Atlas Barbell Vintage Weight Plates

Name: Atlas Barbell Vintage Weight Plates
Brand: Atlas Barbell
Rating: 5.0 (4 reviews)

Atlas Barbell’s vintage deep dish plates are Canadian-made cast iron plates from the 1970s, an evolution of the 1950s Gagnon set that preceded them. The design features flared walls, smooth rounded edges, and a tall “volcano” hub that makes them well suited to hub lifting as well as standard bar loading. Casting quality is a standout: reviewers and vintage-iron collectors consistently note crisp, well-balanced lettering and markings that stay legible even on the smallest change plates, and the set is one of the few vintage lines to include a 1.25 lb plate. Atlas plates were originally released in three colors – French blue, a sparkling teal, and black – and, decades later, are considered among the most collectible Canadian vintage iron, alongside deep dish Weider. The company is long defunct and the plates are no longer manufactured; every set in circulation today comes from the vintage-iron collector market rather than a retailer, and a pair of 45s commands roughly $900-1,000 there, more with excellent original paint.

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

Era	1970s; evolution of the 1950s Gagnon set
Design	Deep dish, flared walls, smooth rounded edges, tall "volcano" hub
Material	Cast iron
Availability	Discontinued -- available only via the vintage-iron collector/resale market, not a current retailer
Manufacturer	Atlas Barbell (Canada) -- defunct, no longer manufactured
Market price	~$900-1,000 per pair of 45s on the collector market (varies with original-paint condition); not a retail listing
Original colors	French blue, sparkling teal, black
Available weights	1.25 lb change plates up through 45 lb plates

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

	Atlas Barbell Vintage Weight Plates	Micro Gainz Multi-Color Olympic Size Fractional Weight Plates Set	4SPORT Olympic Fractional Plates	Olympic Bumper Plates
GymRadar rating	5.0/5	5.0/5	5.0/5	5.0/5
Price		$44.99	$31.94	$48.08
Era	1970s; evolution of the 1950s Gagnon set
Design	Deep dish, flared walls, smooth rounded edges, tall "volcano" hub
Material	Cast iron	Sintered metal	Alloy steel	Rubber shell over a steel core
Availability	Discontinued -- available only via the vintage-iron collector/resale market, not a current retailer
Manufacturer	Atlas Barbell (Canada) -- defunct, no longer manufactured	Micro Gainz	44Sports (brand: 44Sport / 4Sport)	Northern Lights Fitness Products
Market price	~$900-1,000 per pair of 45s on the collector market (varies with original-paint condition); not a retail listing
Original colors	French blue, sparkling teal, black
Available weights	1.25 lb change plates up through 45 lb plates			10 lb, 15 lb, 25 lb, 35 lb, 45 lb, 55 lb

5.0/5 · 4 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	5.0/5	4 reviews
Youtube	4.5/5	1 reviews	Atlas plates. These are more expensive than the last ones. These ones are 900 or $1,000 a pair or something like that. These are made in Canada. I think they were after uh some other brand. Gagnon...

These Canadian-made cast-iron deep dish plates from the 1970s — an evolution of the 1950s Gagnon set that preceded them — are a collector favorite, and it shows in the standout dimension: build quality. Reviewers and vintage-iron writers independently praise the “extremely high” casting quality, crisp lettering down to the smallest 1.25 lb change plate, and a tall “volcano” hub that makes hub lifting genuinely good. Half a century of survival with no reported durability complaints backs that up. The weakest dimension is value: a pair of 45s runs $900-1,000 on the collector market (more for original paint), and every source frames that price through a collectibility lens rather than a cost-per-pound lifting-equipment lens — this is a display piece and hub-lifting curiosity first, a budget plate set never.

+Build quality: "extremely high" casting quality with crisp letters and smooth contours around the hub and rim, labeled Atlas Barbell down to the smallest change plates (GymRadar user review)
+Functionality: tall "volcano" hub makes for genuinely good hub lifting, adding grip-training versatility beyond standard bar loading (GymRadar user reviews)
+Durability: cast iron from the 1970s still sought after and in daily gym use 50+ years later, with no reported cracking, warping, or wear complaints (GymRadar user reviews, Massenomics video)
+Versatility: one of the few vintage sets that includes 1.25 lb change plates, useful for fine-grained progression (product overview, GymRadar)
+Rarity/collectibility: independently rated "Extremely Collectable" — the top tier among Canadian vintage plates — by vintage-iron specialists (Vintage Weights PGH, Massenomics)

−Value: a pair of 45s runs $900-1,000 on the collector market, more with original paint — priced as a collectible, not as functional lifting iron (GymRadar user review, Massenomics video)
−Value: only sourced secondhand from collectors, not sold new — acquiring a set means competing with the vintage-iron collector market rather than buying retail (Massenomics video)
−Functionality: thin, enthusiast-only review sample (n=4, all self-described vintage-iron collectors) makes it hard to separate lifting performance from collector sentiment (GymRadar)
−Build quality: original paint condition varies widely and heavily affects both look and resale price — an unrestored or repainted pair loses collector value (GymRadar user review)