Plates

[Allentown]

I'm working on writing up a big ol' "Lets build a home gym" thread, and I have to assume all the equipment is going to be new (otherwise the whole post is going to TL:DR as "check craigslist"). The only new plates I've ever even looked at are the Rogue calibrated and the bumpers Again Faster was unloading when they went out of business.
Where are some good options for people buying new plates besides Rogue (iron seems to be overpriced there)? I can't remember who the contact was over in Egypt for slightly discounted iron.

[Manveer]

Adamant Barbell for Troy Premium plates.

Wal Mart for C(r)ap plates.

[Cody]

Concur with Adamant BB.

There was a time when Allison from York would work out good deals if you called her, but I haven't heard of folks using her recently, not sure if she's still with them or if she has the same ability to work deals as before. Might be worth calling and asking for her if you have some free time.

[Allentown]

Thanks!

[ithryn]

I'm looking forward to this megathread.

I would like to hear about "good affordable" plates vs "worth it if you have the cash" (maybe vs "best possible without being ridiculous" just out of curiosity).

It sounds like Walmart's old fashioned looking "barbell standard" iron plates by CAP, on a sale, are the cheapest reliable plates?

[ithryn]

These plastic coated looking ones that look like they were pretty wicked in the 90's are on sale, $35 for 45s, kinda wonder if they're any good

http://www.walmart.com/ip/CAP-Barbell-2 ... e/47917559

[Allentown]

These plastic coated looking ones that look like they were pretty wicked in the 90's are on sale, $35 for 45s, kinda wonder if they're any good

http://www.walmart.com/ip/CAP-Barbell-2 ... e/47917559

I noticed those when looking at the CAP dishes. Currently $20 a plate cheaper.

[Allentown]

I'm looking forward to this megathread.

Don't get too excited. I'm not a writer.

[broseph]

These plastic coated looking ones that look like they were pretty wicked in the 90's are on sale, $35 for 45s, kinda wonder if they're any good

http://www.walmart.com/ip/CAP-Barbell-2 ... e/47917559

I have a couple of these I picked up off Craigslist. My bathroom scale (accuracy?) lists them both at 44.8 lbs. It says the same number for my Rogue Echos.

ETA: the coating is just a hard paint/epoxy. Not plastic.

[tersh]

I have a couple of these I picked up off Craigslist. My bathroom scale (accuracy?) lists them both at 44.8 lbs. It says the same number for my Rogue Echos.

ETA: the coating is just a hard paint/epoxy. Not plastic.

They for some reason look smaller than standard radius to me. Are they the standard plate size?

[Cody]

I have a couple of these I picked up off Craigslist. My bathroom scale (accuracy?) lists them both at 44.8 lbs. It says the same number for my Rogue Echos.

ETA: the coating is just a hard paint/epoxy. Not plastic.

They for some reason look smaller than standard radius to me. Are they the standard plate size?

No, they're smaller diameter.

[DoctorWho]

Just put together a home gym. I had only a b&r bar, and aluminum technique bar, and a Rogue (monster lite?) squat stands with safeties. I wanted to be able to have two people lifting at once. I found a place that reconditions gym equipment about half an hour away and bought two sets of 240 pounds for 60 or 65 cents per pound. (They had stacks of plates and I just looked through them until I found matching pieces, but were covered in an oil that I had to scrub off. They also sold new Standard plates for $1/pound, but I passed.) Thought I needed some more, so found a guy selling another set of 360 pounds, which I bought for 60 cents per pound, and for another 80 bucks he threw in a cheap but straight CAP (I think) barbell, a floor tree plate holder thing, and about 500 square feet of spongy floor mats. (Turns out the guy's son has a banner in my son's wrestling club's room).

I also bought a 160 pound set of Rogue echo colored bumpers for under $300. I'm hoping that the 45s are dead on, and plan to use them to calibrate my scale (which is pretty good compared to wrestling scales, at least for 85 to 90 pounds) to check weight of all the plates and either correct them or mark the exact weight.

I used 5/8' inch OSB for the bottom two layers of the platform, which I regret because the Kreg screws didn't seat well. Rip doesn't recommend birch plywood for the top layer because of voids, but the purebond from homedepot has almost no voids, which I know from cutting up a hell of a lot of it into strips recently.

[Allentown]

That's sounding like a really nice setup.

[DoctorWho]

That's sounding like a really nice setup.

Thanks. Happy with it so far. I built a rack out of 2x4 to hold the bars. I have the two regular bars and the technique bar, and I just bought a 25mm bella bar for my daughter, who I'm trying to get interested. And maybe my wife. And my 5' tall son could use the smaller diameter for deadlifts, but he's too tough to use it.