York Roundhead Journey

"Salesman Sample" novelty dumbbell

1-6 & 15-50

7-12

I purchased my first York Roundheads from a fellow about 45 minutes away for $2/pound.  I was then the proud owner of 20-20-25 pound dumbbells.  I was also bit by the vintage iron bug.  This was January 4, 2022.  That year I was fortunate to find a number of dumbbells locally and bought and traded on the Vintage Weightlifting Swap group page.

In 2023, I liquidated my heavies.  It was difficult to pair them up.  I was not using them and was tired of moving them around the gym.  The handle diameter leaves something to be desired as well.  I got a fair price and they found good homes.

In 2024, I took a break, but still managed to find some ROC-MO plates and also purchased some Nebula Dumbbells from the new Vintage Weights & Physical Culture group.

In 2025, I finally completed the 1-50 collection (hat tip Riker Johnson) and even added a "Salesman Sample" for $150.  I did not track this with equipment as it is not really equipment.  My 1-50 set is a mix of USA stamped and pre-USA stamped dumbbells.  The 15s and 30s are blues.

Between buying and selling the "net" cost of the set ended up at $182.  I also have $78 in extras (1-9-15-15-15).  Further, I have $282 in other vintage dumbbells (buns, globes, Nebula, Healthways; total 153 pounds).  Finally, I bought some smalls to use as awards $75 for 1-1-2-2-3-3.

I could still be tempted to buy some globes or unique dumbbells, but aside from flipping, my roundhead journey is completed.

HSPU - Metcon

Monday, August 25, 2025

Westbound CrossFit (Coach Loni)

1200 - 10 of us

Warm Up

Run

PVC around the worlds

PVC lunge Samson stretch

PVC lunge twist

HSPU warm-up

DB press warm-up

Strength

Every 1:30 x 5 Sets:

 Option A: 5–7 Deficit Strict HSPU (2-4" deficit)

 Option B: 6–8 Box Pike HSPU with deficit

I did 4 Box Pike (on knees) HSPU with 10 pound plates (1" deficit) for all 5 sets

Conditioning

RXConditioning:

 4 Rounds for Time:

 24 Single-Arm DB Push Press (12/arm @ 50/35)

 15 Box Jump overs (24/20)

 30 S.A. DB Front Rack Walking Lunges (15/leg, 50/35)

 Goal: Sub 13:00 | Cap: 16:00

I scaled to 20# DB push press, box step overs and unweighted walking lunges.  I finished in 14:54 and felt like I was moving well.  The walking lunges were the most time consuming movement for me.

Cool Down

Bodybuilding Finisher A:

 3 Rounds (not for time):

10 Tempo Incline DB Bench Press (21X1)

10 Bent-Over DB Rows

15 Banded Pull-Aparts

I just did 2 rounds of the bent over rows (1 arm) and banded pull aparts

45 Pound York Roundheads

The long lost 45s have finally been added to my York Roundhead collection.  Straight handles, tight heads, no USA stamp.  It was a long drive to Colorado Springs and back, but worth it.  The seller knew what he had but priced them fairly at $140 for the pair.

King Kong Grip Session

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Basement Gym

1200

Grip Session

IronMind Hub

20

22.5

23.75

25

26.25 (R/L)

27.5

105 kg 25th in USA is 38.91 lb

Arm Assassin Thumb Blaster

30

40

45

50 (L)

No records

IronMind Little Big Horn

60

70

80

90

100 (L)

105 kg 25th in USA is 130.01 lb

122.5 lb last year

FBBC 2.25 Inch Crusher

100

110 (L)

105 kg 25th in USA is 186.89 lb

122.5 lb last year

Felt good to test these lifts again.  I need to get some training into rotation considering King Kong is only 8 weeks away.  I also want to play with my new grip toys.

Al Gerard Trap Bar?

Donald Seward listed the trap bar for $50 and I decided to make the trip to Castle Rock to pick it up.  The diamond shape had me suspecting it to an Al Gerard or knock off.

After doing some research on the early trap bars, there are a few things to look for.  

• Collar (Donut) indicates John Wood, Smooth attachment indicates Al Gerard
• Lathe hole at end
• Smooth Sleeve

Original Al Gerard - Total Sleeve all the same, knurl does not go to end  of handle

John Wood - Sleeve has a "donut" on the end

It is obviously not 100% original as it was painted black at some point in its life.  Donald said he bought it 15-20 years ago used.

Most information I could find was on Vintage York Barbell Owners and Vintage Weights & Physical Culture.  There was a good article on Physical Culture Study.

Front Squat - Metcon

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Westbound CrossFit (Coach Rachel)

1630 (9 of us)

Warm Up

Row

Walking lunges

Walking groin stretch

No push-up burpees

Front Squat warm-up

Strength

Every 2:30 x 5 Sets:

 3 Front Squats @ 85–90%

 Keep consistent form under load.

I built up from 95-115-135-155-155 pounds (~75% of 1RM)

Conditioning

RXConditioning:

 2 Rounds for Time:

 30 Wall Balls (20/14)

 20 Burpees Over Rower (lateral)

 15/12 Cal Row

 Rest 3:00 between rounds

 Score = combined working time

Goal: 3:00–4:00 per round

 Cap per round: 6:00

Intermediate:

20 Wall Balls

15 Step-over burpees

12/9 Cal Row

Baseline:

15 Wall Balls (lighter)

10 Step-back burpees

9/6 Cal Row

I scaled to 15 wall balls (10#), 12 step-over burpees and 9 calorie row finishing in 3:49 + 4:03 = 7:53 working time.

This was a good little mover and emphasized that I need to do more burpees.  Maybe I will have to do EMOM style 4 burpees per minute for 20 minutes type of deal?

GripBoard - RagingTrain Listing

• *Iron mind large gripper holders.  3 of them for $15/each.  Have some scratches from grippers. - CONSIDERED 
• *custom competition pickaxe by barrel strength.  $70. Used very little - NO INTEREST
• *rock climber things (wall mountable) $10 - NO INTEREST, rock rings
• Double Barrel (fbbc??) almost 4” wide total $25 - requested 9 hours after posting - GOT
• *iron mind little big horn - I haven’t used it much.  But these rust very easily.  I’ve cleaned the surface rust off (vinegar) but there’s very light pitting on it. $60 - HAVE
• 2” country crush (light blue frame) $60 - CONSIDERED
• Dube cube (grip n bend in Canada) $45 - requested 9 hours after posting - SOLD
• Half moon (griptopz?) $40 - requested 9 hours after posting - GOT
• Horne top (griptopz) $40 - HAD
• hub (griptopz) $25 - requested 9 hours after posting - SOLD
• stub (griptopz) $25 - requested 9 hours after posting - SOLD
• Griptopz loading pin w/lever top $40 - requested 9 hours after posting - GOT
• *wrist wrench single (red strap) $35 - HAVE
• *ball key pinch (I thought this had a mirror finish at one point?? Still very smooth) $20 - HAVE
• *Wide shallow hub (not sure who made this) 5.25”x3/4” D. $25 - CONSIDERED
• *Less wide shallow hub 4.25” W $25 - NO INTEREST
• Dub hubs (barrel strength): one is 4” wide, and the other is 3” wide.  I only have one of the pin adapters that go in the bottom so I’d prefer to keep them together.  $65 takes both - CONSIDERED
• flask $65 - HAVE
• original trilobite system (Jared goguen?) two handles, 2x3” rollers, 2x2.5” rollers, 2x2” rollers $120 - CONSIDERED

The whole lot would have been $750.  Individual pricing came to $840. 

*Still available at 15 hours

I am not surprised the Dube Cube sold quickly.  They have not been produced in quite some time.  The trilobite system is a screaming deal as a full set from BSS would run $440.  The rest of the items were priced reasonably from 50-70% of retail.

I was excited to pick up the double barrel, moontop and loading pin with lever top.  I also wanted to buy the stub, hub and dube cube, but they were already spoken for.  These area  nice addition to my training arsenal.  They are also nice to have from a historical perspective.  These seem fabricated by David Horne.  Gods of Grip took over production of his designs.

FBBC Double Barrel, mis hubs

GripTopz

Trilobite System

Custom Pick Axe