REP fitness Hi-Temp bumper plates vs Rogue Black training plates
This is a comparison between the REP fitness hi-temp plates and the Rogue Black training plates. Follow the links for more details.
Overview and review of the Rogue Black Training plates
The Rogue black training plates will set you back about $985 dollars or $7.03 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for all purposes in gyms 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.
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Urethane plates
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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.
Overview of the black training plates
The
Rogue Black training bumper plates have a unique design with a color-coded stripe to identify the weight easily. All of Rogue's top engineering is combined in these plates. The little things do make a difference, even in something so simple as
bumper plates. These plates raised rubber around the center and at the outskirts. This makes them easier to pick up from the ground and avoids wear and tear at the middle metal discs. In addition, these plates are normed to the same diameter. This is great for weightlifting purposes. If you want a good, cheaper alternative to the official
competition plates, this is the way to go.
Based on the Durometer they score a 94, which means that they are pretty hard and have therefore less bounce.
Weight / Color / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair
25kg / Red / 450mm / 66mm / $275
20kg / Blue / 450mm / 55mm / $225
15kg / Yellow / 450mm / 42mm / $190
10kg / Green / 450mm / 29mm / $140
Available sets
90kg, 2x 10-15-20kg $655
110kg, 2x 10-20-25kg $770
120kg, 2x 15-20-25kg $825
140kg, 2x 10-15-20-25kg $985
The
black training plates will be an eye-catching feature for your gym which enables you to train Olympic weightlifting at a lower cost per station than the official
competition plates. You will have all of the quality and luxury of competition and a well thought out design which is user-friendly.
Pros of the black training plates
The extra features of these plates make them less prone to get wrecked than the
competition plates. They will also continue to lock nicely even if they get abused. The hard bounce will make you train like a champ. On top of that, you will save a little money compared to getting the full-blown
competition plates.
Cons of the black training plates
These plates have a pretty high price tag for a piece of equipment that will be thrown around in your gym on a daily basis and abused. If you specialize in
powerlifting these plates will also take up more real estate on the
bar for the same amount of weight.
Alternatives to the black training plates
The
black training plates are also available in LBS denominations. If you run a gym where people prefer to calculate their weights in LBS and you still want to provide the best bumper plates there are, this is the way to go.
The
Rogue competition plates are what is being used on the platform in official competitions. The main difference to the
black training plates is that their colors run through the entire plates. They are also more prone to get broken when abused, as they do not bear all of the extra features that the training plates have to protect them from harm.
If you want to save money and know that your clientele does not care that much,
bumper plates are your go-to option. These are a lot cheaper than the
black training plates and can also be dropped from overhead. If you train outdoors or in a wet dungeon/cellar, I might get these as the plates well get wrecked anyway.
Overview and review of the REP fitness Hi-Temp bumper plates
This is an overview of the REP fitness Hi-temp 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.
Hi-Temp Bumper plates $25
If you are feeling eco-friendly the
Hi Temp bumper plates are the way to go for you. HI-temp bumpers are made from recycled material under very high temperature and are there also very durable. They are available from REP fitness in the following sizes:
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5lb
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10lb
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15lb
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25lb
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35lb
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45lb
Good, budget-friendly option.
Pros of the REP Hi-Temp Bumper plates
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Price
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Durability
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Can be used outdoors
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Don't stain easily
These are the ideal plates for someone who decides to do a lot of work with their plates outdoors. If you need to outfit a gym that is in a base camp or at a movie set in the middle of nowhere, then these are great. They also do not get stained as easily as colored plates which is a bonus in a dirty environment.
Cons of the REP Hi-Temp Bumper plates
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High bounce
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Sleeve space
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Hard to pick up
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Inconsistencies in color
The lifting mechanics of these plates are more or less identical to
regular bumper plates. This means that they are not great when you lift a lot of weight in the range of 200kg plus on a regular basis and they also don't do great for oly lifts. Lacking a metal core they spin more than c
ompetition plates on an oly lift and take up more sleeve space for the same weight.
These plates also lack an extra lip to be easier to be picked up from the ground. A MInor inconvenience, but still...
I think the biggest con of HI Temp bumper plates is that you are dealing with reheated and melted tires. While this is great for saving money and I guess the environment, even though I question whether reheating old rubber to form it into weight plates is really that eco-friendly, it is a nightmare for quality control. While these plates are
black in general, they are way more likely to have different shades of
black compared to newly produced
black bumper plates. But I guess that is not really high on your priority list if you are already considering the cheapest plates in town, which is cool.
Alternatives to the REP Hi-Temp Bumper plates
The
REP black bumper plates are basically the same thing, except they are not recycled and therefore easier to quality control. This means that you are more likely to get a consistent
black color without any shading. The downside is that they are more expensive and also do not give you the warm feeling of buying something that has been recycled.
The
REP competition bumper plates are the right choice if you have a generous budget and you are serious about your Olympic lifting. This is the best that REP has to offer in terms of precision and stability during an oly lift for plates. The downside is the price which starts at $129 for the cheapest plates instead of $25 for the HI Temp bumpers.
The Rogue HI temp plates are Rogue's cheap line of plates for the budget-conscious buyer. Of course, budget-conscious and Rogue Fitness do not really go well together in the same sentence, but if you were to get a good rack and barbell from Rogue, but want to save a little on
bumpers, then these are a good option to throw in your cart. They are the closest match on the Rogue plate lineup compared to the
REP Hi-Temp bumper plates.
TITAN is the cost leader in this business, so if you want to get together a whole gym with the lowest possible cost you can also get their
bumpers into your cart and build an entire gym from that. The downside is that they seem to have more issues with quality control than REP fitness and Rogue fitness.
Conclusion for the REP Hi-Temp Bumper plates
The
Hi Temp bumpers from REP are a good option to save some cost and make you feel better about yourself as long as you don't mind that they won't be in one continuous shape of black.