Many people out there associate cost with what defines quality even though throughout their lives they have been duped by things that are "expensive" for now reason.
Water, internet, seats on airplanes... All of these things are things that at even their base level are extremely convenient to have. We dont need fancy water, we dont need fiber optic internet, we deffinitly dont need first class to get to our destination aboard an airplane but all of these things if we can have we will take the oppurtunity to obtain.
We all know that water is water and while the more expensive brand may have unique bottles more ergonomic to grip, have a cause behind them that donates, or a different balance of "ions" in it at the end of the day it is just a bottle of water.
It however becomes a great deal when we find out that the water we paid $3.49 for is actually from a sink just outside of Flint Michigan...When the aura of quality is shattered and we know we overpaid for something that wasnt true.
This unfourtunatley happens in the weightlifting world all to often. Bars are called unique and they are as unique as a pet rock, Steel is branded as "special blends" when its really just scrap melted down, and equipment is called "one of a kind" when its really just stolen from another company.
This week two incidents occured where we could see grave examples of this...
1. A barbell company that wont be named that is extremely unique and unfourtunately going out of business seems to have been stamping the same serial numbers on multiple bars. This essentially is the equivalent of fraud as the company extends to its customers that each customers barbell is uniquely crafted and goes through a rigorous 122 point inspection before being serial numbered as good.
2. A company that is one of the very few companies to hold the IWF's seal was recently weighted against one of our barbells and it was very clear that this companies "Quality" is different than ours. The female bar weighed 14.988kg while the male bar was 19.991! For a barbell that is just under $800 to not be weighed exactly as it should be is absolute trash.
Quality does have a price on it and yes, if we can have the highest speed internet we will get it for sure because it will make us happy. Quality in weightlifting equipment is the same. Barbells dont need to be expensive but if they are going to you should probably ensure that the company you are purchasing has the actual track record to prove that every penny spent is actually going to the promised quality of that equipment.