The Eleiko Story

Our story, six decades in the making, is filled with bold ideas and ambitious goals. Rooted in a passion for strength, we took a bold leap from making waffle irons to creating the world’s finest barbells and helped shape the world of weightlifting along the way.

From waffle irons to weightlifting

Eleiko first started as a manufacturer of small kitchen appliances such as waffle irons, when in 1957, an inspired idea forever changed the company's direction. Eleiko’s factory supervisor Mr. Hellström, an avid weightlifter, frustrated and tired of barbells constantly bending and breaking, was determined to find a better solution. He approached Mrs. Johansson, the managing director, with his idea and received permission to pursue the project. Eleiko worked closely with a Swedish steel company to formulate a special hardened steel — a propriety mix perfected over time and still in use today. The barbell appropriately received a waffle pattern knurling, a nod to the company’s history. Eleiko produced a collection of metal weightlifting discs to complement this much-improved barbell, setting a new course for the company’s future.

The bar made its debut at the 1963 World Championships in Stockholm, becoming the first bar ever to last an entire competition without bending or breaking. It ignited a spark that started a weightlifting revolution and a global strength movement. This milestone was the first of many innovative products to make people stronger to perform better – in sports and in life.

1,000 world records

Since that day, the Eleiko brand has set the standard for precision strength equipment, revolutionizing the world of weightlifting as we know it. Big words, we know, but with hundreds of championships and more than 1,000 world records, Eleiko products have proven themselves.

Innovation and product development

Eleiko offers a wide range of weightlifting, powerlifting, and strength and conditioning products. The range includes bars, plates, collars, dumbbells, kettlebells, racks and rigs, platforms, benches, storage and accessories – all of which are made to Eleiko’s high standards. Participating in international competitions is an important part of our evolution. It is there, surrounded by lifters and coaches, that we get the inspiration for our product development. Our mission is to continue to serve athletes and coaches worldwide with methods and products to obtain and develop maximum physical strength.

Crafted for performance

Our reputation for quality and craftsmanship is well earned. Each barbell – whether part of the competition or training line – is crafted in our factory in Halmstad, Sweden. Special Swedish steel forged for Eleiko serves as the foundation of our bars. From there, skilled craftsmen create our bars with care, from the turning of the sleeves to applying the knurling and the final assembly. Eleiko bars are rigorously tested, the performance unmatched, and quality guaranteed.

Rigorously tested

Every Eleiko product manufactured undergoes a stringent quality control test. Each production stage is carefully executed to ensure the highest standards are upheld. For example, every Eleiko bar is placed in a vice and bent with a hydraulic jack subjecting it to a force of 1,500 kg. The bar must spring back to exact straightness with a maximum deviation of 0.5 mm. No bar will ever be bent that much in competition or training.

Signed by the craftsman in control

As a testament to our commitment to quality and to provide documentation that each bar has met our high standards, every Eleiko bar leaves our Halmstad factory with a certificate stating the date of production, batch number, serial number and the craftsman in control. The bars are packed in high-quality, custom-made packing to avoid delays or damage during transport.