I've been researching options for a home gym and part of that is picking out plates that meet the following requirements:
1. As quiet as possible/minimize impact on floor
2. No rubber smell
3. Fit at least 6 45 lb. plates per side of barbell (i.e., width less than 2" or 50mm)
4. Accurate to stated weight within at least 1%, but hopefully 10-20 grams
5. Color-coded plates would be nice since the plates are going in the corner of the kids' play area.
6. Keep cost as low as possible
7. Weight in pounds (not KGs)
8. Stick with mostly 45s so no 35s or 55s which means a discount on a "set" is not viable
9. Purchase with credit card
10. Buy once - don't get stuck with crappy quality that needs to be upgraded in 1 year.
11. But know that eventually the weights might be sold so keep re-sale value in mind.
Steel plates would be cost effective but too loud (#1) so I'm looking at bumpers. Most bumpers are too big/take up too much space on the bar (#3) so the cheapest ones are out. And the cheap ones are more likely to smell (#2) so that's another reason to avoid the cheapest bumper plates
Elieko would be awesome but too expensive (#6). Vulcan makes some very nice plates but they're on the pricey side and KG only at this time.
I don't have cash on hand to buy used off Craig's List or FB Marketplace so I need to purchase new (#9).
The "bounce" factor is not too important here - this is for powerlifting not Olympic lifting - and no matter what, dropping 500 lbs on the ground is going to make some noise. (Quieter than steel, but still noisy.) I am counting on the platform to do most of the noise reduction and minimizing "rattle" between the weights and the bar.
Rogue has several types of bumper plates that meet most of the above requirements. It is almost impossible to sort through everything on their site so I created a Google Chart that compares 7 different offerings of Rogue Bumper Plates:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OspMnV6T74gFMuJ1f5HKdlEFZBh_P4kKXEEwP7W_iL0/edit?usp=sharing
This chart prices ten 45 lb. plates and two 25 lb. plates. Rogue sells these in pairs so that's why the numbers in Column B are half that.
http://www.stronger247.com/cached/f4211746416f2375ac0edcbf9b17b02a.png
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OspMnV6T74gFMuJ1f5HKdlEFZBh_P4kKXEEwP7W_iL0/edit?usp=sharing
1. As quiet as possible/minimize impact on floor
2. No rubber smell
3. Fit at least 6 45 lb. plates per side of barbell (i.e., width less than 2" or 50mm)
4. Accurate to stated weight within at least 1%, but hopefully 10-20 grams
5. Color-coded plates would be nice since the plates are going in the corner of the kids' play area.
6. Keep cost as low as possible
7. Weight in pounds (not KGs)
8. Stick with mostly 45s so no 35s or 55s which means a discount on a "set" is not viable
9. Purchase with credit card
10. Buy once - don't get stuck with crappy quality that needs to be upgraded in 1 year.
11. But know that eventually the weights might be sold so keep re-sale value in mind.
Steel plates would be cost effective but too loud (#1) so I'm looking at bumpers. Most bumpers are too big/take up too much space on the bar (#3) so the cheapest ones are out. And the cheap ones are more likely to smell (#2) so that's another reason to avoid the cheapest bumper plates
Elieko would be awesome but too expensive (#6). Vulcan makes some very nice plates but they're on the pricey side and KG only at this time.
I don't have cash on hand to buy used off Craig's List or FB Marketplace so I need to purchase new (#9).
The "bounce" factor is not too important here - this is for powerlifting not Olympic lifting - and no matter what, dropping 500 lbs on the ground is going to make some noise. (Quieter than steel, but still noisy.) I am counting on the platform to do most of the noise reduction and minimizing "rattle" between the weights and the bar.
Rogue has several types of bumper plates that meet most of the above requirements. It is almost impossible to sort through everything on their site so I created a Google Chart that compares 7 different offerings of Rogue Bumper Plates:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OspMnV6T74gFMuJ1f5HKdlEFZBh_P4kKXEEwP7W_iL0/edit?usp=sharing
This chart prices ten 45 lb. plates and two 25 lb. plates. Rogue sells these in pairs so that's why the numbers in Column B are half that.
http://www.stronger247.com/cached/f4211746416f2375ac0edcbf9b17b02a.png
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OspMnV6T74gFMuJ1f5HKdlEFZBh_P4kKXEEwP7W_iL0/edit?usp=sharing