Bumper Plate Repair (and what are they made of?)

[Jaster]

The club I train at has a beautiful set of old style Eleiko bumpers that are very popular with lifters - far more so than the modern ones. Recently a crew of bodybuilders turned up and started using them for those douchebag barbell corner rows that such people are so infatuated with and the angled strain on the plates has caused them to fall apart. (They also bent an Eleiko Olympic bar in the process - we were not happy!!)

I want to do my best to save them as they're probably in the region of 30 years old and until the previously-mentioned events were in near-perfect condition. An example of the damage is shown below:



As you can see it's not pretty!

I managed to save some the rubber that came off, but quite a lot is missing (about 5 or 6 plates were damaged). My plan is to re-build the damaged areas with some sort of flexible impact-resistant epoxy resin and/or re-attach the missing rubber. I realize they won't be accurate but given their age that's to be expected and they're only used for training anyway.

I wondered if anyone here has attempted something similar to share and has any wisdom to impart? I'd also really like to know what they're made of so I can source the appropriate epoxy.

If I have any success I'll update this thread on the off-chance that it might be useful to someone else. Cheers!

[yas360]

Try using black silicon sealant? Cheap and certainly flexible enough

[Jaster]

Good idea -I'll look into that.

After some research I found this: http://remnantchemical.bigcartel.com...ve-1-oz-bottle
but I don't really feel like paying what will end up as the best part of $300 dollars just to get some into the UK!

[BigAlexG]

I hope you can fix 'em, I really do. However it does not look like they simply broke due to abuse. It looks as if the rubber is severely dry rotted. From the appearance, they probably would've cracked and fallen apart before too long even if used properly. T

he pieces that you saved, are they pliable in your hand? Do they bend and flex when you squeeze them or are they rigid and/or crumble when handled?

You may be able to piece them together, but I doubt that they'll be usable.

In the event you are able to get them back together and looking decent, I would recommend retiring them. I'd like to own them even if just for decoration and for a conversation piece.

[Jaster]

Thanks for the reply. You may be right about the dry rot in places, although the bits I saved seem to be of the bendy and flexy variety rather than crumbly, so fingers crossed!

I'm not expecting them to be like new, just to last a bit longer until I can persuade the powers that be to give us some money for new plates, after which I'd like to retire them. When the 'fitness center' next door needs four grand for another treadmill they get it immediately, but we're lucky to get a new set of clips...

[jm0509]

this is a dead thread but, did you ever fix them?if not can you give insight into what the eleiko insert looks like?

[JosephDubya]

OUUUUCH that looks painful... Good luck fixing them man, wish I had advice for ya