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Why is Rogue fitness so expensive? [Article, Video]

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Nov 10, 2019 9:00:00 AM

 
Why is Rogue so expensive?

Why is Rogue so expensive?

 
Rogue products have a high price tag because the company actively chose to be a locally produced market leader in their niche which continually invests in Innovation and marketing. More details in the article.
 
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American made

 
Rogue is mainly American made. You can debate whether everyone in Columbus Ohio is paid a fair wage or whether they make use of migrant workers. I personally do not know that and there are always some cynics who find yet another hole to poke through. However, the fact that the founder of Rogue is ex-military and Rogue goes through the localization of even the most consumer products like Nylon belts and medicine belts, makes me pretty positive that they are at least not importing most of their products. A big client of Rogue is the military. For these government budgets to be released towards buying equipment from Rogue it also has to be American made. 
 

Marketing

 
Rogue spends quite a bit of money on marketing. They sponsor several athletes, the CrossFit games, powerlifting meets and Arnold. While this is in their own best interest to make more sales, it does at costs to the whole operation which other competitors do not have. For you as the client, the advantage is that what you buy from Rogue will usually have a higher reselling value and that the company is up for more scrutiny to want to protect their brand by keeping their clients happy and keep innovating. Otherwise, that marketing money would be wasted. 
 

Quality control

 
As Rogue has higher prices they can also afford to only whip the best products without any blemishes. This is why they also have the boneyard sales where you can get products with minor quality defects. Some competitors of Rogue are inconsistent with the quality of their shipped products because of the quality control of blemishes, bad welds and other shortcomings as not scrutinized as hard. If you have a lower margin to operate a no you are more bound to ship everything you produce to meet your goals. 
 

Patents

 
Lately Rogue has gone quite aggressive on filing patents for their new developments of products. This adds extra cost to the company as it is a time consuming legal process which needs specialists. As a consumer, you can see this from two perspectives. You can say that it is great that an American company keeps innovating and protecting itself against copy cats. The other way of looking at it is to be worried that one company tries to corner the market and grab all of the mindshare in their niche. The truth possibly is somewhere in the middle.
 

Research and development

 
While you might think that there is not a lot to be said about research and development for fitness products I personally think you might be wrong. Here are some examples of challenges Rogue took on and solved: 
 
  • CrossFit boxes needed a space-efficient rack and pull up combination. Rogue perfected the rig 
  • Clients complained about the Rogue lat pull down machine set up. Rogue fixed it with a new bar and carabiners in the 2.0 version 
  • Rogue wants to enter the fitness machine market. Rather than just buying and relabeling existing machines they are working on the pulley and plates systems themselves to build them in house. The results are the Rhino squat belt machine, the slinger and the rogue CT tower 
  • Rogue applied Cerakote coating to their barbells to make it possible to do custom designs 
  • Rogue Zeus is the only 3D planning tool for fitness equipment which I have seen so far. This makes it easier to layout a big investment or your garage gym 
 
The list goes on. The general feedback in the market is that Rogue takes their time to compete up with new products and perfecting them. The Rogue Echo bike and Rogue Rhino are Testaments of this thinking. The echo bike was the sturdiest assault bike at the low price point when it was released. The Rhino belt squat wa one of the first that achieved a 1:1 ratio from the weight on the machine to translate to the lifter. 
 

Warranty

 
There is usually an extensive warranty with Rogue products with an easy exchange. They have gotten a bit tighter lately as the policies have been abused. 
 

Shipping

 
Shipping on big orders in the US is usually free 
 

Why is Rogue Fitness so expensive 

 
Based on what Rogue represents and what they contribute to their local community, the American market and the fitness industry I think they are not overpriced. If you want the cheapest possible gym just to get started, yes then they are overpriced. But that is not the clientele Rogue goes after. 

Topics: Rogue