What a bumper is for
A bumper plate is rubber around a steel insert, and every plate is the same diameter whatever it weighs. That is the point: the bar sits at the same height off the floor with a 10 lb plate or a 55 lb plate, and when you drop it from overhead, the rubber takes the hit.
If you do cleans, snatches, or deadlifts you want to lower quickly, choose bumpers. Our bumper sets start at $89.98 for a set, and pairs start at $26.99.
What iron does better
Cast iron plates are much thinner, so a sleeve holds more weight in iron than in rubber. Bought one at a time they cost more per pound than a bumper set, as the table below shows, but you only buy the weights you need. The HULKFIT iron plates have three grip handles, which makes them easier to carry and lets you use a plate on its own for carries and presses.
Iron is not made to be dropped. It can crack, and it will mark the floor. If your training is squat, bench and press inside a rack, where the bar goes back on the hooks, iron does the job.
Price per pound, from our own catalog
We worked out the price per pound for every plate setup in the catalog with a current price, and the table shows the best one on each page. Larger sets usually beat pairs and singles on price. Pairs and singles are still the right buy when you already own a set and want to fill a gap.
| Setup | Weight | Price | Per lb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bumper Plate Pairs and Sets, 390 lb · Black | 390 lb | $359.99 | $0.92 |
| Olympic Bumper Plate Sets, 230 lb · Black | 230 lb | $215.99 | $0.94 |
| Sport Series Bumper Plates, 45 lb pair | 90 lb | $89.99 | $1.00 |
| Black Bumper Plate Sets, 160 lb · Black | 160 lb | $161.64 | $1.01 |
| Rubber-Coated Change Plates, 25 lb, pair · Black | 50 lb | $60.26 | $1.21 |
| Bumper Plate Set with 7 ft Bar, 390 lb · Black | 390 lb | $489.99 | $1.26 |
| Cast Iron Weight Plates, 25 lb single, 2 in bore | 25 lb | $40.04 | $1.60 |
| Bumper Plate with Steel Insert, 55 lb · Purple | 55 lb | $150.00 | $2.73 |
Bore size
Nearly every plate here has a 2 inch bore for Olympic bars. The exceptions are the 1 inch standard iron plates, which fit the older standard bars. They will slide onto an Olympic sleeve but sit loose, so buy the bore that matches your bar.
What goes under the plates
Bumpers protect the bar and the plate, but the floor still takes the energy. On concrete, a thick foam tile or a rubber mat under the lifting spot is the minimum. Half-inch foam is fine for dumbbells set down with control, but not for a dropped barbell.
Iron on concrete chips both. Put iron plates on a mat when you load and unload, and keep them on a plate tree or on the rack's plate holders between sessions.
Where we are not sure
Bumper durability depends on how often and from what height you drop them, and on what they land on. The makers rate the rubber, not your floor. We do not have test numbers for drop cycles, so we do not quote any.