REP fitness Hi-Temp bumper plates vs Rogue calibrated steel plates

This is a comparison between the REP fitness hi-temp 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 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:

5lb
10lb
15lb
25lb
35lb
45lb

Good, budget-friendly option.

Pros of the REP Hi-Temp Bumper plates

The pros os the Hi-Temp bumper plates are:

Price
Durability
Can be used outdoors
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

Cons of the REP HI-Temp plates are:

High bounce
Sleeve space
Hard to pick up
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 competition 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

Alternatives to the REP HI-Temp bumper plates are:

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.