I bought another 120 lbs of used plates on Sunday. The guy even delivered them to my house at no extra charge. Nice! I That makes 915 lbs in Olympic plates and 110 Standard. Seems like a lot, but nearly all are attached to a bar and I’m trying to minimize plate swapping to make the most of my exercise time.
I’d still like another twelve 10-pounders for my dumbbells but I haven’t seen anything suitable. I hate fat grip plates! Love the old style slim-line though, like these plates on Amazon. You can pack a lot more on the handle. I might have to get some of the ones I’ve linked to here shipped via the States, because the selection around here is so poor.
Saturday was initially a bit of disappointment. I answered an ad for Olympic plates from a store called Mike’s Office Surplus and showed up at the store for opening. No sign of the owner. After waiting 20 minutes I called him. He explained he was running a bit late and was on his way. Fifteen minutes later he arrived and showed me the plates: two 45-pounders. Good shape, but he was asking 75 cents a pound (60 or less and I might have considered it). He said he had more plates at his storage lockup, so I followed him for another 5 minute drive to a nearby semi-trailer. We open the door: about a dozen more standard plates and two 5-pound olympic Weiders in poor shape. I grabbed them anyway, so the morning wouldn’t be for nothing.
Mike gave them to me for nothing, pretty much guaranteeing I’ll drop by his store in the future… but I’ll call first.
Thanks Mike!
The rest of the day was spent scrubbing and repainting my collection of rusted black, green and white plates to a hammered metallic silver. A lot of work, but a great result. My mismatched set of Yorks and Weiders look a lot more uniform now, and less in contrast to my dull grey Standards, Olympics and Olympias, and hammered-black CAP-branded plates.
Yeah, I’m aware there are lifters that would roll their eyes at my motley collection of cheap Chinese plates. I could care less. Who has the time and the money to buy new, matched equipment or weigh each plate separately. My barbells balance, loaded or unloaded. My body is looking great. Isn’t that what really matters?
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