Rogue 6 Shooter Olympic plates vs Fleck plate

This is a comparison between the Rogue 6 shooter plates and the fleck plate including pros, cons and alternatives. Follow the links for more details

Which plates to get from Rogue?

This video discusses which plates you might want to buy for your home gym from Rogue Fitness. Good options are their bumper plates or simple cast iron plates if you want to save money. I personally own the Black training plates from rogue and like them a lot.

Overview and review of the Rogue fleck plate

The Rogue fleck plates are Rogue's compromise between competition bumper and regular bumper plates. Here are the pros and cons.

The Rogue Feck plates are the newest edition to the line up of Rogue plates and range from $50 for a pair of 10LB plates to $625 for a 350LB set. This puts the price to $0.56 per pound. The distinguishing factors of the fleck plate are its claimed precision in weight and the fleck design. With this, these bumper plates add some color to your gym without breaking the bank as competition bumper plates would do. The specs of these plates are:

Plate Breakdown: Weight, Color & Width

10LB - Black & Grey, 0.85”
15LB - Black & White, 1.2”
25LB - Black & Green, 1.6”
35LB - Black & Yellow, 2.08”
45LB - Black & Blue, 2.76”
55LB - Black & Red, 3.02”

Specifications:

Diameter: 450mm (+/- 3mm) / 17.72 inches
Collar Opening: 50.40mm / 1.98 inches
304 Stainless Steel Inserts
Weight Tolerance: +/- 1% claimed weight
Durometer: 90
Minimal Bounce
Black + Color Fleck Finish
Imported from Chin

This is a good option if you want some color, but not spend too much money on your bumper plates.

Pros of the fleck plate

The pros of the fleck plate are:

Unique design
Value for money
Bumper

The design of the fleck plates is very unique. As long as you like you will be hard-pressed to find something comparable. I personally like them as a compromise between black bumper plates and colored competition plates.

For the color and precision, you are getting these plates are relatively cheap compared to other rogue plates available. If you insist to see easily from a distance which plates you have, this is the way to go.

As these plates are bumper plates they come with the benefit of being outdoor-friendly. You can also drop them regularly without wrecking your barbell, platform or floor.

Cons of the Fleck bumper plates

The cons of the fleck bumper plates are:

Sleeve space
Precision
Made in China

The challenge that all bumper plates have is that they take up more real estate on a bar sleeve than steel plates. If you want to maximize the amount of weight you can put on your barbell, this is not the right set of plates to get.

While these bumper plates claim high precision, I would be inclined to test that first. The reason being is that they are not manufactured by Rogue themselves and do not have inlets for high precision adjustments like calibrated plates. A blanket statement on shipped bumper plates from china with 1% is a tall order with no inlets for micro-adjustments. It won't matter if you buy them for your Crossfit gym or commercial gym, but if you are training for weightlifting or powerlifting competitions stay with the calibrated plates.

While the design and price are very tempting some might not want to support products that are made in China based on principle or legal requirements as a government agency. In this case, you might refer to other Rogue plates.

Alternatives to the Rogue fleck plates

Alternatives to the Rogue fleck plates are:

Rogue bumper plates are the same idea as the fleck plates minus the color. They are cheap, can be used everywhere and forgiving to abuse and toes.

The precision machined steel plates from Rogue are the best choice for powerlifters who want precision but do not want to break the bank with calibrated plates. These Olympic plates are slightly more costly than the fleck plates.

The Rogue Fleck plates are the newest edition to the line up of Rogue plates and range from $50 for a pair of 10LB plates to $625 for a 350LB set. This puts the price to $0.56 per pound. The distinguishing factors of the fleck plate are its claimed precision in weight and the fleck design. With this, these bumper plates add some color to your gym without breaking the bank as competition bumper plates would do. The specs of these plates are:

Summary of the fleck plates

Fleck plates are the right choice if you want colored plates from Rogue at a reasonable price.

Overview and review of the Rogue 6 Shooter Olympic plates

The Rogue 6 shooter plates will set you back about $575 dollars or $5.18 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for professional gyms who love iron. This overview has originally been published in the article "Which rogue plates to buy" which you can find on this blog

Overview of the 6 Shooter plates

The Rogue 6 shooter plates have been designed for high traffic use in your gym. The plates provide six holes so that it becomes easier to transport them and load them onto the barbell. This is the type of plate you want in a facility with many beginners to avoid hand injuries. They also come in at a lower cost than most other plates. When these are being abused, your heart won't sink as much as with the other, higher range plates from Rogue. They come in a hammertone grey finish.

Weight / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair

45LB / 448mm / 1.36'' / $156

35LB / 376mm / 1.45'' / $128

25LB / 308mm / 1.45'' / $100

10LB / 228mm / 1.22'' / $48.50

5LB / 195mm / 0.83'' / $32

2.5LB / 162mm / 0.63'' / $23

Available sets

245lb a pair of each at $575

Pros of the 6 Shooter plates

The Rogue 6 Shooter plates are easy to handle for any level of a lifter. They are also less likely to provide hand injuries as the holes lower the likelihood of getting your gingers between two plates or not being able to pick them up. The design also makes it easier to use the plates for any kind of resistance exercises which are not done with a barbell. This combined with a relatively low price makes them a good option for starter gyms for their first-time outfit.

Cons of the 6 Shooter plates

These plates are metal and are therefore unforgiving to the floor, humans, and feet when dropped. They are also not ideal for Olympic lifting for the same reason. Many clients in commercial gyms also prefer urethane over metal as it is easier to handle and feels nicer on the skin.

Alternatives to the 6 Shooter plates

The Urethane version of the 6 Shooter plates are a bit more expensive, but last longer and feel nicer for your clients. This is the way to go if you want to accommodate to the masses.

Bumper plates are an alternative which is also lower in price. These plates can be dropped from overhead and are forgiving on surfaces they get in touch with. A disadvantage is that you can not fit as much weight on the barbell with bumper plates than with metal.

Olympic plates are the no-nonsense most cost-efficient option you can go for. This is the most weight per $$$ you can obtain from Rogue. The downside is that these plates are not much to look at and are hard to handle.