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We upgraded from our old loadable dumbbells to fixed weight urethane dumbbells from REP Fitness. The urethane has no odor and the fixed weights make working out easier and more fun.
These have urethane covered steel heads that are welded onto a straight 6” bar. From 5-50 lbs the bar diameter is 32mm, from 55-150 lbs the bars are 34mm.
For reference, I have L/XL hands, my wife has small hands, and we’re both good with the bar size.
I also like that the round heads rest more comfortably on my thighs than my loadable dumbbells.
I weighed these and all the pairs are perfectly matched, except the fives; one’s 5lbs on the nose and the other is 1/10th of an oz under. Both tens are 1oz. under and the rest are .2 lbs under so, for example, both 20s weigh 19.8 lbs, both 50s are 49.8 lbs, etc.
Knurling
There are three types of knurling: passive/hill, medium/volcano and mountain/aggressive. REP informed us they use medium on their urethane dumbbells.
In the pic below you can see the knurling is passive at the edge and then gets more aggressive as you move right toward the center and then, out of frame, it goes back down to passive. All the bells in the first 5-50 set we ordered came this way.
When I noticed one of the 40 lb bells had voids under the urethane REP quickly sent out a replacement. But the medium knurling of the replacement 40 did not match the aggressive knurling of the return 40. (See gallery below)
REP told us the difference in knurling between the return and replacement 40s was within their tolerance so any return would incur shipping charges, along with a 15% restocking fee if any of the original packaging was missing.
Hoping to get the medium knurling of the replacement 40, I ordered another 5-50 set. This time it was a mixed bag of medium and aggressive knurling.
What’s Up With That?
I’ve seen two Rogue urethane dumbbell reviews complaining about inconsistent knurling, I’ve spoken with a guy who says his 5-50 set of American Barbell urethanes have inconsistent knurling and I’ve personally verified that Warrior’s 12 sided, and round, urethanes are inconsistent. So it appears to be common issue.
Rep Fitness Urethane Coated Dumbbells 5-50 lb set with Rack
Bottom Line
We kept the first set because, even thought it doesn’t have the advertised medium knurling, at least it has consistently aggressive knurling. No odor, no clanking noise and no need to necessarily wear gloves even with the more aggressive knurling.
If you get these just be prepared to pay the return shipping if you’re not satisfied with the knurling. We are in Northern California and it was $260 to ship the second set back to Southern Ca. Also, use the original packaging to avoid the 15% restocking fee. Hope this helps.
Check out the video review here: