Three diameters that do not mix, and one rating that means something · review
HQ Germany Barbell 170 cm Hard Chrome review
The only bar in this family to publish its bearing arrangement: two needle bearings and one bushing per side, under a hard chrome finish, with a 350 kg rating and a stated 28 mm shaft.
The bottom line The most mechanically specified bar in the family. Publishing the bearing arrangement — two needle bearings and a bushing per side — is something no competitor here does, and the 28 mm shaft and exact 13 kg mass are stated with the same precision. The 350 kg rests on no more evidence than anybody else’s figure, and the missing sleeve length is the one gap in an otherwise unusually complete listing.
What the maker publishes
Overall 170 cm, 50 mm sleeves for Olympic plates
Shaft Ø 28 mm
Mass 13 kg exactly, as the maker words it
Maximum load 350 kg
Two precision needle bearings and one plain bushing per side
Black hard chrome on both shaft and sleeves
Shipped in a tube with a VCI corrosion-inhibiting bag
The figure nothing else here publishes
A bearing arrangement. Every other bar in this family either says nothing
about rotation or describes it in one word.
Two needle bearings and a bushing per side is a specific mechanical claim, and
it is the kind of detail that can be checked against the product. Whether it
justifies the price is a separate question; that it is published at all is
what distinguishes this listing.
The 28 mm shaft
Thinner than the 30 mm grips on the POWER-XTREME, thicker than the 25 mm
shafts on the shorter bars here.
Twenty-eight millimetres is the shaft diameter competition-style bars use. A
thinner shaft closes more easily in the hand and flexes more under load. Both
follow from the figure, and which suits a given lifter is not something this
page decides.
The 350 kg, in context
It is the largest rating in this family by a wide margin, and like every other
figure here it cites no standard.
That is worth stating plainly rather than treating as a selling point: a
declaration of 350 kg and a declaration of 100 kg rest on the same kind of
evidence, which is the maker’s own word. Where a bar publishes a test
reference, this site says so; none of these do.
The gap
No sleeve length. On a 50 mm bar loaded with bumper plates — which are
thick by design, because they are sized to a fixed diameter — that figure is
what caps a loading, and it is not here.
Availability
About 100 € on the German Amazon store, on the one reading this page rests on.
The British, French, Italian and Spanish Amazon catalogues list the reference with nobody selling behind it.
The American Amazon store returned nothing at all, so the buy button there opens a search rather than an empty page.
These figures are what Keepa returned on the day this page was last written. Stock and prices move without notice.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 20 September 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.
The figures declared, and the gaps beside them
Strengths
Publishes its bearing arrangement in detail — two needle bearings and a bushing per side
The 28 mm shaft is a published figure and it is the one a competition-style bar uses
Hard chrome on shaft and sleeves, stated for corrosion as well as scratches
Compromises
No sleeve length published, which on a 50 mm bar is the figure that caps a loading
A 350 kg rating with no standard cited is the largest claim here on the same evidence as the rest
No collars stated as supplied
Specifications
Bore
Ø 50 mm sleeve, for Olympic plates with a 50 mm bore as the maker states it
Length
170 cm overall
Bar weight
13 kg exactly, as the maker states it
Loadable sleeve length
Not published by the maker
Shaft diameter
Ø 28 mm
Load rating
Up to 350 kg, as the maker states it
Standard cited
None cited by the maker
Sleeve rotation
Two precision needle bearings and one plain bushing per side
Knurl
Knurling described as grippy and precise, not measured
Collars supplied
Not published by the maker
Amazon reference
B0FM423RBT (one reference across 5 Amazon marketplaces)
EAN
4260740812691
What buyers ask about this one
What do needle bearings change?
They let the sleeves turn more freely than a plain bushing does, which matters on any movement where the bar rolls in the hands. The maker publishes two needle bearings plus one bushing per side, which is more detail about the mechanism than anything else in this family gives.
Is the 350 kg tested?
No standard is cited with it, which is true of every bar in this family. It is the maker’s declaration about its own product, and it is the largest figure here made on the same kind of evidence as the smallest.
Why does the 28 mm shaft matter?
It is the shaft diameter used on competition-style bars, and it is thinner than the 30 mm grips elsewhere in this family. A thinner shaft closes more easily in the hand and flexes more under load; both are consequences of a published figure rather than judgements.
Who this one is for
A 50 mm collection where the rotation and the shaft diameter are the point
A reference exists on these Amazon stores: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom. Listed is not the same as in stock — availability changes daily.
Details checked on September 20, 2026.
Sources
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for home gym equipment and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
A 152 cm chromed bar that publishes its sleeve length — 26.9 cm — which is the longest in this family and the figure that actually decides what goes on a bar.
Best for: A 25 mm collection where sleeve space matters more than headline capacity
The most completely specified bar in this family, and one of the few anywhere that publishes an inner grip length for each version. A 25 mm bore, which is neither of the two common figures.
Best for: Somebody matching a bar to a rack, who needs the inner measurement published
A two-in-one set sold across a 15 to 40 kg range, with a published 400 mm connecting tube and a stated 15 mm of foam padding on it. The contents list is complete; the plate breakdown is not.
Best for: Somebody buying the two-in-one arrangement rather than a specific plate list