REP fitness black bumper plates vs Rogue calibrated steel plates

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

Overview and review of the Rogue Calibrated steel plates

The Rogue calibrated steel plates will set you back about $885 dollars or $5.56 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for powerlifters who are serious about competing. This overview has originally been published in the article "Which rogue plates to buy" which you can find on this blog.

What else to consider from Rogue

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 calibrated steel plates

The Rogue calibrated steel plates come in KG and LBS nominations. They are popular for powerlifting purposes as they can fit a lot of weight onto a bar. They are also approved by the IPF and therefore be used for official powerlifting competitions based on their high level of precision.

In the manufacturing process, each plate will vary in weight when it is finished. The cheaper the plate, the more variance you will have. Calibrated plates are made with better quality machines and add one production process at the end which is the calibration. What happens here is that the plates are weighed and then there will be a disc placed into little holes at the back of them to adjust to within 10grams of the desired weight.

Further specifications for the Rogue Calibrated steel plates:

Weight / Color / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair

50kg / black / 450mm / 50mm / $386.50

25kg / red / 450mm / 27mm / $225

20kg / blue / 450mm / 22.5mm / $182

15kg / yellow / 400mm / 21mm / $140

10kg / green / 325mm / 21mm / $99.50

5kg / white / 228mm / 21.5mm / $82.00

2.5kg / Black / 190mm / 16mm / $55

1.25kg / Chrome / 160mm / 12mm / $42.50

0.5 kg / Chrome / 134MM / 8mm / $35

0.25kg / Chrome / 112mm / 112mm / $25.75

Available sets

159kg, pair of each plate except 50kg $885

459kg, pair of each plate 0.25kg to 20kg & 7 pairs of 25kg $2060

Calibrated steel plates are very good when you want to fit as much weight in as little space as possible. As long as you do not want to drop your weights this is great.

Pros of the calibrated steel plates

Calibrated steel plates are the ones you will use in competition in a powerlifting meet. They will also take up less space in your gym than bumper plates for the same amount of weight. The color coding looks cool and gives any gym a little extra feel of being professional when it comes to getting results. With these, you can train like a real champion.

Cons of the calibrated steel plates

Steel plates are not ideal for overhead lifts. They spin differently than competition bumper plates and behave differently when you switch direction during the lift. They also suffer from dropping or heavy use a lot more. Especially the calibration discs can come loose and start to rattle or fall out over time altogether.

Alternatives to the calibrated steel plates

Alternatives to the calibrated kg plates are:

Calibrated steel plates with LBS nominations are the same plate style but take out the thinking for you when you prefer to lift in pounds. If you do not want to compete this might be an option, as the international standard for the IPF is to measure the weight lifted in kilograms.

Competition bumper plates can be a good alternative if you focus more on weightlifting than powerlifting in your local gym. These plates are specially designed to be used in Olympic lifts. Dor this purpose they have a metal core and bumper surroundings. The only downside with these plates is that you can not fir as much on the bar as with steel. But you were not planning on overhead pressing 400kg soon, weren't you.

The most durable and high-quality plates you can get from Rogue are the Urethane plates. Therefore, they are also the most expensive. You can basically think of these as the steroid version of the competition bumper plates which last longer. If you will drop your plates often and use them outside for overhead lifts, this might be the way to go.

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.