Bumper plates are a vital part of most people’s strength training program. When the plates are authentic, they’re manufactured from solid vulcanized rubber.
What makes Vulcan’s bumper plates different?
As mentioned above, they’re made from solid vulcanized rubber, this means that they won’t peel or crack. If you strength train with solid rubber bumper plates, you can drop them from over your head without causing damage to your floors like you will when you let go of steel Olympic plates or ones that are made from cast iron.
Vulcan makes black training, color training and competition bumper plates. The company also produces change plates and an Alpha line of bumper plates. Vulcan’s plates are a quality exercise prop that you can use to increase your strength and enhance your workout.
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Features of Vulcan Bumper Plates
Vulcan bumper plates produce a low bounce, and when they’re dropped, they emit a muted sound because of the rubber compound that the company uses to manufacture them.
To keep the bounce and sound minimal, Vulcan develops one line without metal while the bumper plates that feature it have the metal disc contained far beneath the rubber. The equipment manufacturer completes extensive testing on its bumper plates. This includes spot and drop testing. Vulcan’s bumper plates have a solid feel and a pleasant texture.
In addition, the equipment piece’s inserts sit flush against the plate surface. This winds up being a durability feature because it stops rubbing, which prevents the inserts from wearing down.
Bumper Plate Details
Vulcan sells its bumper plates in pairs and sets. The company manufactures them in 55, 45, 35, 25 and 10-pound weights . Vulcan’s black training plates are its most popular ones because they are affordable, versatile and long lasting.
They are designed for indoor CrossFit and commercial gyms as well as for high school and college gyms. Vulcan’s color training plates come in pound and kilogram increments.
See Full Details at Vulcan Strength
The company manufacturers its color training plates using a different rubber compound than it uses for the black ones. Because they are developed differently, Vulcan’s color plates don’t bounce as high as other ones do.
This is a good thing. Less bounce equals less potential damage to your floors and the plates. To make the weight of the plates easy to identify, Vulcan uses raised lettering.
When it comes to Vulcan’s change plates, the company makes each one from solid rubber without an iron core or steel insert. These plates come with a five-year warranty.
Vulcan’s Alpha plates are in a class of their own. The company manufactures them from an exclusive rubber compound instead of producing them from recycled rubber or crumb rubber. The material that Vulcan uses to make its Alpha Plates lets the company develop them with a thinner metal piece than the industry norm.
The equipment manufacturer makes its Alpha line to correspond with the color scheme used by the International Weightlifting Foundation. The 25-pound size is green, and the 35-pound size is yellow. The blue ones weigh 45 pounds and the red ones are 55 pounds. The industry doesn’t have a standard color for the 10-pound size, so Vulcan decided to make it gray.
These plates will not fold when you drop them. In addition, the inserts are made from stainless steel, and they are hooked to the equipment piece. This means that the insert is less likely to pull away from the base of the plate upon impact with the ground.
Product Quality
As the first developer to introduce solid rubber change plates, Vulcan broke new ground. This brought quality-based transformations to the product. For instance, Vulcan change plates won’t rust or peel. The company also precisely weighs and balances each plate for consistency.
If your lifting space is outdoors or in a basement or garage that has rough concrete floors, then consider investing in the Alpha Plates. Not only are they manufactured from excessively durable proprietary rubber, but they are also able to stand up to being dropped onto extremely hard and coarse surfaces.
Pros and Cons
A major pro of the Vulcan bumper plates is that they’re denser and have less bounce when you drop them following a lift. They’re also thinner than bumper plates made by other companies. This means that your lift bar will have less bulk.
One con of the black Vulcan bumper plates is the unpleasant rubbery odor that they’ll emit when they’re new. The smell will dissipate in a few weeks, but the odor could negatively impact your workout at first.
Because the Alpha plates are made from a different kind of rubber, they smell less offensive from the get-go, but you will pay more for them.
Final Verdict
Vulcan bumper plates offer quality and value. They’re competitively priced and built to last. The company’s warranty provides consumer confidence while the plates are sure to help you develop the strength that you desire.
Keep reading: Highest Rated Bumper Plates to Consider
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The Gymventures team has decades of experience between them, ranging across many fields. Some of these include fitness, mixed martial arts, nutrition, building home gyms, gym equipment, and more.