Homegrown Lifting Bumper Plates Review (Personally Tested)

I received a set of Homegrown Color Bumper Plates a few months ago and in this article, I’m going to give you my full review of the plates (both good and bad) after a couple thousand drops.

I will cover the price, specs, look, quality and performance of the plates. I’ll also give you some close comparisons to give you an idea of how Homegrown’s Bumper Plates stack up against the competition.

Why Trust My Reviews? I’ve spent 20 years as a collegiate sports performance coach and have been lifting personally even longer. I’ve bought and used equipment for both 14,000 square foot weight rooms and for my own garage gym. Finally, I only review products I’ve personally tested.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy something using these links I may earn a commission. Thanks!

Specs

First things first – let’s do a quick specs breakdown and a few comparison plates for context.

• Diameter: 17.72″ (450mm) – this is the standard size diameter for bumper plates.
• Insert Width: 2″ – this size will fit on all standard size Olympic barbells.
• Durometer: 80A – this basically tells you how ‘bouncy’ the plates are when dropped. (FYI: They’re pretty bouncy.)

Plate	Width
45	3.6″
25	2.5″
15	1.6″
10	1.1″

Now, to give you some context, let’s compare the width of the 45-pound plate to a couple of the other plates I have in my home gym and to another name you’re probably familiar with.

Brand	Width
Homegrown Lifting	3.6″
Sorinex Recon Lite	3.75″
Rogue US-MIL Spec Bumpers V2	3.0″
Uesaka Pro-Series*	2.08″

*Technically, Uesaka Pro-Series is a 20kg plate (not a 45lb plate).

Look

Overall, they’re a good-looking plate for a budget-friendly crumb rubber bumper plate.

The color flake looks sharp, especially the yellow flake on the 25lb plate and the white flake on the 10lb plate.

However, there are a few flaws in the look of the plate. Each plate has four circular “knobs” on one side of the plate (Look on the 15-pound plate above – just above and just below the number 15 on the plate).

I’m not sure the purpose of these “knobs” are and/or why they’re on each plate. They’re not that bad (it took me a minute before I even noticed them), but it is less than ideal.

Also, these are what I call raw crumb rubber plates. This means that not all the surfaces of the plate are going to be smooth. You’re going to notice a crumble-like texture in some places throughout the plate.

Even with the flaws, I still think they look good for the price which I’m going to get to next.

Price

The price of these plates, I believe, is potentially what is going to put them in a lot of home gyms. This set of plates from Homegrown Lifting is extremely budget-friendly.

You can get a 190lb set of Color Bumper Plates – that’s a pair of 45s, 25s, 15s and 10s – for $250. That’s just over $1 per pound! It’s almost impossible to find bumper plates of any kind of quality, new or used, for that price.

Here is a comparison of a pair of their 45lb plates vs the same plates that I mentioned above (as of 6/27/23):

Brand	Cost (Pair)
Homegrown Lifting	$115
Sorinex Recon Lite	$152
Rogue US-MIL Spec Bumpers V2	$160
Uesaka Pro-Series	$506

As you can clearly see, Homegrown Lifting’s plates are significantly lower than other crumb rubber style plates – and the price is the same whether you buy color flake plates or pure black plates.

Performance / Durability

Let’s start with durability. I’ve been dropping these plates about 100 to 150 times over the course of almost two months. Olympic lifts, RDLs, Bent Over Rows, even Curls… every exercise that could potentially be dropped on the floor every set I’ve done.

After all those drops, I’m happy to report that the plates are holding up very well. The 45s and 25s have held up great and the 15s and 10s have done well with what I’ve asked of them*.

*Almost any thin 10 or 15-pound bumper plate is going to tear up if you drop them on a bar by themselves. To be clear, these plates have not torn up on me but 20 years of experience tells me it will happen sooner rather than later if used in that way.

Make sure to use the 10s and 15s (especially the 10s) in addition to other, bigger, plates and you’ll be much less likely to run into issues.

From a performance standpoint, they perform as well as one should expect them to.

What do I mean by that?

They are budget-friendly crumb rubber plates with a thin steel center insert. If you are expecting them to perform as well as a set of Uesaka plates, you’re out of your mind.

They are not going to be as balanced nor are they going to rotate as well as a higher-end plate. If that is what you’re really wanting then you should look elsewhere (and plan to spend more money).

However, they hold the bar well (don’t go sliding off every rep) and the bounce (off the floor when dropped) is a little high, but not out of control. In my opinion, you can’t really ask for much more than that considering the price you’re paying for these plates.

Should You Buy a Set?

There are three situations that I think these plates fit perfectly for.

One, you’re on a really tight budget. Every penny counts, but you don’t want to buy a set of junk plates that are going to tear up after a month. These plates are a great option.

Two, you want to try out bumper plates for the first time. If you’re just getting into Crossfit, or something similar, and you want to try out some bumper plates, this is a cost-effective way to do just that.

Third, you’re a ‘seasoned’ lifter that wants an extra set of plates that they don’t mind beating up. Need a set of plates for workouts in the driveway, a prowler sled, etc? These plates can be a great option and can keep your more expensive plates from getting destroyed.

If you want to purchase your own set of plates (or to just get more info) check them out on Homegrown Lifting’s website or on Amazon.

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