TITAN Olympic plates vs Rogue wagon wheel plates

This is a comparison between the TITAN Olympic plates and the Rogue wagon wheel plates including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which titan plates to get. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the Rogue Wagon Wheel Pair

The Rogue Wagon wheel plates will set you back about $425. These plates are especially good to use for powerlifters 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.

What else to consider from Rogue

Overview of the Wagon wheel plates

The Wagon wheel plates are a co-design between Mark Bell and Rogue. The basic idea is that a standard 45LB can be bigger than 450mm. The result is a pair of plates which have 660mm in diameter and are therefore called Wagon wheels. If you do not want to buy blocks save storage space for block pulls, this is the way to go. Specs of the wagon wheel plates:

Made in the USA
0.375'' thick laser cut steel construction
45LB
2% Weight tolerance
660mm Diameter
50.80mm width

This is a specialized tool when you get serious with your powerlifting to get more volume in without wrecking your lower back. They also cost less than proper pulling blocks. If you only need blocks for powerlifting purposes, this is a great option which is easy to store in your gym.

Pros of the Wagon wheel plates

The Wagon wheel saves space and time when you want to deadlifts from a block. They also cost less than their wooden or metal blocks which fit the same purpose from Rogue.

Cons of the wagon wheel plates

The Wagon wheel cannot be used for Olympic weightlifting style block pulls or jerking. For jerking, they are too low and for dynamic block pulls the metal is too hard on the floor and wrists of the lifter. For Olympic weightlifting, you are better off to buy proper jerk blocks.

Alternatives to the Wagon wheel plates

Alternatives to the wagon wheel are:

The metal jerk blocks from Rogue are adjustable in height and beasts to behold. These are space saving compared to their wooden counterparts as you do not need multiple of them to stack higher up.

Wooden jerk blocks take up more space in your gym than the metal blocks offer the same height options, but are in turn more modular. With one full set, several athletes can train from different starting positions.

Overview and review of the TITAN Olympic plates

This is an overview of the TITAN Olympic 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 Olympic bumper plates

Price $119.99 - $999.99

The TITAN Olympic bumper plates come in sizes ranging from 10LB - 55lb and follow the color coding of international lifting competitions for the various plates. These plates work with rubber on the outside and a steel collar in the middle for stability and minimum bounce. This is the closest you can get in the TITAN portfolio to international weightlifting competition standards. The full specifications of these plates are:

Color-coded in vibrant colors for easy identification.
Precise 50.6 mm collar diameter for a secure fit on your barbell.
The steel collar reinforces the plates for high rep use.
Raised plate lip makes picking up the plates easier.

General Specifications:
Plate Diameter: 450 mm (execpt 10 LB)
Weight Tolerance: +/- 20 grams.
Collar Opening: 50.6mm
Insert Type: Steel disc
Durometer Rating: 90
Material: Rubber

10 LB:
Plate Diameter: 360 mm
Plate Width: 1"
Color: Grey

25 LB:
Plate Width: 1.375"
Color: Green

35 LB:
Plate Width: 1.875"
Color: Yellow

45 LB:
Plate Width: 2.15"
Color: Blue

55 LB:
Plate Width: 2.5"
Color: Red

This is a good option to save money if you want competition plates for your home gym or in your commercial gym. Be aware though, that these plates are not IWF approved. They get close, but you will not be able to either use them in an official IWF competition or to simulate the conditions for your athletes as close as possible.

Pros of the TITAN Olympic bumper plates

Pros of the TITAN Olympic bumper plates are:

Price
Colors
Low bounce
Optimized thickness

The main thing that most TITAN products have going for themselves is that they are about half the price of anything that is comparable in the market. These are a great option to save money and either get more plates for the same budget or upgrade from regular bumper plates to competition plates on the same budget. Rogue and Eleiko charge considerably more for similar products.

Compared to other plates from the TITAN line up the main advantage of these plates are the vibrant colors. Urethane is harder to colorize than rubber in the production process and the elite bumper plates and economy plates are mainly sold in black. If the colors of our plates is something you really care about then these are a good choice.

Apart from this these plates are also optimized to take up the least space possible on your barbell sleeve while still being rubber. This combined with a low bounce makes the competition bumper plates a good choice for anyone who is serious about Olympic weightlifting.

Cons of the Olympic bumper plates

Cons of the Olympic bumper plates are:

IWF Approval
Sleeve space
Durability

The biggest con against the TITAN Olympic bumper plates is that they are not IWF approved. If you are intending to simulate competition conditions in your gym or even hold competitions yourself, these plates are not ideal. For this purpose, the Eleiko or Rogue sets are the better options, as they went through the necessary certification process with the IWF to be accepted. If you already consider competition plates, you probably take your lifting very, very serious. To me, it does not make sense to save money, if you want to simulate competition as close as possible. Still, saving half the price on such a big item for your gym is not to be scoffed at.

Compared to cast iron plates competition bumper plates still take up more space on the sleeve of the barbell and create more whip. If you regularly move more than 400lbs on the squat, bench press, and deadlift these plates might not be the right choice for you. You will not fit enough of them on the bar and they will also make the bar bend more as the weight will be distributed further out.

The last thing against competition plates is that they generally have a bigger tendency to break than urethane plates when dropped from overhead. This is a minor difference, but if you want long-lasting training plates, go for urethane and keep one proper competition set up in your gym to save on cost but still being able to simulate competition for your athletes. In a home gym setting, I would question urethane and competition plates in general as too high of an expense, unless you are a professional athlete or just like the good things in life and don't care about the money.

Alternatives to the TITAN Olympic bumper plates

Alternatives to the TITAN Olympic bumper plates are:

The TITAN economy bumper plates are the best option to save money and have them around for all purposes. These plates can be used indoors and outdoors and you do not have to feel too bad when they break, as they come cheap. The downside is that they have more bounce than competition plates, usually do not come color-coded, and are way more likely to warp or come loose in the center.

The TITAN elite bumper plates are in my opinion the best option for the ambitious home gym athlete. You are not a professional, but also have the budget and the performance to back up a semi-professional home gym setup. In a commercial setting, these are the right toys for your top tier clients that are dedicated and want to set themselves apart from the occasional gym lifter. They cost more than regular bumpers but also do not go beyond $1000 for a good-sized set.

Urethane bumper is the best choice for a commercial gym that has Olympic lifts going on all day long. The colors are a little less vibrant than on the competition plates and they are slightly more expensive, but in return, these plates last for a very long time. In a home gym scenario, you are probably better of with competition plates, if you are already willing to spend close to $1000 or more on your plates as your training frequency won't be as high as in a commercial gym.

Cast Iron plates are the best options for powerlifters. If you regularly move more than 400lbs on the bar you want to optimize sleeve space and minimize the whip in the bar. Cast iron plates are the best option for this. They also take up less space on plate trees and storage pins for the same amount of weight. The only downside is that they can not be dropped from overhead and need special flooring unless you want to wreck the plates and the floor at the same time.

Conclusion for the Olympic bumper plates

I am personally not a fan of the TITAN Olympic plates as they are not IWF approved. They match the specs and this will not necessarily reflect that much in the handling of the weight, but still, if you are willing to pay extra for competition plates, can get plates you will actually use in competition. Otherwise, you might as well opt for Elite bumpers or Urethane plates. If you are already of a competitive mindset, you probably will not decide based on budget. But that is just me talking.