Gold's Gym olympic plates

Name: Gold's Gym olympic plates
Brand: Gold's Gym
Rating: 3.58 (12 reviews)

Gold’s Gym Olympic plates are budget solid cast-iron plates sold mostly through Walmart, with a baked enamel finish and cutout handles for easy carrying and racking. They’re built for 2-inch Olympic bars and sold individually across a wide weight range (2.5 lb up to 50 lb, per retailer listings), plus as bundled sets with a 7’ Olympic bar.

No independent editorial outlet has reviewed this line – coverage here comes from GymRadar’s aggregate consumer rating, YouTube unboxing reviews, and r/homegym threads. All three converge on the same picture: a legitimately cheap way (historically around $1/lb) to get started with Olympic-sleeve iron, with a coating that holds up to normal use but an enamel paint job that often looks visibly sloppy out of the box, and at least one documented case of a plate running under its stated weight. As of this writing, the line also appears to be out of stock everywhere it was previously sold (Walmart, Amazon, Target) – treat it as a legacy/discontinued SKU rather than a current buy.

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	Baked enamel coating, yellow lettering on later runs
Material	Solid cast iron
Center hole	2-inch, for Olympic bars
Grip design	Cutout handles (kettlebell-style carry/racking)
Availability	Historically sold through Walmart, Amazon, and Target; not currently in stock at any of the three as of 2026-07
Weight options	2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 25, 35, 45, 50 lb, sold individually (per retailer listings); also bundled into 50/100/110/300 lb sets with a 7' Olympic bar

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

	Gold's Gym olympic plates	2″ Cast Iron Olympic Weight Plate	Troy VTX bumpers	Standard 1-Inch Cast Iron Weight Plates
GymRadar rating	3.58/5	3.58/5	3.56/5	3.56/5
Price		$64.35	$127.00	$19.99
Finish	Baked enamel coating, yellow lettering on later runs			Baked enamel coating (gray)
Material	Solid cast iron	Cast iron	Solid rubber shell with a steel insert	Solid cast iron, cast in steel molds
Center hole	2-inch, for Olympic bars			1-inch, machine-centered, for standard bars/dumbbell handles/trap bars
Grip design	Cutout handles (kettlebell-style carry/racking)
Availability	Historically sold through Walmart, Amazon, and Target; not currently in stock at any of the three as of 2026-07
Weight options	2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 25, 35, 45, 50 lb, sold individually (per retailer listings); also bundled into 50/100/110/300 lb sets with a 7' Olympic bar			1.25, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 25, 50 lb, sold individually

3.6/5 · 12 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	3.58/5	12 reviews
Youtube	3.6/5	3 reviews
Reddit	3.1/5	4 reviews

Gold’s Gym’s Olympic plates are budget cast iron sold mainly through Walmart – reviewers consistently call them a fair deal for a beginner building a first home gym, but nobody treats them as precision equipment. Value is the standout dimension: multiple sources put them around $1/lb historically, and the handle cutouts make them easy to carry and rack. Build quality is the weak spot – the baked enamel coating itself holds up to normal use, but reviewers repeatedly describe a visibly sloppy, streaky paint job, and at least one buyer found a pair of “45 lb” plates actually weighed 42-43 lb and returned them. If exact per-plate accuracy matters (competition prep, strict progressive-overload tracking), look elsewhere; for general strength training on a budget, they do the job.

+Value: widely cited around $1/lb historically, one of the cheaper ways into 2-inch Olympic iron (r/homegym)
+Versatility: handle cutouts double as kettlebell-style grips, easy to carry and load (YouTube: Review Your Options)
+Durability: enamel coating shows no chipping or wear after repeated on/off use, even against a ridged barbell sleeve (YouTube: Review Your Options)
+Functionality: fits standard 2-inch Olympic bars and doubles for off-bar use (weighted dips/pull-ups) (YouTube: Product and Movie Reviews)

−Build quality: enamel paint job frequently described as sloppy and streaky straight out of the box (YouTube: Review Your Options)
−Value: at least one buyer's 45 lb plates weighed only 42-43 lb and were returned -- calibration is not guaranteed (r/homegym)
−Functionality: ridged plate rims don't stack cleanly without a rack, sliding off each other on the floor (YouTube: Review Your Options)
−Durability: no long-term (multi-year) wear data in the sources gathered -- reviews only cover the first few uses