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Rogue Color KG training plates vs Fleck plates

Written by Pascal Landshoeft | Jul 3, 2020 4:00:00 PM

Rogue Color KG training plates vs Fleck plates

This is a comparison between the Rogue Color KG training plates and the Fleck plates 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.

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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 Color KG training plates

The Rogue color KG training plates will set you back about $960 dollars or $6.85 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for weightlifters 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.

 

Overview of the Rogue Color KG training plates

 
The Rogue color KG training plates come in full color just like the competition plates and are specialized in Olympic weightlifting. These plates can be used in training and still life up to the IWF standards, You can choose from 10kg, 15kg, 20kg, and 25kg plates. These plates come with a 450mm diameter and collar opening of 50.4mm. They score 86 on the durometer which means they a little more bounce than the top range plates from Rogue. They also have been designed to be thinner and fit more weight onto the bar. The weight tolerance on each of these is around 15 grams per plate. 
 
Weight / Color / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair
 
25kg / Red / 450mm / 2.50'' / $345
20kg / Blue / 450mm / 2.125'' / $285
15kg / Yellow / 450mm / 1.75'' / $220
10kg / Green / 450mm /  1.25'' / $152.50
 
Available sets
 
90kg, 2x 10-15-20kg $615
110kg, 2x  10-20-25kg $755
120kg, 2x 15-20-25kg $825
140kg, 2x 10-15-20-25kg $960
 
These are the right plates when you want to get the real competition feel going for your Olympic lifters in your gym while still saving some money compared to competition plates. 
 

Pros of the Rogue color training plates

 
These plates are great for training purposes and cost less than actual competition plates. You will fit more of these onto a regular bar compared to normal bumper plates. The color coding will set your gym apart and make it easy for athletes and coaches to identify the weight on the bar.
 

Cons of the Rogue color training plates

 
The color coding is not ideal in gyms where the plates will be used on and off a platform. They will quickly take on lose color and dirt will be easily visible. The higher bounce rate compared to higher end Rogue products makes it more likely for them to break. This also means that they are a bit more dangerous to train with for beginners as they are usually not used to bouncing weights.
 

Alternatives to the Rogue color training plates

 
Alternatives to the KG color plates are:
 
 
If your clients or yourself prefer to train in lbs rather than KG but like the color coding and a bit more bounce, than the LBS version of the Color training plates are an option for you.
 
If you want top-notch training plates which match the rest of your gym and are more durable, you can opt for the Black training plates from Rogue. These have less bounce and a couple of extra features on the plate which make them more beginner friendly. 
 
If you want to save money and do not need to max out the weight that can be put on the bar, the bumper plates are a time tested solution for any gym. Not fancy, but they do the job and you save some $$$ per kilo.
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