Rogue machined Olympic plates vs Technique plates

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

Rogue machined Olympic plates vs Technique plates

This is a comparison between the Rogue machined plates and the Technique plates including pros, cons and alternatives. Follow the links for more details

Overview and review of the Rogue Technique plates

The Rogue technique plates will set you back about $125 - $160 dollars. These plates are especially good to use for beginning weightlifters. 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

Overview of the technique plates

Technique plates are special plates which have the same diameter of 450mm than regular competition plates but at a much lower weight. This is achieved by using high-density polyethylene Plastic (HDPE). These are the right plates to teach beginners, juniors or getting rehabbing athletes back to lifting. These plates combined with a technique bar can lower the weight of the bar for a beginner to 15kg to enter the sport of Olympic weightlifting. If you work a lot with children or very unfit beginners, this is a good plate to add to your arsenal.

The technique plates are available in red and white in 2.5kg, 5kg, 5lb, and 10lb versions. They have the following specs:

450mm Diameter
50.2mm Center Hole Diameter
Grooved edge for easier handling

Pros of the technique plates

Technique plates help to ease into the sport and to hone your lifts to perfection. If your gym or yourself are serious about Olympic weightlifting they will be a great addition to your arsenal to grind on technique without wreaking your body.

Cons of the technique plates

These plates have a very narrow and specialized use case. If you do not enter the realm of Olympic weightlifting you will probably only get very little use out of them.

Alternatives to the technique plates

Alternatives to technique plates are:

Fractional plates and change plates help you to work with lower denominations in work and to microload. In most cases you will get more use out of these for everyday training than out of technique plates.

Overview and review of the Rogue Machined Olympic plates

The Rogue machined olympic plates will set you back about $582 dollars or $5.24 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for home gyms who want some extra precision. 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 Machined Olympic plates

These plates are Rogue take on the standard metal plate. They have come up with a great design which combines grey hammertone with black writing. Many lifters love the sound of multiple metal plates clanging together when they post a new pr. These plates are made to precision with a 2 to 3% tolerance which sets them apart from the rest of the industry. These are the type of plates which a no-nonsense dungeon gym will hold. You get quite a lot of weight for your dollar with these ones.

Weight / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair

45LB / 448mm / 1.50'' / $160

35LB/ 360mm / 1.50'' / $128

25LB / 300mm / 1.50'' / $ 105

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

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

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

Available sets

245LB one pair each size $582

Pros of the Rogue Machined Olympic plates

The biggest pros are the price and machine precision. Compared to the calibrated steel plates and high-end bumpers you get the same amount of weight for roughly half the price. Metal also feels different when you move it around. It makes more noise and just feels rawer. You will also be able to fit more weight onto your barbell.

Cons of the Rogue Machined Olympic plates

These plates have no color coding and you can not always be sure what you put on the bar. This makes it more likely to misload a lift. If you do not have a platform these plates are also a lot more likely to eat into your floor on deadlifts than bumpers. They will also not sustain constant dropping of the weight from overhead. Especially your barbell will suffer and deform quickly if you use them for Olympic lifts. In addition, they will also not age well in damp places as they will oxidate.

Alternatives to the Rogue Machined Olympic plates

Alternatives to the Rogue Machined plates are:

If you still want that metal feel, can tolerate a bit more variance on the finish and prefer black, the Rogue Olympic plates might be for you. They will also come in at an even lower price point.

Bumper plates are the alternative for the home gym warrior who wants to protect their floor and lift overhead. You will fit less weight on the barbell, but you can train without a platform without wrecking the floor.

The calibrated steel plates come with color coding and are IPF approved. If you want to prepare for your next powerlifting meet and train like the pros, this is the option for you.

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