REP fitness Hi-Temp bumper plates vs TITAN wagon wheels

This is a comparison between the REP fitness Hi-temp plates and the TITAN wagon wheels. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the TITAN wagon wheels

This is an overview of the TITAN Wagon wheels including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which titan plates to get. Follow the links for more details

Overview of the TITAN Wagon wheel

Price: $223.99

The Wagon wheel is an idea that I have first seen from Mark Bell who has perfected it with Rogue. TITAN than adopted it for its own portfolio. The idea is to have a deadlift pulling block that is easy to store and also easier to use. Pulling blocks can be tricky, especially for deadlifts. They are cumbersome to set up, have a single purpose use, and eat up quite a bit of space in your gym. The wagon wheels to take care of most of these problems. The full specifications are:

A great substitute for pulling blocks, Titan’s Wagon Wheel Pulling Blocks are larger in diameter (26”) than your standard Bumper Plates allowing for a partial range of motion deadlifts.
Makes loading and unloading your barbell a breeze without the need for a jack or wedge.
Perfect for taller athletes or powerlifters that are suffering from knee and lower back issues.
2” collar opening makes Titan’s Wagon Wheel Pulling Blocks compatible with most standard Olympic barbells.
Titan Laser Cut Logo.

Weight: 45 LB Each | 90 LB Total
Diameter: 26”
Wheel width: 2”
Black Powder Coat
Sold in Pairs!

This is a good option if you have been deadlifting for a long time and need to get a lot of volume in without wrecking your back. It can also be used for block pulls that are often part of more advanced powerlifting programs to address weak points in the deadlift.

Pros of the TITAN wagon wheel

Pros of the TITAN wagon wheel are

Price
Easy to store and handle
Same weight as regular 45lb plates

As with all TITAN products, the price is very attractive. If you want to get wagon wheels for the lowest price possible TITAN is probably a good bet. However, undercutting the competition by half usually comes with some corner-cutting on labor. TITAN products usually show this in the finish of their coating and/or their welds. That is nothing that keeps you from training, it is just disappointing when you buy something new and the finish is not perfect. Still, something has to fall short if you save yourself half the money.

Compared to pulling blocks these are easier to store and to handle. You can lean them against a wall which makes their footprint in the gym quite small. They will not fit on most plate trees or storage pins on a rack due to their bigger diameter. For the deadlifts themselves, they are also great as you do not have to worry too much about hitting the blocks on the way down. Attaching them to the bar is a lot easier than finding the right spacing between two blocks.

Another bonus is that they are almost the same weight as a regular 45lb bumper or cast iron plate. With this, you do not mess too much with the weight distribution and the dynamic of your usual pulls in terms of symmetrical load.

Cons of the TITAN wagon wheel

Cons of the TITAN wagon wheel are:

Inconsistent finish
Can not be adjusted in height
Not great for drops

You will usually find more reports about inconsistent finishes on the coating and welds of TITAN fitness than you will for Eleiko or Rogue. That is not the end of your world for your training but can be annoying when you decide to buy something new rather than used. With TITAN you save money but also take a little more of a gamble with getting something delivered that is not perfect. It happens on Rogue deliveries too, but it is less common.

Wagon wheels themselves have one big disadvantage compared to good quality pulling blocks. They can not be adjusted in height. A pair of good quality pulling blocks usually costs between $500 - $1000. These can usually be adjusted in height which makes some more user friendly when you have a lot of different athletes using them for different purposes. These can be hip belt squats, box jumps, or block jerks.

If you would like to do Olympic weightlifting partials with blocks, the wagon wheels are not an option. Dropping them from a height will damage the floor, barbell, and the wagon wheels themselves. If you are looking for a more versatile tool for partial lifts, adjustable blocks are the way to go.

Alternatives to the TITAN wagon wheel

Alternatives to the TITAN Wagon wheel are:

TITAN adjustable metal blocks
TITAN wood jerk blocks

The Titan adjustable metal blocks are an alternative to the wagon wheels which are slightly more expensive. For about $100 more you get a tool that will eat up more space in the gym but has a lot more applications. This is the better buy for a commercial gym that has a lot of floor space and wants their equipment to do more than one thing. These blocks are still not for Olympic weightlifting as they do not go high enough to start training from the front rack position.

Titan wood jerk blocks come in at $999 and for this, you get 3 pairs of blocks in various heights. If I was a professional gym owner looking into blocks for partial lifts i would bite the bullet and get these. They are good quality and apply to many of the partial movements required to address weaknesses in the Olympic lifts. If you all you care about is your deadlift performance, these are overkill.

Conclusion for the TITAN wagon wheel

The TITAN wagon wheels area good tool especially for home gym powerlifters who want to vary their training or give their backs a break. As this is a very specialized tool, it will probably not one of the first purchases for your home gym and especially is not essential. Prioritize change plates over wagon wheels any day. A professional gym might consider there jerk blocks instead of the adjustable metal blocks or wagon wheels. Especially if you have quite a bit of floor space. The wooden blocks are the best for dropping the barbell on without it jumping all over the place.

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.