REP fitness sports plates vs Rogue calibrated steel plates
This is a comparison between the Rep Fitness sports 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.
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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 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.
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
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 sports plates
This is an overview of the REP fitness sports plates including pros, cons, and alternatives. The original was published under which plates to buy from rep fitness. Follow the links for more details.
Sport plates $69
The
REP sport plates fill the gap between competition plates and bumper plates by being super durable, forgiving when you use them outside, and still being decent when dropped from overhead. The only two negatives about these plates are price and how they travel during an Olympic lift. The full specifications of these plates are:
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Ultra-durable. Seriously.
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Textured rubber around the outer edge for easy handling.
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Low bounce.
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Great for commercial use.
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Up to 10% quieter than standard black bumpers when dropped from overhead.
If you are intending to outfit a boutique gym and want to impress your clients without getting competition plates, then these are the ones. For a home gym, I would be a bit more specific about what you mostly do what your plates and make my investment from there.
Pros of the REP Sport plates
The pros of the rep sport plates are:
These rubber plates have been done from a mold that emulates the shape and feel of
competition bumper plates. The only big difference is that there is no metal disc in the middle. This makes them easier to ease outdoors and more forgiving when used for anything else than Olympic lifts.
Compared to regular
bumpers these plates are also color-coded. This looks cooler and also has some practical value to keep the plates apart when you are training.
As these plates are full rubber they really can take a punch. If you are expecting these plates to be maltreated a lot, then go for these instead of r
egular bumpers.
The price on these plates compared to
competition plates is about half. If you rebuilding a home gym that trains everything under the sun give these plates a serious look before you buy c
ompetition bumpers or regular bumpers.
Cons of the REP Sport plates
These plates are not IWF certified and hit differently for Olympic lifts than
competition plates. When you clean or snatch these pates there just a little different from how they fight gravity compared to
competition plates. This is minimal, but minimal counts if you are an elite Olympic lifter. Still, that does not apply to most of the population out there.
Compared to r
egular bumper plates and
iron plates these are still a lot more expensive. So ask yourself if you really really need plates with a low bounce and 10% less sound when dropped. 10% less sound still means loud enough to wake the kids and annoy the neighbors without a drop pad. If you get a drop pad, why get the sports plates? If you don't lift overhead, why not just get
iron plates?
Compared to
iron plates these plates take up more space on the bar. If you lift more than 5 plates on each side on a regular basis this becomes and you should opt for
iron plates. Again the exception, rather than the norm.
Alternatives to the REP Sport plates
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REP Iron plates
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TITAN competition plates
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If you want to stay with REP seriously ask yourself what you use your plates for. Chances are high that you should get
bumpers or
Iron plates instead based on your use case. The only exception is a boutique or strength gym that charges a high membership. This is the plate to get to keep clients happy without breaking the bank.
If you would like
black plates with color coding and a metal insert, then the
Rogue black training plates are for you. I have these plates myself as they were the only ones available when I started my Rogue-themed gym and they were a bit of an indulgence. But I train 5 times a week, run a fitness blog, and try to impress people on my social media channels. Unless you don't care that much about the money they are not really for the average joe. If you want to indulge yourself as a personal lifter, have a look at the mechanized Rogue iron plates.
TITAN also offers competition plates
iron plates and
bumper plates.
TITAN is cheap and has more quality issues compared to Rogue and REP based on my research. I personally think
TITAN has to be seen as an "I want the best package deal on my home gym" approach.
Conclusion for the REP Sport plates
The
REP sport plates are a great option for the boutique gym that wants to tell their clients "this is why you train here and not around the corner". A dedicated all-around athlete at home will also appreciate the money saved compared to competition plates and not feeling cheap for getting
regular bumpers. IN most cases
Iron plates or
bumper plates are the better choices based on what you are using them for to save money for things like kettlebells, a nice barbell, or an adjustable bench on your cart.