TITAN Economy bumper plates vs Rogue Urethane plates
This is a comparison between the TITAN economy bumper plates and the Rogue Urethane plates including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which titan plates to get. Follow the links for more details.
Rogue fitness vs TITAN fitness
Rogue Fitness is the current market leader when it comes to a functional home gym and commercial gym equipment. They have one of the widest portfolios including racks, barbells, benches, dumbbells, and apparel for the weekend warrior and dedicated athlete. The biggest downside of Rogue Fitness is their comparatively high prices to the competition.
TITAN Fitness is the clear cost leader when you want to build a home gym on a budget that is still similar to what Rogue offers in function, look, and feel. While you will save about half on the sticker price you will run a higher risk of inconsistencies in quality compared to a purchase from Rogue. The equipment will be safe but is more likely to have blemishes, quality issues with welds or that pieces will not easily fit into place. That makes TITAN a good option for a DIY enthusiast who does not mind tinkering with their equipment, but not the first choice to get the best equipment and treat yourself.
Overview and review of the Rogue Urethane plates
The Rogue Urethane plates will set you back about $1150 dollars or $7.46 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for gyms who want long lasting plates. 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 Urethane plates
The
Rogue Urethane plates are the second most expensive ones in the Rogue portfolio per kg. What you get in return are the longest lasting, all weather plates you can obtain from Rogue. These plates are 450mm in diameter and made to IWF specs. They have a chrome insert and dead bounce on the drop. The chrome piece provides easy loading on the
bar and reduced friction on the sleeves. This is the plate to buy if your last
competition plates fell apart at the chrome insert.
Weight / Color / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair
55LB / Red / 450mm / 58mm / $310
45LB / Blue / 450mm / 53mm / $260
35LB / Yellow / 450mm / 48mm / $220
25LB / Green / 450mm / 40mm / $160
10LB / Black / 450mm / 20mm / $70
Available sets
210lb, 2x 25-35-45LB $750
300LB, 2x 25-35-4x45LB $1050
320LB, 2x 25-35-45-55LB $1100
340LB, 2x 10-25-35-45-55 $1150
Pros of the Urethane plates
This is an all-purpose plate which will last a long time and is hard. It will take the abuse of many users of different experience levels and still look good. This is a great plate for high demands and someone who does not want to replace the plates as often compared to other plates with a chrome insert.
Cons of the Urethane plates
The biggest con is the high price. If you go for
Olympic or
bumper plates you will get a lot more kilograms per $$$. You might be buying twice in this scenario and you will also know that you took the cheap road to success. I personally stopped doing this and it yields great results.
Alternatives to the Urethane plates
C
ompetition plates will not last as long as they have a tendency to pull apart between the rubber and the chrome insert. They also bounce more. Still, if you want to get as close as possible to the real world championships, then these are the plates to go for instead with the slight risk that they might fall apart after years of heavy use.
The
black training plates are a great design from rogue which combines the
bumper plate effectiveness with the excellence of Rogue's
competition grade plates. You will find color coding and extra touches to make the plates more user-friendly and robust. This is the elegant choice of the professional.
Calibrated steel plates are the plates for anyone who wants to put the maximum amount of weight possible on the
bar while still having color-coded plates. These plates are also approved by the IPF and are used in competition. If you want to get serious about
powerlifting, this should be your choice.
Overview of the TITAN Economy bumper plates
This is an overview of the TITAN Economy bumper plates including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which titan plates to get. Follow the links for more details.
Related articles
Overview of the Titan economy plates
Price $44.99 - $474.99
The
economy bumper plates from TITAN are the ideal weight plates to start your home gym. They are cheap and cheerful and therefore can be bought en masse or on a small budget to start a home gym. These plates are available from 10lb to 100lb with the same diameter and varying thickness. They will fit a standard Olympic barbell and most plate trees and storage solutions for plates. They are also available for purchase in a 230lband 260 lb set. The full specifications are:
Low Bounce Rate
Stainless-Steel Insert
Extremely durable
Olympic barbell size
Quieter than steel plates
Sold in pairs of 10, 15, 25, 35, 45-pounds
Diameter: 450mm / 17.75-in.
Width: 1 – 5.25-in.
Collar Opening: 50 mm
Color: Black
Material: Rubber with steel insert
10-POUNDS:
Width: 1-in.
15-POUNDS:
Width: 1.25-in.
25-POUNDS:
Width: 1.78-in.
35-POUNDS:
Width: 2.75-in.
45-POUNDS:
Width: 3.5-in.
100-POUNDS:
Width: 5.25-in.
If you want to start your home gym on a budget, this is where to look. You can not beat Titan on Price in many categories and this is one of them. If you are looking for plates to continuously from overhead, these might not be the ones.
Pros of the TITAN bumper Plates
The pros of the TITAN bumper plates are:
- Low price
- Outdoor / Indoor use
- Available up to 100 pounds
- Lower injury risk
One of the biggest pros for the entire TITAN fitness brand is its low price compared to competitors like Eleiko or Rogue. Especially on comparable plates, the Titan versions come out at almost half of the purchase price of a like for like comparison. This is especially good if you want to equip a home gym on a very low budget and want some variety in your training. With TITAN your wallet will remain intact. Commercial gyms will appreciate that you can get quite a bit of tonnage for a low price with TITAN.
Bumper plates themselves are practical as you can use them indoors and outdoors. They are a lot more forgiving in the heat or in damp places compared to Iron plates. If you need to build your gym in an outhouse or in a basement with unfinished walls, bumper plates are probably the better bet. In addition, you can also take them outside for a workout and leave them there without feeling too guilty about it.
Another bonus is that TITAN also offers a 100lb bumper version of their plates. This is unusual as most other vendors offer this size as an Iron plate. If you lift very heavy you can use these to make it a little easier on the wrists when you bring the weight back down to the ground. Get one pair of the big bumpers on and then stack iron plates to the desired heavy load. This is a little more forgiving on your body and the floor in the long run. Apart from this, I see little use in heavy bumper plates as they take up too much space on the sleeve.
Bumper plates are also less risky to handle then Iron plates. When you get your fingers between two iron plates or knock your shin/toe against them, you are usually hurt. Bumper plates give in a little more and therefore are good for beginners or when you have teenagers training in your gym.
Cons of the TITAN economy Plates
The cons of the TITAN bumper plates are:
- Quality issues
- Sleeve space
- Olympic training
- Black
You get what you pay for and while you save quite a bit of money on the TITAN bumpers they are also more likely to break. In a commercial gym that might not be as bad, as you constantly have to renew equipment anyway, but in a home gym you might not want to have to buy your plates twice over the time of 3 years. Especially the rims where the barbells are inserted are more likely to deform than with other brands. If you do not intend to drop these, you might as well consider iron plates, which are cheaper per pound and get more weight on the barbell.
Bumper plates also take up more sleeve space compared to Iron plates for the same amount of weight. If you mainly train the bench press, deadlift, and squat with 400lb or more, consider getting iron plates instead of bumper plates. When you get to 400lbs it gets tight on the sleeves when you bumper plates only.
These bumper plates are not ideal for Olympic weightlifting. They will do, but suffer more when dropped from overhead. This is based on the core of the plate. The core of bumper plates is made of rubber with a thin metal inlay where the barbell is inserted.
Olympic plates have a metal core with rubber around it. This makes the bumper plates more likely to come apart when dropped repeatedly from overhead. Still, it will take some time until you have broken them. So if you don't go through 100 overhear lifts a week or more, I would still say you can get these plates for our once a week Oly session.
The last disadvantage is that these plates are plain black. If you want some color in your life you can get the
colored bumper plates from TITAN instead. Especially in a home gym scenario I always recommend this as it is just more fun than having everything in black. But I guess that is more a question of taste than anything else.
Alternatives to the TITAN economy Bumper plates
Alternatives to the TITAN bumper plates are:
the
elite bumper plates from TITAN are the right choice if you put in a lot of Holy lifts per week. They are built robustly and take the beating from the drops. They cost considerably more than the
economy bumper plates, but they will also take a bigger beating. The only difference to real competition
Olympic weightlifting plates is that they are not colored. Compared to similar options from Eleiko and Rogue you save considerably.
If you want a bit more color in your life you can get the
color economy plates from TITAN. They only cost slightly more, have the same specs than the black ones, but come in the official color denominations for the different weights of the plates. This would be my personal choice from TITAN if I was building a gym on a budget.
Cast Iron plates are a good option for anyone with limited space and budget. They are not great to look at and also a bit more awkward to handle. In return, you get the clanging and banging of metal and the maximum amount of weight you could possibly put on your barbell.
Conclusion for the TITAN bumper plates
The
TITAN Economy bumper plates are a great option for anyone who wants to build a home gym on a budget. Especially if you train only three times a week and do not abuse your equipment a lot, these plates are great. In a commercial setting, these plates are great for general training where things will get knocked up anyway. If you want plates that you can drag the mud, use in the rain or extreme heat without feeling guilty., get these. If you want to impress, hold a competition, or beat the crap out of your plates, go upmarket.