TITAN Economy color plates vs Rogue bumper plates

This is a comparison between the TITAN economy color bumper plates and the Rogue bumper 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 Bumper plates

The Rogue bumper plates will set you back about $565 dollars or $3.76 dollars per kg. These plates are especially good to use for all purposes in commercial gyms. 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 Rogue Bumper plates

The HG Bumper plates are the workhorse in the plate portfolio of Rogue. If you want cheap plates with a three-year warranty which do the job, this is your place. These plates will last, can be abused in any kind of way and will perform. The disadvantages of these plates are that they are harder to handle than 6 shooters and do are as plain as they come. They score 88 points on the durometer scale and have therefore slightly more bounce than the high range options from Rogue. The only color option for these plates is black.

Weight / Diameter / Thickness / Price per pair

25kg / 450mm / 3.5'' / $162.50

20kg / 450mm / 3.25'' / $130

15kg /450mm / 2.625'' / $97.50

10kg / 450mm / 1.75'' / $63

5kg / 450mm / 1'' / $52.50

Available sets

90kg, 2x 10-15-20 kg $370

110kg, 2x 10-20-25 $437.50

120kg, 2x 15-20-25kg $460

140kg, 2x 10-15-20-25kg $525

150kg, 2x 5-10-15-20-25kg $565

This is the no-nonsense choice if you are starting out and just want weight.

Pros of the Rogue bumper plates

These plates will not oxidate and can be used outside. If they reak your heart won't sink and you just replace them. They will be forgiving when dropped on feet or on the skin. Hurting your fingers is less likely than with other plates. You can drop them from overhead. Take your pic.

Cons of the Rogue bumper plates

These plates look dull and you can not see what you have exactly loaded. You also will not fit as much weight on the bar than with higher price ranged options from Rogue. It is also more likely with these plates, tat th weight varies more considerably compared to what is stated on the plate.

Alternatives to the Rogue bumper plates

Alternatives to the bumper plates are:

The 6 Shooter Urethane plates are another workhorse option with a different design. The six holes make it easier for athletes to handle the weight. These plates can also be used for workouts without a barbell, which is hard to do with bumper plates.

Olympic weights are the ultimate plate for getting as much weight as possible on your bar at minimum cost. These metal plates are not fancy, but weigh a lot while not taking up a lot of space on the bar. If your gym should make clanging and banging noises, this is the plate to get.

Competition plates are the Nascar version of bumper plates. These plates are color coded so you can easily see how much weight is on the barbell. They also have a steel core which makes them behave better when you change direction for the Olympic lifts.

Overview and review of the TITAN Economy color plates

This is an overview of the TITAN economy plates including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which titan plates to get. Follow the links for more details.

Overview of the TITAN Color bumper plates

Price: $64.99 - $474.99

The economy bumper color plates are a nice addition to the lower range of plates from TITAN. Most vendors only offer the rubber plates in black which might not be to everyone's liking. With this option, TITAN provides bumper plates at a slightly higher price with the official color coding for different sizes and weights that is used in international competitions. The full specifications are:

Very low bounce with a durometer rating of 88.
Extremely durable rubber used.
Fits Olympic barbells.
Color-coded for easy identification.
Quieter than steel plates.

Material: Rubber with Steel Insert
Diameter: 17 3/4"
Collar Opening: 2”
Durometer Rating: 88

10 LB:
Plate Width: 1"
Color: Green

15 LB:
Plate Width: 1 3/8"
Color: Black

25 LB:
Plate Width: 1 7/8"
Color: Yellow

35 LB:
Plate Width: 2 3/4"
Color: Blue

45 LB:
Plate Width: 3 1/2"
Color: Red

These plates are a great start for a home gym when you do not like black and want to mix it up a little. They only cost a little more than the black economy plates and make things a little more interesting, if you like the international color coding with red, blue, yellow, and green.

Pros of the TITAN Color bumper plates

Pros of the TITAN Color bumper plates:

Low price
Design
Outdoor / Indoor

The main argument for TITAN Fitness is the low price. Most of their free weight equipment comes at about half the price of their direct competition from Rogue and Eleiko. These two brands are usually considered as the golden standard when it comes to free weight lifting equipment. If you are building a home gym on a budget and either want to get twice as much weight or the next quality of plates up, TITAN is usually a good pick. Especially if it is equipment that is more of a commodity and not a high health risk, like plates.

If you think that black plates are ugly and boring the color economy plates are a great option. They will also not break the bank like other color options as competitive Olympic plates.

Generally, cheap bumper plates are great to be sued indoors and outdoors. They are ideal to be used on a sled or yoke as you will not feel guilty when you leave them in the heat, cold, or rain as much as with a plate set that costs you $2000 to acquire. I would not put my calibrated plates outdoors or on a sled unless I was an NFL or NBA team. Then the plates are peanuts compared to what you pay the athletes.

Cons of the TITAN Color bumper plates

Cons of the TTAN color bumper plates:

Steel Inserts
Can not be dropped from overhead
Sleeve space
Dirt / Markings

As you have to cut some corners when you offer your product at half the price of the competition you will often find some little quality issues with TITAN. It might be the finish of the plates, customer service being impolite, or a certain rubbery smell of the plates. These will not keep you from training with these plates but might irritate you or lead to the plates breaking sooner than other products. Still, especially for plates, half the price is great.

If you are planning to do a lot of Olympic lifting these plates are not the right choice. For this purpose plates with a full steel disc in the middle are better as they can take more of a beating. TITAN has the Elite bumper plates and competition bumper plates in their range which fulfill these criteria but also come at about twice the price of the color-coded economy plates.

As with all bumper plates, they will ake up more sleeve space on your bar than cast iron plates. If you work with 400lbs and more on a regular basis on the bar, cast iron plates are usually a better choice. Keep in mind that when you work with iron plates the weights can not be dropped from overhead and the floor should have some mats or gym flooring to protect the plates and floor from damage when you work out.

The last thing to mention is that you will see markings on these plates sooner than on black bumper plates. If this is the kind of stuff that irritates you, save yourself some money and get the black ones instead, as the markings will not be visible as quickly.

Alternatives to the TITAN Color Bumper Plates

Alternatives to the TITAN color plates are:

If you are shopping for plates on a budget of $1000 and came from a different vendor to TITAN you might treat yourself and get the elite color plates on the same budget instead of the rubber economy plates. These plates have the same color-coding, but can also be dropped repeatedly from overhead. Think of this as an upgrade to the better technology with the same amount of money. Still, you can also go for the colored rubber and save half the price.

The Titan economy bumper plates are black instead of color-coded. The price difference is minimal and will not matter to home gym buyers. COmmercial buyers might have an interest when they buy 1000s of pounds, but that is a very exceptional scenario. If you want the black or colored ones is mainly down to how much abuse you put them through. If you are looking for plates to use outdoors and band around a lot, the black ones are probably the better option, as they will age better optically.

The cast-iron plates from TITAN are a good option when you need to pack a lot of weight on your bar. Iron plates save space in storage and are also quite cheap compared to the fancier rubber versions of plates. The disadvantages with cast iron plates are that they hurt more when you bang off them and that they will definitely wreck your floor if you do not take the necessary precautions. Cast iron plates are not recommended for any type of Olympic lifting.

Conclusion for the TITAN Color bumper plates

The TITAN color economy plates are a great option for a home gym that wants more color in their training and life and just thinks that black plates are boring. They are also good to test colored plates out for your gym before you go all-in with the more expensive competition options. Still, I think that these are more of a niche product, as the workhorse plate in any gym will remain the black rubber plate. This is mainly because they will just age better than the colored ones when the first scratches and dents appear.