When it comes to choosing an Olympic bar, you may hear about the terms bearings / linear bearings/needle bearings and bushes/bushings and wonder what they’re talking about.

Finding an appropriate barbell can be a difficult task. Various things go into selecting the correct one for you and your demands, like:

Do you want center knurling? How aggressive do you want your knurling? Do you want 10kg or 15kg? And most importantly: what’s your price range? The most well-known question we get is: “Which is better: bushing or bearing?”

You may notice the clear difference that bearing bars tend to be more expensive than bushing bars. There are a few essential things you need to know when you’re shopping for your barbell. Let’s discuss this in detail.

Bushes and bearings are the mechanisms on which the ends of the bar spins. Bushes and bearings sit between the bar and the sleeve, enabling the sleeve to spin more openly around the bar, lowering friction and wear.

Bushings tend to be bronze or brass. They fit between the sleeve and the bar either at right the inner edge, or the inner and outer edges of the sleeves, lowering friction between the inner and outer sleeve, keeping the spinning movement even. 

In barbell bars, bearings available in three different types – ball bearing, needle bearings, and thrust bearing. Same as bushings, they fit between the sleeve and the bar and minimize the friction between the inner and outer sleeve, forming the spinning movement smoother.

From three of these, ball bearings tend to be the cheapest. Generally, the more bearings mean the smoother spin. Linear bearing and ball bearing bars tend to exclude bushings while needle bearing bars tend to combine bearings with bushings. 

Which One is Better | Bushing vs Bearing

If you want a smooth rotation, you need to choose barbells with bearings, but generally, it will cost more. Barbells with bushings are less expensive. Barbells with bushing are good for lower weights and most home gyms. Also, they are great for powerlifting where spin is not as vital. Bear in mind that good quality bushings can offer better movement than poor quality bearings.

Go for the bearings, if you’ve got the cash. The smoother movement is a lot better, if you want to do a lot of Olympic lifts, you’ll enjoy the smoother movement of a bearing bar. BUT – if you choose the bushing bar and spend a lot of cash on weight plates, you will love the bushing bar and never feel the difference.

In the end, Olympic bars are amazing and hajexfitness.com provides bars with bushings only, bearings only, and both to match all wants.