Has anyone here bought products from this site? They have some nice looking metal plates in kilos that I’ve had my eye on, and I was wondering if anyone here could give me the lowdown, or perhaps recommend a Canadian site that sells decent kilo plates.
He sells the same stuff that www.bellsofsteel.com sells. They sell alot of re-sell stuff from Fitness avenue in Ontario. They ship it out west and mark up the prices. The plates look identical to some cheap china made ones I picked up at the local fitness store (lbs not kilos), they are only plates so they work but not all that durable. The coating on the outside of mine has started to chip. They are most likely cheap plates that have been painted to look nice. You should be able to find black plates for near $1 lbs even in kilos especially in Ontario which would be half the price of these coloured ones.
On the Canadian Powerlifting site, is the guy who sells the ER equipment, that I think you are referring to. He also sells Texas Power bars, etc.
This guy sells authentic ER Kilo plates, and is an authorized dealer.
So one yes and one no? Dammit, I hate it when I have to make up my own mind! Was talking to a rep from xtc fitness, and I can get kilo York plates for a bit cheaper from them, but the ER stuff seems to be calling me…
Driven Fitness sells Ivanko products, maybe they can get you the kg version of the Ivanko OM plate which is a very nice plate with tight dimensions. You could alway buy the Rogue kg comp bumpers also.
I will also say go with ER. The dealer is one of the CPU (Canadian Powerlifting Union - IPF Affiliate) Executive and he would not chance his reputation on poor merchandise. They are inexpensive for kg plates and are appropriate for Open competition use. However, they will not be as inexpensive as lb plates. For regular training I’d likely stick with lb plates.
Was looking at the Ivankos, but the price was making my sphincter twitch. I already have a set of bumper plates, but would like a few pairs of steel 20-25kg plates for rack pulls. I know that going with pounds is much cheaper, but my bumpers and change plates are all kilos, and I hate math.
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
I will also say go with ER. The dealer is one of the CPU (Canadian Powerlifting Union - IPF Affiliate) Executive and he would not chance his reputation on poor merchandise. They are inexpensive for kg plates and are appropriate for Open competition use. However, they will not be as inexpensive as lb plates. For regular training I’d likely stick with lb plates.
[/quote]
Mike Armstrong owns ER Canada and is a good guy and a strong voice for powerlifitng in Canada, and he isnt doing anything shady, but the plates still arent high quality, neither is some of the other stuff on his site. He is an authorized dealer in Canada for ER Racks which are made by ER Equipment. He also sells authentic Texas power bars obviously both of those are higher end equipment. Most of the other stuff is equipment from Fitness Avenue, which all comes from china. ER Equipment (the company from Denmark) doesnt make plates. I have the china kettlebell plates and they are identical to the plates on his site, and they are not high end. They are stamped ER Canada which is the name of Mikes company and not part of ER Equipment. If you want to know for sure call him or email him, Im sure he will tell you if they are Chinese made or which company actually manufactures them for him.
Are they better quality than the York kilo plates? I know most York products aren’t of the same caliber as they used to be.
[quote]BLUE wrote:
Are they better quality than the York kilo plates? I know most York products aren’t of the same caliber as they used to be.[/quote]
The China Kettlebell plates are not. In the end they are just weights… there heavy and you can lift them. But after a year of use they are getting quite chipped and the coating on the outside is flaking off in parts. My opinion, those plates dont appear to be worth the price and they are not any higher quality than any bargain priced plate you can find at any other store.
[quote]Re.po wrote:
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
I will also say go with ER. The dealer is one of the CPU (Canadian Powerlifting Union - IPF Affiliate) Executive and he would not chance his reputation on poor merchandise. They are inexpensive for kg plates and are appropriate for Open competition use. However, they will not be as inexpensive as lb plates. For regular training I’d likely stick with lb plates.
[/quote]
Mike Armstrong owns ER Canada and is a good guy and a strong voice for powerlifitng in Canada, and he isnt doing anything shady, but the plates still arent high quality, neither is some of the other stuff on his site. He is an authorized dealer in Canada for ER Racks which are made by ER Equipment. He also sells authentic Texas power bars obviously both of those are higher end equipment. Most of the other stuff is equipment from Fitness Avenue, which all comes from china. ER Equipment (the company from Denmark) doesnt make plates. I have the china kettlebell plates and they are identical to the plates on his site, and they are not high end. They are stamped ER Canada which is the name of Mikes company and not part of ER Equipment. If you want to know for sure call him or email him, Im sure he will tell you if they are Chinese made or which company actually manufactures them for him.[/quote]
I know Mike. I asked him specifically if these sets would be appropriate for use in open meets as I’m researching buying a set for our provincial association and his seem like a cost effective option. He said they are but perhaps I’ll follow up with some other questions. I understand the are not ER because ER doesn’t make plates. I’m basing my thinking more on my experience with him.
Cosmetic defects like chipped paint and so on don’t bother me. I do have a bit of OCD with regard to the accuracy of the claimed weight. A friend of mine has a set of York ‘calibrated’ plates in pounds, and all of the 45s weigh 43 or 46 lbs. So even if the plates sold by Er Canada aren’t fantastic and look like crap, if they weigh what they say they do, I’m all over it. On their site they do claim to be accurate, so maybe they are weighing the plates before shipment, as I’d really hope most reputable powerlifting/weightlifting equipment suppliers would.