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REP fitness black bumper plates vs Urethane coated Equalizer plates

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Jun 2, 2021 9:00:00 AM

REP fitness black bumper plates vs Urethane coated Equalizer plates

This is a comparison between the REP fitness black bumper plates and the REP fitness urethane coated Equalizer plates. Follow the links for more details.

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Overview and review of the REP fitness Urethane coated Equalizer plates

This is an overview of the REP fitness Urethane coated equalizer 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 Urethane Coated Equalizers $15

 
The REP Urethane coated Equalizer plates are a great way on how REP fitness thought about innovation in the fitness space and applied to their product line to make something that saves cost while still being durable. Urethane plates are said to be one of the most durable plates you can have for a gym. The problem is that it is costly to produce dumbbells or plates completely made of Urethane. So rep took their successful equalizer plate design and applied a Urethane coat to them. What you get is a very affordable, cool-looking plate for your home gym or for commercial use that is also durable. The full specifications of these plates are:
 
  • Six (6) precision-cut holes so athletes can move these plates comfortably from any angle.
  • Cast iron plates are coated in a commercial-grade ultra-durable CPU urethane that is highly impact-resistant and shock absorbent.
  • CPU Urethane has virtually no odor.
  • Attractive embossed logo and weight markings with white inlay.
  • Grip cutouts for easy handling.
  • 3% weight tolerance.
 
Plate Dimensions (width/diameter)
 
  • 2.5LB: 6.25” / 0.9"
  • 5LB: 8” / 1”
  • 10LB: 9” / 1.4"
  • 25LB: 12” / 2"
  • 35LB: 14” / 2"
  • 45LB: 17.6” total diameter / 1.8" thickness
 
These plates are great for commercial use as they are easy to pick up from the floor and handled all kinds of exercises. If I owned my own gym for clients instead of a home gym, I would probably get these plates.
 

Pros of the Rep Urethane Coated Equalizers

 
The pros of the Urethane Coated Equalizers are:
 
  • Easy to handle
  • Forgiving
  • Cool design
  • Attractive price
 
These plates live up to the "better, faster, cheaper" credo that often cited in business to create a better solution. These plates are easy to put away, pick up from the ground, and load onto the barbell based on their six holes. The design also makes them look cool as the holes are not round but hexagonal.
 
The Urethane coating makes them more forgiving than regular iron plates so you will not have sharp edges or rubbing off other equipment in your gym. All of this at a very attractive price point makes this a serious contender, especially for commercial use.
 

Cons of the Rep Urethane Coated Equalizers

 
 
  • Iron plates inside
  • The Integrity of the plates comprmised
  • No color options
 
I personally think these are a lot better than the regular Equlizer plates and absolutely worth the extra money compared to these. But you still have to keep in mind that you are buying an iron plate with a Urethane coating, not a Urethane bumper. This means that these plates will take a bigger toll on your floor and equipment when dropped from overhead than an actual Urethane or bumper plate. Don't believe that this behaves just like a bumper for your lifts. It behaves like an Iron plate with a bit of cushioning. If you ever have used an Iron kettlebell with plastic coating you get what I mean.
 
While the holes are great for moving the plates around, the integrity of these plates is compromised. They are more likely to crack or warp under heavy use than plates that have a full disc. In a mass use scenario where you have spare plates and can have a rollover contingency for a franchise that does not matter that much, but for your home gym it does matter when one or two of your 55s crack and you are short for your heavy cycles.
 
Compared to other bumper plates you have no color options on the equalizers. If you wanted to get black anyway, no harm done.
 

Alternatives to the Rep Urethane Coated Equalizers

 
Alternatives to the REP Urethane coated equalizers:
 
 
The REP equalizer plates are an alternative to save a little money for more or less the same thing. Especially if you are not intending to use the plates for Russian twists or other exercises where you hold the plates you might as well go for the non-coated option and get some spare change to buy something else.
 
The Rep rubber-coated Olympic plates are an even more budget optimized option out of the REP plate lineup. You can also carry these around very easily and they do the trick of providing weight to your barbell. I personally don't like their design and would rather buy the Coated Equalizers. But that's just me.
 
The REP HI Temp bumper plates are in my opinion the better option for someone who is intending to do a lot of CrossFit or Olympic lifting at home but is on a tight budget. For this type of training, you need on average less weight on the bar than for powerlifting so the thickness of the plates does not matter as much. What does matter is the damage to your equipment and floor when dropping weights from overhead which will be considerably less with the bumpers than with the equalizers. Yes, the rubber coating does help, but you are still dropping plates with a metal core from overhead.
 
The Rogue 6 Shooter plates are in my opinion the right plates for someone who mainly does powerlifting at home, but is fed up with how hard iron plates are to handle. These will be easier on your back and you will be delighted that it has become a lot easier to load and deload your barbell with those 700 pounds you pull in meet preparation. They also make that nice rattling metal sound that anyone who can lift more than three wheels for reps loves. They are not great for commercial use as they are simple iron plates with holes in them. For that scenario, the urethane-coated equalizers are still better.
 
Rogue HI temp bumpers are an alternative to consider to the REP HI Temp bumpers if you are mainly into oly lifting. Stay away from the equalizers if you are intending to drop your plates from overhead often and compare the low-end bumper options for your need between different vendors.
 
TITAN is the friend of everyone who wants to make their home gym dollar stretch as far as possible. As long as you do not mind minor quality issues and know how to assemble things without instructions or sand down / widen some drilled holes, TITAN is your best option to get the most home gym for your buck.
 

Conclusion for the Rep Urethane Coated Equalizers

 
The REP Urethane Coated Equalizers are from my perspective some of the best plates in the market for commercial use. They look good, are practical, do not cost a lot and will not be wrecked by the average joe in your gym. You also can get quite a lot of them on a plate tree which is also important for commercial use. If your clientele is heavily into Oly lifting you might get real bumpers instead. For a home gym, I also think that they are nice, but I would lean to more upmarket plates or something really cheap like simple iron plates in this scenario.

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.
 

Topics: Powerlifting, Plates, Garagegym, Home Gym, Bodybuilding, REP Fitness