My new York plates

[pumping4life]

I recently purchased the rubber-encased York Iso-Grip plates to replace my old steel plates. Some of you may recall the thread I had started asking for opinions comparing these to the rubber-encased Hampton grip plates and the Cemco revolvers. The near $400 savings I got by ordering these made it an easy decision. I wanted to give a review since I really haven't seen anyone here talk about them. I expanded on it a bit after reading Keetman's review of his York plates as we had some different experiences and thought this would be worthwhile for comparison purposes.

Ordering

I went through Allison Foreman, the York Barbell rep. who has been discussed here in other threads. I had compared the ISO-grips against the Rubber-coated Hampton grip plates and Cemcos. She was able to save me around $400 compared to any other product or vendor. That made me happy! I had no problems reaching her by email or phone. I placed the order on a Friday, and they shipped the following Monday. I was contacted Tuesday to set up a delivery time and took receipt of my new plates on Thursday. The transaction went smoothly and was problem-free.

The Shipment

The plates came by UPS freight. The driver came within 15 minutes of the agreed upon time. The plates were on a palate, in individual boxes (except the 10's, 5's and 2.5's which came packaged as 2 or 4 per box) and plastic wrap around the whole bundle. It was quite a tidy package. Unfortunately, there was no lift on the truck, so we had to unload the boxes and place them in the driveway. Each plate was in a plastic bag inside of a box that was held shut by plastic bands. That kind of packaging really made the expense of these weights seem that much more worthwhile.

The Plates

They are very nice. The grips are huge. I have pretty big hands and I can comfortably get three fingers inserted into the 2.5 pounders. I can reasonably squeeze all 4 fingers in if I'm so inclined. Where you grip the plates is mostly squared off and would be more comfortable had they rounded them off more. Having said that, the flat part where your fingers rest is so wide that they aren't exactly uncomfortable, just not completely comfortable. Some here have stated they would prefer grips directly across from each other. These grips are so wide you can pretty much accomplish that kind of hand placement.

Each plate has a steel hub which is very nice. It helps to prevent you from chewing up the rubber as you put them on bars. Another nice design feature is the tapering towards the perimeter of each plate. This makes it very easy to pick them up off the floor and nearly makes it impossible to pinch your fingers. The drawback is it make the thickness of these bad boys ridiculous. To give some measurements, the hub thickness on the 45 is 2 5/8", the 35 is 2 1/4", the 25 is 2 5/16", the 10 is 1 3/4", the 5 is 1 11/16", and the 2.5 is 1 7/16".

The plates fit tighter on the bar than my Caps/Standards, but it has been so long since I've handled an Ivanko (seems to be the standard for tightly machined plates around here) that I can't compare to those.

These plates stink big time. They don't just smell of rubber, they smell of burning rubber. Fortunately, I've had them for nearly 3 weeks and the smell is dissipating.

Final Judgement

I like these plates. They are well made with some very nice features. The price point is excellent compared to competitors and the buying process was smooth. I'd buy them again in a minute. In fact, I'm already considering purchasing a few more.

Pros

Well-made. Large grips. Smooth, but grippy rubber. Easy to handle even when picking up off of a flat surface. Reasonably priced for rubber-coated.

Neutral

Plates stink, which is a negative now, but it won't last.

Negative

These plates are THICK, definitely not a strong choice for the powerlifters-you'll never be able to get enough plates on a bar.

If you have any questions, throw them out there.

[hellzlegend]

Nice plates. Those are really thick and take so much room.

[TKDC1970]

How much per pound did you pay for those plates? Ironically I was in York, PA this past weekend and actually visited the York Barbell Outlet Store and Museum. The museum was small but interesting (at least to me). No, I didn't purchase anything with the exception of a bunch of t-shirts (my vehicle was filled up with some other things) The prices for weights as well as equipment was pretty reasonable ($.90 per pound for most of the metal standard & Olympic plates) although you'd still probably get a better deal through Allison Foreman. They also had a clearance corner where they had some t-shirts clearance priced ($8 each) as well as some equipment (which I didn't ask about as I might have been tempted to fit into an already cramped vehicle). BTW-they look like good plates. Thank you in advance for the info.

I recently purchased the rubber-encased York Iso-Grip plates to replace my old steel plates. Some of you may recall the thread I had started asking for opinions comparing these to the rubber-encased Hampton grip plates and the Cemco revolvers. The near $400 savings I got by ordering these made it an easy decision. I wanted to give a review since I really haven't seen anyone here talk about them. I expanded on it a bit after reading Keetman's review of his York plates as we had some different experiences and thought this would be worthwhile for comparison purposes.

Ordering

I went through Allison Foreman, the York Barbell rep. who has been discussed here in other threads. I had compared the ISO-grips against the Rubber-coated Hampton grip plates and Cemcos. She was able to save me around $400 compared to any other product or vendor. That made me happy! I had no problems reaching her by email or phone. I placed the order on a Friday, and they shipped the following Monday. I was contacted Tuesday to set up a delivery time and took receipt of my new plates on Thursday. The transaction went smoothly and was problem-free.


If you have any questions, throw them out there.

[Keetman]

Those look good my friend. I'm glad your experience was a bit better than mine, although I'm pretty happy all in all now that the delivery debacle is a distant memory!

What was your price per pound, how many pounds did you get, and what was the shipping.....you left out the juicy details!! If you don't want to elaborate on your pricing, I understand.

I like your finish, obviously, better than mine...but those hubs would be a deal breaker for me I think. If that pic is interpreted correctly, you have 5 plates on each side.....for about 495 lbs, with no room left. I'm nowhere near that on anything, but it would be conceivable and reasonable to be able to load more than that. I forget the measurements of my 45' at the moment, but I think its around 1.5" or so....that is a BIG difference in size.

I'm really glad you had a better shipping experience. I still have nightmares about them dropping 2000lbs of steel on my green concrete...they didn't, but it was close enough I can envision it .

Congratulations.

[pumping4life]

Those look good my friend. I'm glad your experience was a bit better than mine, although I'm pretty happy all in all now that the delivery debacle is a distant memory!

What was your price per pound, how many pounds did you get, and what was the shipping.....you left out the juicy details!! If you don't want to elaborate on your pricing, I understand.

I like your finish, obviously, better than mine...but those hubs would be a deal breaker for me I think. If that pic is interpreted correctly, you have 5 plates on each side.....for about 495 lbs, with no room left. I'm nowhere near that on anything, but it would be conceivable and reasonable to be able to load more than that. I forget the measurements of my 45' at the moment, but I think its around 1.5" or so....that is a BIG difference in size.

I'm really glad you had a better shipping experience. I still have nightmares about them dropping 2000lbs of steel on my green concrete...they didn't, but it was close enough I can envision it .

Congratulations.

I paid about $1.22/lb for 1000#. Shipping was $164. The quote I got from Allison showed I saved $522 over retail.

I'm curious, why would the steel hubs be a deal breaker for you?

If I ever need to put more than 495# on a bar, I'll guess supplementing the gym with thinner plates will become a necessity, and a welcome one at that.

[animalfan]

those plates are beautiful. congrats!

[Keetman]

I paid about $1.22/lb for 1000#. Shipping was $164. The quote I got from Allison showed I saved $522 over retail.

I'm curious, why would the steel hubs be a deal breaker for you?

If I ever need to put more than 495# on a bar, I'll guess supplementing the gym with thinner plates will become a necessity, and a welcome one at that.

Sorry, didn't word it correctly. I like the steel "hub", its the thickness of the plates overall I don't care for, just the thickness. Not trying to sound too critical either, the plates look good and all, they just wouldn't be for me. I'd pretty much thought the same of them before you got them, and I had no idea they were that thick.

As far as the weight is concerned, I have no idea if I'll ever need more than 495lbs myself. I hope to at least deadlift over 500 someday, but that's a day or two away. I guess its just the idea of the thing and since my goal was to have the plates all match........bringing in other plates would make me feel dirty .

One more perk of having a home gym.......you get to choose the plates that are right for you!

[Gzs7]

They look good. I saw the 100 pound plates on ebay: considering the thickness of them these might be too much.


http://cgi.ebay.com/York-Barbell-New...item2a02d32dcb

[pumping4life]

They look good. I saw the 100 pound plates on ebay: considering the thickness of them these might be too much.


http://cgi.ebay.com/York-Barbell-New...item2a02d32dcb

Yeah, I'd love to know the thickness on those.

I must admit, the thickness of them is getting me to be a bit more creative with my plate loading. This is the first time I can remember using 35# plates on a curl bar.

[Wildtim]

I'd bet the Hundo's aren't any thicker than the 45's, or at least less than twice as thick.

[HardKore79]

Nice bumper plates bro!

[pumping4life]

Nice bumper plates bro!

Thanks, but they aren't bumpers. They are rubber-coated steel plates.

[HardKore79]

Thanks, but they aren't bumpers. They are rubber-coated steel plates.

I know they're not bumpers, but with that thickness they might as well be called that...

[jdmalm123]

Oh, I saw "NY PLATES" and rushed in! My bad...

<----------------------

[BRUTUSPLAC]

those plates are beautiful. congrats!

i second that !!!

[pumping4life]

I know they're not bumpers, but with that thickness they might as well be called that...

I'll give you that one. They are fat like bumpers. If I could get my kid to fit in the grips they could be rubber baby buggie bumpers......

Oh, I saw "NY PLATES" and rushed in! My bad...

<----------------------

I like the plate in your avatar

i second that !!!

Thanks. Maybe I should call them "phat"......2 birds, one stone.

[Replika]

The very fact that you included the actual Hub Widths was fantastic! I've been looking around trying to find the actual hub width of the 100 pound "Steel" ISO Grip Plates, and I just can't find it anywhere. Then, I remembered that I'm taking college algebra, and I ran a stat plot of the known values that you posted, and extrapolated a d@mn close estimate of what they should be in width. They are around 4.0165 inches thick.

The reason that I state this is that I can't find a (personal opinion) sexier plate out there. Oh sure, the Iv. Revolvers say "click click bang", but I just can't stop lusting after the York ISO's.

I know this is an old thread, but it is the most relevent posting on the entire web for these plates. Once again, good review, and I hope this helps anyone who wants the hundos figure out if they will pull the trigger on em or not.

- Replika

I recently purchased the rubber-encased York Iso-Grip plates to replace my old steel plates. Some of you may recall the thread I had started asking for opinions comparing these to the rubber-encased Hampton grip plates and the Cemco revolvers. The near $400 savings I got by ordering these made it an easy decision. I wanted to give a review since I really haven't seen anyone here talk about them. I expanded on it a bit after reading Keetman's review of his York plates as we had some different experiences and thought this would be worthwhile for comparison purposes.

Ordering

I went through Allison Foreman, the York Barbell rep. who has been discussed here in other threads. I had compared the ISO-grips against the Rubber-coated Hampton grip plates and Cemcos. She was able to save me around $400 compared to any other product or vendor. That made me happy! I had no problems reaching her by email or phone. I placed the order on a Friday, and they shipped the following Monday. I was contacted Tuesday to set up a delivery time and took receipt of my new plates on Thursday. The transaction went smoothly and was problem-free.

The Shipment

The plates came by UPS freight. The driver came within 15 minutes of the agreed upon time. The plates were on a palate, in individual boxes (except the 10's, 5's and 2.5's which came packaged as 2 or 4 per box) and plastic wrap around the whole bundle. It was quite a tidy package. Unfortunately, there was no lift on the truck, so we had to unload the boxes and place them in the driveway. Each plate was in a plastic bag inside of a box that was held shut by plastic bands. That kind of packaging really made the expense of these weights seem that much more worthwhile.

The Plates

They are very nice. The grips are huge. I have pretty big hands and I can comfortably get three fingers inserted into the 2.5 pounders. I can reasonably squeeze all 4 fingers in if I'm so inclined. Where you grip the plates is mostly squared off and would be more comfortable had they rounded them off more. Having said that, the flat part where your fingers rest is so wide that they aren't exactly uncomfortable, just not completely comfortable. Some here have stated they would prefer grips directly across from each other. These grips are so wide you can pretty much accomplish that kind of hand placement.

Each plate has a steel hub which is very nice. It helps to prevent you from chewing up the rubber as you put them on bars. Another nice design feature is the tapering towards the perimeter of each plate. This makes it very easy to pick them up off the floor and nearly makes it impossible to pinch your fingers. The drawback is it make the thickness of these bad boys ridiculous. To give some measurements, the hub thickness on the 45 is 2 5/8", the 35 is 2 1/4", the 25 is 2 5/16", the 10 is 1 3/4", the 5 is 1 11/16", and the 2.5 is 1 7/16".

The plates fit tighter on the bar than my Caps/Standards, but it has been so long since I've handled an Ivanko (seems to be the standard for tightly machined plates around here) that I can't compare to those.

These plates stink big time. They don't just smell of rubber, they smell of burning rubber. Fortunately, I've had them for nearly 3 weeks and the smell is dissipating.

Final Judgement

I like these plates. They are well made with some very nice features. The price point is excellent compared to competitors and the buying process was smooth. I'd buy them again in a minute. In fact, I'm already considering purchasing a few more.

Pros

Well-made. Large grips. Smooth, but grippy rubber. Easy to handle even when picking up off of a flat surface. Reasonably priced for rubber-coated.

Neutral

Plates stink, which is a negative now, but it won't last.

Negative

These plates are THICK, definitely not a strong choice for the powerlifters-you'll never be able to get enough plates on a bar.

If you have any questions, throw them out there.

[pumping4life]

The very fact that you included the actual Hub Widths was fantastic! I've been looking around trying to find the actual hub width of the 100 pound "Steel" ISO Grip Plates, and I just can't find it anywhere. Then, I remembered that I'm taking college algebra, and I ran a stat plot of the known values that you posted, and extrapolated a d@mn close estimate of what they should be in width. They are around 4.0165 inches thick.

The reason that I state this is that I can't find a (personal opinion) sexier plate out there. Oh sure, the Iv. Revolvers say "click click bang", but I just can't stop lusting after the York ISO's.

I know this is an old thread, but it is the most relevent posting on the entire web for these plates. Once again, good review, and I hope this helps anyone who wants the hundos figure out if they will pull the trigger on em or not.

- Replika

Now that's an intelligent post. You put some work into that one.

I am in need of some 100's also, but didn't even consider these because I knew they would just be too thick.

Unfortunately, these never come up for sale on Craigslist around here. I did find a store that could sell the Hampton grip plates for $1.10/lb, so I ordered those.

[Skidmarx]

New York City plates? They must be louder and more obnoxious than regular plates.

[Replika]

I just took a look at those Hampton's. They are also quite sexy. Congrats on the find, and I hope the order goes as smooth as your last one.

Now that's an intelligent post. You put some work into that one.

I am in need of some 100's also, but didn't even consider these because I knew they would just be too thick.

Unfortunately, these never come up for sale on Craigslist around here. I did find a store that could sell the Hampton grip plates for $1.10/lb, so I ordered those.

[Machinex]

Now that's an intelligent post. You put some work into that one.

I am in need of some 100's also, but didn't even consider these because I knew they would just be too thick.

Unfortunately, these never come up for sale on Craigslist around here. I did find a store that could sell the Hampton grip plates for $1.10/lb, so I ordered those.

Hi, After reading your post about these weight plates I ordered 2 45lb plates to test for myself to see If I like em and I wish I could say I do Im still getting my finger joints smashed pretty bad no matter how i grip them, Im wondering have you by change tried or had any experience with the Hampton hog grip weight plates? Im kind of wondering If there anti pinch design Is better then york or the same. All In all Its great you like them I sure wish I could say the same but Im still getting pinched about everytime i put them on.

[pumping4life]

I'm surprised you're getting pinched. Do you have really big fingers?

I doubt the Hamptons would be any better. They don't appear to have much more of a gap between the perimeter and hub.

[Machinex]

I'm surprised you're getting pinched. Do you have really big fingers?

I doubt the Hamptons would be any better. They don't appear to have much more of a gap between the perimeter and hub.

Yeah my fingers are kind of thick, It always gets me about no matter what i do. I paid over 2oo dollars shipping and all for these on ebay and man did I get burned. I love them compared to regular grip and standard plates but there anti pinch design Is no where good enough with me. Maybe gloves might help but im not sure. Do you know of any other plates that might have a better anti pinch design then these 2 brands?

[MrHolman]

good review, nice plates, i finally got some grip plates, just steel cap ones and i really like them, eventually i want to get some of the iron grips like ballys has, i think they are urethane or rubber, dont know how to tell

patiently waiting for something to pop up on craigslist

[HardKore79]

How about keeping the damn fingers out of the way when you push the plates in?! Jeez, you're disturbing other threads with your inability to load the plates up on the bar correctly.

Cliff notes:
Keep fingers out of the way.

[Jimbo.]

I'm glad this got bumped because it was nice to see these plates and read about them . . . but you gotta be kidding me bro, pinching your fingers? Come onnnnnn

[Machinex]

How about keeping the damn fingers out of the way when you push the plates in?! Jeez, you're disturbing other threads with your inability to load the plates up on the bar correctly.

Cliff notes:
Keep fingers out of the way.

Hey genious guess what READ the line above you I got THICK fingers and don't you think I don't try to keep my fingers out of the way? Geez I wonder how long It took you to think of that one. No Its not me disturbing other threads Its your own stupid remarks you make that Is disturbing other threads, If you don't like what I say then guess what I don't care go cover your eyes. I can load a bar just fine If I got the right kind of plates sooo go and ponder on that one for a while.

Cliff notes:
Get a new brain for you sure need one.

[Machinex]

I'm glad this got bumped because it was nice to see these plates and read about them . . . but you gotta be kidding me bro, pinching your fingers? Come onnnnnn

Kidding? wish I was kidding but Im not these weight plates are alot better then regular plates but I still keep getting them caught when Im sliding them up to another one. I ordered 2 45's like these off of ebay and there good but if you keep getting them smashed then there anti pinch feature has done been defeated and so It has with me. All in all If you got average size fingers then yeah but thick one's like me there still going to get caught, It took me 3 or 4 mintues to load one of these trying to figure out how to slide it against another one just like It and they still pinched me.

[HardKore79]

I can load a bar just fine If I got the right kind of plates sooo go and ponder on that one for a while.
.

Apparently NOT or we wouldn't hear your whining. And this has nothing to do with thick fingers. It's about your motor neurons lacking effectiveness to convey information to your muscles. Even my 11 year old nephew knows how to load a plate on a bar. It's not how thick your fingers are, because the space between the plate that you're loading and the plate that is already on the bar is solely depended on YOU!

I also haven't ever heard of this problem you have on the forum where the biggest guys hang out in and that's the Strongman/Powerlifting forum. So, really size isn't the problem here.

[Machinex]

Apparently NOT or we wouldn't hear your whining. And this has nothing to do with thick fingers. It's about your motor neurons lacking effectiveness to convey information to your muscles. Even my 11 year old nephew knows how to load a plate on a bar. It's not how thick your fingers are, because the space between the plate that you're loading and the plate that is already on the bar is solely depended on YOU!

I also haven't ever heard of this problem you have on the forum where the biggest guys hang out in and that's the Strongman/Powerlifting forum. So, really size isn't the problem here.

HAHAHA now go figure out the solution grass hoper nice waist of energy typing that out but your causing your own problems. And thats not my problem but rather YOURS.