Did you hear?… Barbell defect prompts recall by York

York Barbell has recalled 3,300 Olympic weightlifting bars after a defect caused two to break when loaded.

No injuries were reported in the breakage, both of which occurred at one gym and were reported to York in late May by the dealer that sold the bars to the gym, said York spokeswoman Lindsey Aquino.

The voluntary recall in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission was announced only about a month after York reported the incidents to the government agency.

“We had to get the bars tested,” Aquino said, but “we worked really quickly.”

Aquino said two models were involved in the recall and the company has redesigned the pin assembly so it does not have a hole through the bar, which had weakened the bar. The new bars are already in production, she added.

The bars, made in China, were sold mostly to commercial dealers and retailers, with a few sold to catalog companies, Aquino said. Although the defect seemed to only affect the two, the company recalled all 3,300, which had been sold from November 2005 through July 2006 for between $200 and $500.

This recall involves all 7-foot International Hard Chrome 1000 lb. and 1500 lb. test Olympic bars with model number 32012 and 32013, 7-foot International Black Oxide 1000 lb. and 1500 lb. test Olympic bars with model number 32020 and 32021, 7-foot International Men’s Olympic Needle-bearing bars with model number 32010 and 6_-foot International Women’s Olympic Needle-bearing bars with model number 32011. The bars have split sleeves and YORK is printed on the sleeve assemblies of each bar.

For more information, contact York Barbell Co. at (800) 358-9675 or go to www.yorkbarbell.com. To see the entire CPSC release and a picture of the products, click here.