometimes just 25x2 or 25x2 + 10x2, and then load the rest of the bar with metal plates. Of course there is only so much weight the bumper plates would be able to hold (before say, folding or crumbling), but two together made it stable (probably because they were also quite thick anyway).

I think you could get away with this (just buying a 4 plates at a time, maybe 4x25, or 2x25 & 2x20), as long as your metal plates are smaller than the bumper plates the bumper plates land first and save your floor. That is of course as long as you drop the bar evenly.

250kg is a lot... this might be a way to save yourself some money in the shortrun and then in the future you can upgrade by purchasing more plates.

[Kingace]

I have also been looking for 2nd hand olympic weights in the UK for a long time, but nothing is turning up in the local area, craigslist or ebay. I'm guessing we are going to have to resort to buying them 1st hand.

Try craigslist or gumtree for sets, or even ebay, but as its usually pick up only, its a rare thing to find.

You could try Powerhouse Fitness, as they are usually good value, and willing to do deals on larger orders.

I was thinking of ordering an Olympic Barbell set from Powerhouse Fitness today, but ended up on the phone with an ignorant employee, the conversation on the phone went like this:

Women On phone: "Hey, is this x?"
Me: "Hey, yeah, I just have a few questions about the Olympic barbell set, first of all, how much does the bar support?"
Women on phone: "1500lbs"
Me: "Thanks, do you know what the grip of the bar is, is it 28mm?"
Women on phone: "I don't know what you are on about"
Me: "Umm you know, when you grab the bar, how thick is it?"
Women on phone: "don't know"
Me: ".... well do you know if the bar has centre knurling?"
Women on phone: "What do you mean. I don't know what that is."
Me: "Can you find out this information for me"
Women on phone: "Yeah...."
Me: ".... when will I find out?"
Women on phone: "sometime tomorrow, bye"
Me: "..."
Women hangs up

She also sounded negative on the phone and obviously knew nothing about the products the company she works for is actually selling.

Anyway, do you (or does anyone for that matter) know if their bars are any good? Do they have 28mm grip and revolving sleeves?
Don't want to mistake of ordering something I will regret, like I have done many times. Thanks a lot.

[scottyc]

I bought a rack, 100kg weights and oly barbell from powerhouse for £350 so it's probs the best you're gonna get. So hard to find used plates but to add another suggestion to the above is just keep asking people. You never know who knows someone that has them and is willing to give them away. Stick a wanted ad up in the pub or supermarket or other public places and you might get lucky.

I'm not an experienced lifter so couldn't tell a good barbell from a bad one but the powerhouse is pretty good with comfortable knurling and revolving sleeves.

[summerss]

If you're really struggling, you could try the spacesaver spare wheels.

I used to work at car dealerships where the valeters used them to stand on. I use them and ones from scrap cars as weights and they fit on Olympic bars quite nicely and if you sandwich them between some other weights, they wont fall off. I should mention that they bounce if you drop them and they may turn deadlifts into low rack pulls unless you stand on something.