Parallel Bars

[kombatmaster7]

Hey I found these great looking metal parallel bars for a little over $200.

http://www.outdoorfunstore.com/commerci ... lassic.asp

I was wondering if it would be a good investment?

I'd like to put it in my back yard and practice statics on it.

[Blairbob]

Not bad. CrossFit Santa Cruz made a set with wood ( 2x4's? ) that was pretty neat. I'd go that route unless you don't have the tools or want to do the labor. Measure your what it is from your elbow to your fingers and see if that corresponds to how wide these are.

[kombatmaster7]

Thanks for the reply Blairbob.

My only dilema with these PB's is that they may be too wide for me to practice my straddle L progeressions on (which are currently being performed on chairs). The bars look thicker than regular wood PB's which can effect some exercises, but thats not a big deal.

The wood PB's just cost so much money. Mostly $500-$1500 for some decent ones.

Do you happen to have the link on how to build one's own wooden PB's?

[Blairbob]

There wasn't a link on how to build them, just a picture.

http://www.crossfitsantacruz.com/crossfit_santa_cruz/2008/12/page/2/

Looks like 4x4's, 4x6's, some pipe and some fittings.

You are right, I prefer to practice my straddle L on a beam since it's very narrow versus doing it on wide set PB.

[Mark Weaver]

For everyone interested:

I actually contacted Crossfit Santa Cruz about these, and got a bunch of dimensions and some more pictures. The dimensions are below:

The top of the bars were at 54.5 inches.

The bars were 18 inches, inside edge to inside edge. They ended up being about 20 apart center to center.

The pipes stuck out about 12 inches from the end of the support.

We used 4x6 and 4x4 and 2x6

The base and supports were all 4x6

The diagnal bracing on 4x4 or 2x6

All the bracing hardware was Simpson stuff I found at home depot.

The pipe holders are KEY KLAMP that I found at a local hardware store.

The picture files were pretty big. If anyone wants me to, I can just forward the email with the picture attachments. From the dimensions and the pictures they're pretty easy to figure out.

Mark