Need help buying bumper plates

[Aha]

I have been scanning Craigslist for a few weeks now, and around here, nobody seems to sell bumper plates. Occasionally people will sell iron plates, and occasionally rubber-coated iron plates, but for minimizing noise in my home gym I want to go with bumpers.

Unfortunately, Craigslist is not of much use, and I hesitate to buy them online due to insane shipping costs. Where else can I go?

[jhlasnik]

Rouge has some decent prices on bumper plates I think, their Echo line is pretty decent.

[Aha]

I looked into Rogue as well but couldn't tell the difference between Rogue HG and Rogue Echo. They also had Rogue Hi-Temps, which seemed great, but really expensive.

[Aha]

What is the difference between HG and Echo?

[Alex Kennedy]

MDUSA is selling all kinds of shit cheap right now.

[hollismb]

What is the difference between HG and Echo?

Thickness and finish quality. The 45lb Echo Plate is 3 1/2", while the 45lb HG is 3 1/4", which affects how much weight you can put on the bar. The quote below is from Rogue. Note that the Rogue HG's and the Pendlay Econs are the same plate, branded differently.

Hopefully this answers the questions on what the Echo plate is:

The reason we introduced the Echo plates was to hit the mark for budget plates. They don't have the fit and finish as the HG plates and our HG plates have an excellent warranty rate. Basically we wanted to offer plates for all needs:

1) American Made - Rogue HiTemp
2) Solid Multi-Purpose Plate - HG
3) Budget Plate - Echo
4) Comp/OLY Style - Competition & Training
5) High End OLY - Eleiko, Uesaka, Werksan etc

[gtl]

A thread was posted a couple weeks ago. I got the MDUSA Euro Econ Bumpers 25kg for $105 shipped to my door. That's less than $1/lb.. Shipped.

[Aha]

Do most people mix-and-match bumpers based on what is available when they buy, or do they usually get all the same brand? Sometimes they sell entire sets at a discount so it's not clear to me how to optimize cost here.

Are the Echo plates loud?

[hollismb]

There's nothing wrong with mixing and matching. Mine happen to be all the same brand. Usually, the more you buy, the cheaper the price per pound, but the best way to know for sure is to shop around and price out different combinations. There's nothing wrong with adding as needed either, even though it might cost you a little more over time. And sometimes, the bigger sets have plates that you might not want/need (like 35s).

The Echo plates will probably be the same loudness as any other solid rubber plate.

[boot29342342]

What do you plan to use them for, Olympic lifts or just to make your deadlifts less loud? That would determine how many you would need and what kind.