REP fitness black bumper plates vs Rogue 6 shooter plates

This is a comparison between the Rep Fitness black bumper plates and the Rogue 6 shooter plates. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the Rogue 6 Shooter Olympic plates

The Rogue 6 shooter plates will set you back about $575 dollars or $5.18 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for professional gyms who love iron. This overview has originally been published in the article "Which rogue plates to buy" which you can find on this blog.

Most popular Rogue plates

This is an overview of the most popular Rogue plates on Marathon-Crossfit.com in 2020 based on views and click thoughs for purchase on Rogue Fitness. If you want more detail on how the data was collected and what the strengths and shortcomings of the data set are you can dig deeper on what were the most popular rogue products in 2020.

These were the most popular rogue plates on Marathon-Crossfit.com. On the plates, I would caution between overall popularity and the popularity of my site. The plates listed below are more niche than the Rogue bumpers, the calibrated steel plates, and competition bumpers. If you want a safe bet for your use case these three might be better, as more people buy them.

The Fleck plates are a variation on the Rogue bumper plates which have been infused with red, blue, yellow, and green to indicate the weight of the plates. The splash of color also makes them more fun compared to the regular bumpers. If you find the rogue bumpers too bland but also do not want to shell out more than $1000 on calibrated steel plates or competition bumpers to get color coding then the Fleck plates are for you. You can read the full review of the Fleck plates via this link.

The Rogue Urethane plates are color-coded and also claim the best durability in the Rogue plate portfolio. Whether that warrants the high price tag compared to regular bumpers is a question you have to answer for yourself, but I personally don’t think so. If you want to spend more money on plates, spend it on precision rather than durability in my personal opinion within the Rogue portfolio. Rogue equipment is known to be more durable than the competition so I would not put too much focus on this unless you run an Olympic training center where the plates will go through hundreds of heavy drops per day. You can read the full review of the Rogue Urethane plates here.

The Rogue black training plates have the best dead drop in the Rogue portfolio which means they bounce the least when dropped from overhead. These are the plates which I use most often as I like the design because black does not show marks as easily as other plates. You can read my full review of the Rogue black training plates via this link.

The 6 shooter plates from Rogue are often overlooked as a good option for commercial gyms. They are relatively cheap compared to other Rogue plates and easier to handle in a gym setting where you have a lot of them flying about. The downside is that you can not use them for overhead drops as this will wreck the plates, floor, and barbell in the process. You can read the full review of the rogue 6 shooter plates via this link.

Overview of the 6 Shooter plates

The Rogue 6 shooter plates have been designed for high traffic use in your gym. The plates provide six holes so that it becomes easier to transport them and load them onto the barbell. This is the type of plate you want in a facility with many beginners to avoid hand injuries. They also come in at a lower cost than most other plates. When these are being abused, your heart won't sink as much as with the other, higher range plates from Rogue. They come in a hammertone grey finish.

Weight / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair

45LB / 448mm / 1.36'' / $156

35LB / 376mm / 1.45'' / $128

25LB / 308mm / 1.45'' / $100

10LB / 228mm / 1.22'' / $48.50

5LB / 195mm / 0.83'' / $32

2.5LB / 162mm / 0.63'' / $23

Available sets

245lb a pair of each at $575

Pros of the 6 Shooter plates

The Rogue 6 Shooter plates are easy to handle for any level of a lifter. They are also less likely to provide hand injuries as the holes lower the likelihood of getting your gingers between two plates or not being able to pick them up. The design also makes it easier to use the plates for any kind of resistance exercises which are not done with a barbell. This combined with a relatively low price makes them a good option for starter gyms for their first-time outfit.

Cons of the 6 Shooter plates

These plates are metal and are therefore unforgiving to the floor, humans, and feet when dropped. They are also not ideal for Olympic lifting for the same reason. Many clients in commercial gyms also prefer urethane over metal as it is easier to handle and feels nicer on the skin.

Alternatives to the 6 Shooter plates

The Urethane version of the 6 Shooter plates are a bit more expensive, but last longer and feel nicer for your clients. This is the way to go if you want to accommodate to the masses.

Bumper plates are an alternative which is also lower in price. These plates can be dropped from overhead and are forgiving on surfaces they get in touch with. A disadvantage is that you can not fit as much weight on the barbell with bumper plates than with metal.

Olympic plates are the no-nonsense most cost-efficient option you can go for. This is the most weight per $$$ you can obtain from Rogue. The downside is that these plates are not much to look at and are hard to handle.

Overview and review of the REP fitness black bumper plates

This is an overview of the REP fitness black bumper plates including pros, cons, and alternatives. The original was published under which plates to buy from rep fitness. Follow the links for more details.

REP Black Bumper plates $49

The REP black bumper plates are the standard option you can find from most vendors around. These plates have a good price per plate, can be used outdoors, and fit on most barbells. This is the workhorse plate for the home or in a commercial gym. If you are not sure what to buy, you can not go wrong with these. The full specifications are:

160 lb - (2)Each 45-25-10
190 lb - (2)Each 45-25-15-10
210 lb - (2)Each 45-35-25
230 lb - (2)Each 45-35-25-10
250 lb - (4) 45 (2) Each 25-10
260 lb - (2)Each 45-35-25-15-10
370 lb - (6) 45 lb & (2)Each 25-15-10
Superior craftsmanship and design. Steel inserts with hooks molded into the bumper plates increase durability versus older designs with brass inserts.
Extra thick 10 lb plates are the best on the market, and highly resistant to bending
Low bounce. Some recycled rubber bumper plates will bounce very high and make you chase the bar around. Not ours.
Thin profile. With a good Olympic bar, you can fit 515lbs of our bumper plates on the bar.
Factory tested to withstand over 12,000 drops from a height of 8 ft.
Used in both commercial and home gyms all over the world
3% Tolerance

Solid plates for any use scenario. Not too expensive and not too cheap to get you where you want to go with your fitness.

Pros of the REP Black Bumper plates

Pros of the REP Black bumper plates are:

Value for money
Goes with anything
Can be used outdoors
Very forgiving on the user
Very forgiving on the floor

Black bumper plates are always a safe bet. Especially for someone who is not incredibly strong or wants to break world records. They are reliable. If Black bumper plates get dirty it is not that bad, as the dirt will not show up as much on the black. A decent black color also goes with most other equipment in any given gym as it is often black or grey.

Bumper plates are also good as they can be dropped from overhead without damaging the plates, the lifter, floor, or equipment. Bumper plates are very forgiving and ideal for any beginner or intermediate lifter. They can also be used outdoors as they take better to rain and sand than other, pricier plates.

Cons of the REP Black Bumper plates

Cons of the REP black bumper plates are:

Sleeve space
High bounce
Can get very hot
Balance
Can be awkward to pick up
Higher fault tolerance

The biggest con of bumper plates is that they take up more space than iron and competition plates on the barbell. If you lift very heavy regular bumper plates usually max out the sleeves of the barbell somewhere around 180kg to 220kg depending on how you stack the plates. If you are a serious powerlifter or want to save storage space in your commercial gym you are better off getting iron plates.

If you use these plates mainly for Olympic lifting you have to keep in mind that they are louder and bounce more than competition plates. If you want to get through a proper snatch workout in the least amount of time that can actually be quite annoying. A minor thing, but still worth considering.

These plates are also balanced differently compared to competition plates. As they have no metal core ring they spin differently during Olympic lifts than bumper plates. A good lifter will still lift heavy weight with these, but if you are entering micro differences you might want to for the competition plates instead.

As they are black rubber they might not be the ideal plates to be used outdoors in a very hot climate. Again, something minor, but if you burn your hand on a very hot bumper once you know what I am talking about. Higher quality plates take a little better to heat and do not absorb it as fast. Different color also helps.

These bumper plates have a higher fault tolerance than the competition and precision plates. This means it is more likely that the plate you are getting does not exactly weigh what it says on the plate. Calibrated plates are the best way to remedy this. Here the plates are weighed at the end of the production process and then adjusted with a little metal insert to be as precise as possible. This production step also makes them more expensive than bumpers or regular iron plates.

Alternatives to the REP Black Bumper plates

Alternatives to the REP BUmper plates are:

If you want something a bit more precise and with a color you can also get the REP competition plates. These plates are made to competition specifications and are therefore produced with a lower tolerance rate. They also have a little lip which makes them easier to pick up from the ground.

The REP-colored bumper plates are a good alternative if you want color in your life instead of simple black. The nice thing is that they are very close in price to the regular black bumper plates.

The Rogue fleck plates are a nice hybrid between black rubber plates and colored plates. The black plates are being infused with color during the production process to make them look like checkered animals. If you want your gym to be hip and different, this is the plate to make that statement without reaching into the Avengers or food-themed weight plates.

Rogue's machined iron plates are a good option for someone who wants precise iron plates for their ambitious home gym. These are a particularly good choice for any powerlifters that need to stack a lot of iron on the plate to still make gains.

The TITAN bumper plates are the cheap version between Rogue, REP, and TITAN if you want to get the most weight for your buck from a decent vendor, then TITAN is the way to go.

Conclusion for the REP Black Bumper plates

The rep black bumper plates are a solid choice when you are confused and just want to get going. They are also a good choice for a commercial gym that wants to play things safe.