Kettlebells in UK?

[tim1a1]

HI Guys
Anyone know a good value & relialbe Kettlebell supplier in the U.K?
Ideally South England, so I can pick up myself, and so save on P+P?
I'm after a couple of 24kg "Belles".
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Tim

[ninearms]

Try London Kettlebells: http://www.londonkettlebells.com/

[buzz]

Also decent suppliers - http://www.newitts.com/product/IT014116 ... ebells.htm

[Anton]

would seriously suggest getting a pair from a guy called stan pike. google him. i have a set from him and they are great. i ordered some cheaper ones from london kettlebells ( i think) and they were far far inferior

[aliquis]

I want some to but I don't know what weights I should get and they are way to expensive for someone with no work / cheap bastard / financially insecure ;D

A round stone + grip would be sufficient ;D

[ultra_whippet]

The Newitts ones aren't great either to be honest. Just got an Eleiko one for the gym and it's lovely but soooo expensive. Might be worth trying www.olfstore.com also - I'm doing one of their courses next week so I'll let you know what their kettlebells are like.

[Rochellita]

The Newitts ones aren't great either to be honest.

What do you mean by 'aren't great', as in the quality of the materials used and does that really matter?

I've noticed Argos now sells Gold's Gym KB's, which would be an easy way for most people to buy them because Argos is so widespread in England.

[SpugFab]

A bit off topic, but personally I wouldn't recommend buying kettlebells. I don't think you get much bang for your buck. I know of a few "enthusiasts" who rapidly regretted the investment.

If you have access to a set at a gym then I'd say use them, but I don't rate them as a personal purchase. I reckon there's much more value in a set of weights.

[Anton]

A bit off topic, but personally I wouldn't recommend buying kettlebells. I don't think you get much bang for your buck. I know of a few "enthusiasts" who rapidly regretted the investment.

If you have access to a set at a gym then I'd say use them, but I don't rate them as a personal purchase. I reckon there's much more value in a set of weights.

i would kind of agree with you.
if you have a fair amount of cash to burn then i would get some KBs....but only good quality solid iron ones...but these will set you back around 270quid for a set...which when considering you can get a power rack + BB + weights for around 500 doesn't really seem like great value.

Obviosly, if space is a factor than this can be taken into consideration...but then you can think about some olympic dumbells, which you can do most things that you can with kettlebells....and adjust the weights etc....ALTHOUGH things like swings are alot more tricky.

i do love the simplicity of my KBs tho...although i don't really use them that much since i renewed my gym membership.

[ultra_whippet]

What do you mean by 'aren't great', as in the quality of the materials used and does that really matter?

The handles are a bit too thin, and the finish not quite as even as the best ones. It really helps if there's a nice even finish around the handle at least so that it doesn't rip up your hands too much. But they are cheap....

The OLF ones are ok, I just got myself a few. Better handles than the Newitts ones although the finish is still not perfect. Eleiko is still the best of the ones I've tried, as it should be at the price.....

Got put through my paces at my kettlebell course this week, pretty tough but very informative:

[aliquis]

The Newitts ones aren't great either to be honest.

What do you mean by 'aren't great', as in the quality of the materials used and does that really matter?

I've noticed Argos now sells Gold's Gym KB's, which would be an easy way for most people to buy them because Argos is so widespread in England.

Some have steel handles vs just all forged (is that what it's called in english?) iron which make them hold better, some even have iron shoots in them. There are differences in the goods (small bubbles and stuff like that), how well polished / rough they are, any kind of color and how good it holds and how slippery it makes the grip, and form ("regular" of all sorts, with various sizes of grip and the actual "ball" or more similar grip on weights with different attachment locations of the "ball", wide ones, competition ones with thinner grip and same size no matter what weight, and so on.)

Over here mmsports.se sell powermax ones real cheap, 624 sek for 24 kg and that includes free shipping (over 500), not to the UK though ;D, but then for instance kettlebells.nu sell ones with better finish but to higher prices.

Personally I'm thinking about getting one 16 kg "regular look" one with steel handle for any juggling activities, and then either one or two 24+32 kg competition style ones for actual lifting.

But it gets so expensive, I'd also like a pair of 60 kg intellibell powerblocks, an eleiko bar and 250 kg of training bumper plates.

Please.

Yeah, and sand bag, rings, sledge, tires, .. But those stuff are rather cheap.

Suck to have to buy your own gym, damnit =P

But in 11 days I'm a 30 year old virgin so I have to spend my life on something, and if noone want to share my bedroom I may just aswell fill it with weights, right?




Personally I wonder if a pair of 60 kg powerblocks isn't more worth it than an eleiko bar + bumper plates.

Bumper plates in appartment = probably not liked that much, not that I care ..
Bar requires rack.
Bar and rack uses up plenty of space.

The powerblocks are good for lots of stuff, even front squats, only issue I can see atm are deadlifts.

[aliquis]

A bit off topic, but personally I wouldn't recommend buying kettlebells. I don't think you get much bang for your buck. I know of a few "enthusiasts" who rapidly regretted the investment.

If you have access to a set at a gym then I'd say use them, but I don't rate them as a personal purchase. I reckon there's much more value in a set of weights.

16+24+32 kg kettlebells would cost me 2146 sek.
16+24*2+32*2 would cost me over 3800 sek.

A pair of 40 kg powerblocks would probably cost around 6000 sek, 60 kg around 9000 sek.

And Eleiko bar is 4750 sek, 25 kg second class training weights is 565 sek, say 8 of those + 2*20 + 2*10 and we're talking 6000 sek + shipping, which is really cheap for the weights in question, damn I need to buy them before the offer ends =p

Add bench and rack into the equation (though rack made of warehouse shelves would cost around 1500 sek, and bench probably around that to.)

Anyway, training equipment is expensive.

On the other hand hemp bag = 24 sek, 10 heavy duty trash bags = 40 sek, 20 meter natural rope = 25 sek, 150 kg of sand = close to free = less than 150 sek for 0-150 kg sand bag =P


Oh yeah, gym matts are rather expensive, and thick ropes cost over 100 sek / meter.

The reason I (and probably many with me) considers kettlebells, or rings, or jungle gyms, or ... is that our gyms don't have the equipment. I already have access to a barbell at the gym so unless I stop going there I don't really need one, a kettlebell would add more options and variety to my workouts though.


But I still want a barbell since it would be so cool to just think "oh wtf I go do 4 sets of deadlifts", and then be done with it, and later maybe go do some pullups for 5-10 minutes, and then something else another time =p
One can't do it that style if one have to travel to a gym all the time. A gym adds lots of social things though.

But on the other side you can train bare skin at home and chicks got to love your 1 room reserved for home gym, don't they?

Just look at the endless possibilities, sex/love swing in your appartment? People will think you're a freak, pair of rings? No problem!

The steel bells:


The competition bells:

[aliquis]

which when considering you can get a power rack + BB + weights for around 500 doesn't really seem like great value.

Where?

Over here a shitty barbell cost around 1100 sek I think, a 680 kg rated one of some brand 2900 sek, and an eleiko one 4750 sek.

Used weights or the cheapest ones use to cost around 25 sek / kg, atm one can get new eleiko ones for around that so I know what I would pick but anyway. I need to order some before it's too late =P, even though I shouldn't order them or need them, but some day I will want them anyway I guess. Better buy while I can, plus they look awesome.

[aliquis]

The Newitts ones aren't great either to be honest.

What do you mean by 'aren't great', as in the quality of the materials used and does that really matter?

This store had a nice video describing various bells and their prices, the us kettlebells seem nice (watched half of it):
http://www.theg2scart.com/category_s/33.htm

[baldy]

Strength Shop has started selling kettlebells in the UK -> http://www.strengthshop.co.uk/index.php ... bells.html