American Olympian Vintage Weight Plates

Name: American Olympian Vintage Weight Plates
Brand: American Olympian
Rating: 4.87 (5 reviews)

American Olympian was a USA-based weight plate manufacturer active in the 1980s; the brand is now defunct, and this tri-spoke deep-dish Olympic plate survives only as a vintage collectible rather than a product anyone currently sells new. It’s dense cast iron with a well-shaped hub for hub lifting and bold, raised lettering carried through even onto its change plates – the detail GymRadar’s five owner reviews single out most, praising the casting quality and classic look (4.87/5 average). The Iron Guide’s independent vintage-weights reference is more skeptical, placing “American Olympian Deepdish” plates in its lower-value classification tier. With no manufacturer left to stand behind them, these plates only change hands on the secondary/collector market.

Buying guide

Best Weight Plates for Your Home Gym — July 2026 Bumper Plates or Iron Plates? How to Pick Your First Set — July 2026 Do You Need Calibrated or Competition Plates? — July 2026 How Much Do Weight Plates Cost Per Pound? — July 2026 What Weight Set Should a Beginner Buy? — July 2026 Will Dropping Weights Damage Your Floor? — July 2026

Design	Tri-spoke deep-dish plate with a well-shaped hub for hub lifting
Material	Cast iron
Lettering	Bold, raised lettering, carried through onto the matching change plates
Availability	Discontinued -- secondary/collector market only, no live manufacturer or retailer listing
Manufacturer status	Defunct -- USA-based brand active in the 1980s; no current manufacturer or retail presence

What is a Weight Plate?

What weight plates are

Weight plates load your barbell — but “plate” covers two very different tools. Bumper plates are rubber discs around a steel hub, all the same ~450mm diameter, built to be dropped from overhead without damaging your floor or bar; they’re the default for Olympic lifting and CrossFit. Iron/steel plates are denser and thinner per pound, cheaper, and quieter to load, but most aren’t made to be dropped — better for slow, controlled powerlifting-style work.

What actually matters

Bumper vs. iron. Buy bumpers if the bar might hit the floor; iron (or rubber-coated iron) for controlled lifts and compact loading.
Weight tolerance. How far a plate strays from its stated weight (±1% is tight, ±3% loose). It barely matters for general training but adds up if you chase a specific total — which is why serious lifters add small change / fractional plates.
Collar fit & bounce. The center hole should fit your bar’s sleeve snugly; rubber durometer (around 88 Shore A) controls how “dead” a dropped plate lands.
Coating & set composition. Virgin rubber holds up and smells less than recycled crumb rubber; plan a starting set (usually a pair each of 45/25/10/5 lb plus change plates) around the lifts you actually do.

Who it’s for

Every barbell gym needs plates. Most home lifters should start with a bumper set, then add iron, change, or specialty plates as a second purchase once they know what their training is missing.

How it compares

	American Olympian Vintage Weight Plates	Dan Lurie Vintage Weight Plates	Pinnacle™ Bumper Plates	Weight Plates - Custom/DIY
GymRadar rating	4.87/5	4.87/5	4.89/5	4.89/5
Price			$69.99
Design	Tri-spoke deep-dish plate with a well-shaped hub for hub lifting
Material	Cast iron	Cast iron	Crumb rubber (recycled)
Lettering	Bold, raised lettering, carried through onto the matching change plates
Availability	Discontinued -- secondary/collector market only, no live manufacturer or retailer listing	Discontinued -- secondary/collector market only, no current manufacturer or retailer
Manufacturer status	Defunct -- USA-based brand active in the 1980s; no current manufacturer or retail presence

4.9/5 · 5 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert

4.87/5

5 reviews

American Olympian’s deep-dish tri-spoke plates are a defunct-brand 1980s collectible rather than a live product — GymRadar’s five owner reviews are glowing about the casting quality and classic lettering, praising the dense iron and clean hub for lifting, but The Iron Guide’s independent vintage-weights rating places them in its lower-value tier, and at least one owner flags accuracy as inconsistent. Build quality is the standout dimension, backed by owners’ praise for the casting and by the plates simply surviving forty-plus years in active use; versatility is the weakest, since these are a single collectible SKU with no companion line and no manufacturer left to support them. With no current retail listing, value has to be judged against the secondary/collector market, where a good pair of 45s reportedly runs a few hundred dollars.

+Build quality: dense, high-quality iron casting with clean, accurate lettering typical of 20th-century American manufacturing (GymRadar owner reviews)
+Functionality: deep, well-shaped hub lifts and stacks cleanly on a 2-inch Olympic sleeve (GymRadar owner review — Montana)
+Value: a pair of 45s in good shape typically runs a few hundred dollars on the collector market, cheap relative to commissioning new deep-dish iron (GymRadar owner review — The Dark Lord)
+Durability: plates cast in the 1980s are still in active use in home gyms today, evidence the iron has held up over four decades (GymRadar owner reviews)

−Functionality: at least one owner flags the plates as not ultra accurate against their stamped weight, a known risk with older cast iron (GymRadar owner review — The Dark Lord)
−Value: The Iron Guide's independent vintage-weights rating table places American Olympian Deepdish plates at an Iron Rating of 18, its lower-value classification range — a more skeptical read than the glowing owner reviews
−Versatility: a single collectible SKU with no companion bumpers, fractional plates, or product line to build a full set around
−Durability: no independent long-term testing exists, and the brand is defunct with no manufacturer left to stand behind the plates