REP fitness Hi-Temp bumper plates vs Urethane coated plates
This is a comparison between the REP Hi-temp bumper plates and the REP fitness Urethane coated plates. Follow the links for more details.
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:
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Six (6) precision-cut holes so athletes can move these plates comfortably from any angle.
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Cast iron plates are coated in a commercial-grade ultra-durable CPU urethane that is highly impact-resistant and shock absorbent.
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CPU Urethane has virtually no odor.
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Attractive embossed logo and weight markings with white inlay.
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Grip cutouts for easy handling.
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3% weight tolerance.
Plate Dimensions (width/diameter)
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2.5LB: 6.25” / 0.9"
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5LB: 8” / 1”
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10LB: 9” / 1.4"
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25LB: 12” / 2"
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35LB: 14” / 2"
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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
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Easy to handle
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Forgiving
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Cool design
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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
The cons of the REP Urethane Coated Equalizers:
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Iron plates inside
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The Integrity of the plates comprmised
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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:
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REP rubber coated Olympic plates
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Rogue HI temp plates
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 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 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
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Rogue HI Temp 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.
