Cast Iron Weight Plates

Name: Cast Iron Weight Plates
Brand: Signature Fitness
Rating: 3.72 (6 reviews)

Signature Fitness’s Cast Iron Weight Plates are a budget Olympic plate line sold through Walmart rather than the manufacturer’s own site: solid cast iron construction with a black baked-enamel finish, a 2-inch center hole that fits standard Olympic barbells and 2-inch dumbbell handles, and two wide grip cutouts for fast loading and unloading. Plates are dual marked in both pounds and kilograms and sold individually or in pairs from 2.5 lb up to 45 lb, at roughly $0.55 a pound – among the cheapest ways to add loadable Olympic weight to a home gym. The catch is size: at about 15 inches in diameter, they’re noticeably smaller than a standard 17.5-inch competition plate, which makes them a strong fit for loading machines, leg press stacks, and cable towers (where the shorter height doesn’t matter) but a poor standalone choice for deadlifting, where the reduced diameter effectively turns the lift into a deficit pull.

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

Finish	Black baked enamel coating
Material	Solid cast iron
Grip design	2 wide hand-grip cutouts
Plate diameter	~15 in (smaller than the ~17.5 in standard competition-plate diameter)
Weight options	2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, 45 lb (sold individually or as pairs)
Weight markings	Dual labeled in pounds (LB) and kilograms (KG)
Center hole diameter	2 in (fits standard Olympic barbells and 2 in dumbbell handles)

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

	Cast Iron Weight Plates	Ethos Bumper Plates	45 LB Pair Wagon Wheel Pulling Blocks	BalanceFrom Olympic Bumper Plate Weight Plate with Steel Hub, Black
GymRadar rating	3.72/5	3.73/5	3.7/5	3.67/5
Price	$49.99	$29.98	$319.97	$160.00
Finish	Black baked enamel coating		Powder-coated black
Material	Solid cast iron		Steel
Grip design	2 wide hand-grip cutouts
Plate diameter	~15 in (smaller than the ~17.5 in standard competition-plate diameter)
Weight options	2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, 45 lb (sold individually or as pairs)
Weight markings	Dual labeled in pounds (LB) and kilograms (KG)
Center hole diameter	2 in (fits standard Olympic barbells and 2 in dumbbell handles)

3.7/5 · 6 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	3.72/5	6 reviews
Youtube	3.8/5	2 reviews

Signature Fitness’s 2-Grip Olympic Cast Iron Weight Plates are a budget-friendly way to add loadable weight to machines, cable stacks, and dumbbell handles – the 2-inch center hole, dual LB/KG markings, and two wide grip cutouts make them easy to handle, and at roughly $0.55/lb they’re among the cheapest new Olympic plates available. Value is the standout dimension, both in GymRadar’s own review breakdown and in hands-on coverage of this exact Walmart listing; the compact ~15in diameter is also a plus for machine loading, where extra plate height only gets in the way. Build quality is the weakest link – GymRadar reviewers rate it the lowest of the three sub-scores, and coverage of a same-brand cast iron plate found inconsistent QC on some shipped batches (chipped, scraped finish) alongside decent overall finish and weight accuracy. Skip these if you’re loading a bar solo for deadlifts, where the shorter diameter turns into an unplanned deficit pull.

+Functionality: 2-inch Olympic hole fits standard barbells and 2in dumbbell handles, with dual LB/KG markings and two wide grip cutouts for fast loading (Walmart product listing)
+Value: about $0.55/lb at $49.99 for a 45lb pair delivered -- one of the cheapest ways to add machine or cable-stack weight (YouTube: Moregaragedateswithnatesplates)
+Versatility: compact ~15in diameter is well suited to loading leg press, cable, and other machine stacks where plate height doesn't matter (YouTube: Moregaragedateswithnatesplates)
+Build quality: same-brand cast iron plate coverage describes the black enamel finish as glossy-matte and grippy, comparable out of the box to pricier deep-dish plates (YouTube: Ry)

−Versatility: ~15in diameter is roughly 2-2.5in shorter than a standard 17.5in competition plate, so using them solo on a deadlift bar effectively adds a deficit pull (YouTube: Moregaragedateswithnatesplates)
−Build quality: GymRadar reviewers rate build quality the lowest of the three sub-scores (3.33/5) despite an above-average overall rating (GymRadar)
−Durability: the enamel finish chips with use like most cast iron plates, and QC on shipped batches can be inconsistent -- one reviewer's plates arrived scraped and chipped from packaging (YouTube: Ry, same-brand plate)
−Functionality: GymRadar's rating is based on just 6 reviews, so fit-and-finish consistency claims should be treated cautiously (GymRadar)

$49.99

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