Kettlebell Comparison: Quality differences

A few months ago, I wrote a piece on kettlebell comparisons. Here is the link:

http://southernkettlebeller.blogspot.com/2009/06/kettlebell-comparison.html

In that piece, I noted the differences in quality between the Perform Better kettlebells and the AKC kettlebells. It turns out, I did not know just how similar and how different they were.
In a nutshell, the PB kettlebll I bought is an AKC kettlebell, made in the same mold, to inferior standards. End of story.
I found out by accident. As I noted in the previous piece, the finish of the PB bell was of much poorer quality than the AKC bell, and the grey paint (epoxy?) was continually chipping off when it collided with the AKC bell during clean and jerks.
The finish got pretty rough, rough enough to scratch my shoulders raw during a workout. I decided to remove all of the finish, smooth it out, and paint it to match my AKC bell. Here is what I found:


If the name looks familiar, it is that of Valery Fedorenko, the KB champion who works with the AKC. His name is on every AKC bell. The circular hole below his name is where the Perform Better logo appeared before I stripped it off.
Here is a view of the same kettlebell when I first took it out of the box, untouched (please note, if you click on the photo, it will enlarge, and you can clearly see the perform better logo on the kettlebell):


Also of note is what I found on the other side:



All AKC bells have "WorldKettlebell.Com" on the reverse side. As did this Perform Better kettlebell, when I stripped off the finish.

Unlike the AKC bells, there are a number of deep gashes in the bell:







I didn't quite remove all of the finish. This bottom view of the bell shows the grey finish depicted in my previous post on the comparison:




What is the import of this information? Well, for the consumer, its obvious that the AKC bell is still the best buy. I had to spend a few hours to get the handle of my PB kettlebell smooth enough that it wouldn't pinch and tear my calluses. Once the finish started chipping off, I had to strip the rest off so it wouldn't scratch my shoulder raw every time I did long cycle or jerks. Now I'll need to sand it some more before its ready to re-finish. Let's just say that caring for the PB kb seems like it is a hobby unto itself.

I will say that PB has prompt, courteous customer service, and I received the kettlebell promptly. But they had no interest in refunding my price when I explained how rough the handle was and how long it would take to dremmel and file it to be usable. They explained that removing the finish was a no-no. I smile when I think about that now.
I have heard that the quality of PB kettlebells has improved, and if that is the case I'll provide an update and post new photos to verify it (if and when I receive any). In the mean time, I recommend the AKC bells as the best buy. If you know of any other kettlebells you'd like me to post on, please let me know.

Reflections on Sergey Rudnev's LC template

I just completed Sergey Rudnev's Long Cycle training template, as taken from one of my favorite sites, http://girevoysportafter40.blogspot.com/.
I tried to follow the recommended workouts, to the letter, with the following exceptions:

1. The template is written for GS athletes who are at/near the Master of Sport level, using the 32kg KB's. I am shooting for my Level I amateur ranking, so whenever it recommended using 32kg KB's, I used 24kg bells. When it called for 24kg KB's, I used 20kg KB's.

2. I was out of town for a few days of the cycle, and only had access to non-competition-style KB's. During that time I did a few workouts of one-armed long cycle using 60 lb Kb's. The night I returned home I resumed the program as written.

Other than that, I followed the plan very closely.
The program finishes with an 8 minute test set, with a recommended number of reps of 56-64. I completed 63 reps, with the following rpm's: 9,9,9,8,7,7,8,6. I averaged just under 8 rpm for the entire set. This was a pr for me for total reps, and tied my pr for time with this weight.
That being said, I was somewhat disappointed, in that I seemed to be progressing faster under the AKC approach.
I will say that I have grown used to a much faster pace, especially with the 20kg bells. With the shorter sets I am much faster with the 24kg than I previosuly was. And I think that is something to build on.
Additionally, I think the use of sprint work, so prevelant in this and other Russian programs, is less mentally taxing than what I've done before. It just was easier.
Honestly, I think the AKC approach may have gotten me faster and better results. But I rarely had a day when I dreaded looking at the kettlebells. Rarely did I finish a set and feel mentally exhausted as I did before. So I think this may be a more sustainable approach.
I am going to continue using Russia templates for my training. The next plan will be Russian EDT. This is plan I took from the same website, http://girevoysportafter40.blogspot.com/. Here is a link to the plan:
http://girevoysportafter40.blogspot.com/2009/08/thoughts-on-russian-edt.html
I'll let you know how it goes.
Finally, here is a shout out and congratulations to Marty Farrell, who became the first American to achieve Master of Sport in both the Biathlon and Long Cycle. A video of his Long Cycle achievement appears below.
Thanks for stopping by.