Rogue Dumbbells vs. REP Dumbbells

When it comes to a pair of dumbbells, two solid options to consider are the hex dumbbells from Rogue and REP Fitness — but which one is the best? Many fitness lovers enjoy the versatility of dumbbells, and have made them a priority when building out their home gyms. While there are tons of options to choose from, we believe these are two of the best options that you could add to your workout space due to their durability, rubber coat, and reliable hex shape.

The hex dumbbells from Rogue and REP Fitness are nearly identical at first glance, but as you begin to really put them under a microscope, you’ll see that both of these companies took a different approach during the manufacturing process. The hexagonal heads on both of these dumbbells are great for push-up variations, and won’t roll all across the room when they’re dropped, plus the rubber coating on the heads can help decrease the chances of damaging your floors.

Both companies used steel for the handles and offer a medium grade knurling that isn’t too abrasive on your hands. So how are they different? The biggest differences are the shape of the handles, the amount of knurling, the type of rubber used — and you may be surprised to find out that REP Fitness actually charges more for their individual pairs of dumbbells. But let’s take a closer look at both of these bells.

Rogue Dumbbell Highlights

The beauty of dumbbells is how versatile they truly are in the gym, and these Rogue Hex Dumbbells are no exception. They can handle your back and bicep moves, chest and tricep exercises, shoulder workouts, and even support your leg day routine. The rubber coating can help decrease any damage to your floors, and protect the dumbbells in the process. Like the majority of rubber coated dumbbells, you may want to let these bells air out a bit before you use them, because they do have a bit of an odor.

These hex dumbbells range from 2.5 to 125 pounds, meaning there is an option for virtually everyone. You can choose to purchase a full set ranging from five to 50 pounds, 55 to 100 pounds, or 105 to 125 pounds. Or, you can purchase individual pairs and create your own full set over time. The ergonomic handles are chrome plated, with a knurling that isn’t too abrasive on your hands. You’ll notice that the knurling is isolated to the middle of the handle, some people may not like that, but we were able to get a good grip during our time with these dumbbells. Because these are of such good quality, we believe the price tag may be worth your while.

Main Takeaways

• The ergonomic handle provides a good grip for your lifts, and the chrome plating can help fight off corrosion.
• Since the heads are in a hexagonal shape, they won’t roll away from you when dropped, and the heavy-duty rubber will decrease your chances of damaging your floors.
• Because dumbbells are often used for high rep exercises, the medium grade knurling here is ideal as it shouldn’t tear up your hands. 

REP Fitness Dumbbell Highlights

Similar to Rogue, the REP Fitness Hex Dumbbells are built to handle anything you throw at them in the gym. The heads are also coated in rubber, with a handle that is chrome plated. These bells are available in sets or individual pairs with weight options ranging from 2.5 to 125 pounds. 

Unlike Rogue’s hex dumbbells, REP Fitness has a fully knurled handle that features a uniform diameter all the way across. This is going to provide optimal grip, no matter where you place your hands during your lift. Plus, the knurling is also on the medium side, so you won’t feel like you’re gripping onto a cheese grater while working out. The rubber used on the heads is a low-odor rubber, making these bells ready to go upon unboxing — REP Fitness designed these so they don’t need to be aired out before use.

Main Takeaways

• The fully knurled handle provides a solid grip regardless of where you place your hand.
• The low-odor rubber coating means these bells don’t need to be aired out after unboxing, and can also protect your floors from damage.
• The hexagonal shaped heads allows for use in the push-up and plank position, and ensures they won’t roll away from you when dropped. 

What are the big differences between the Rogue Dumbbells and the REP Fitness Dumbbells?

While both companies offer a product that looks nearly identical, there are a few notable differences. From some of the features to pricing, each of these dumbbells have traits that are unique to their brand.

Ergonomic Handle vs. Straight Handle 

These two dumbbells have a different overall feel to the handle, which really stands out as soon as you get these in your hands. While both are chrome plated and feature medium knurling, the grip is quite different.

The handle on the Rogue Hex Dumbbells is ergonomically designed — this means it’s thicker in the middle than at the ends of the handle. While that extra thickness may be helpful during your lifts, you may also need to be more precise in your grip before you begin. The knurling is also only found in the middle, which may not be ideal for all athletes (though we didn’t have much of a problem while we were working with them).

REP Fitness designed their dumbbells with a fully knurled handle that is the same diameter all the way across. Because the diameter is uniform, you will find yourself able to get the same grip no matter where your hands are placed. The REP dumbbells provided a good grip all the way across and felt a little better in our hands. With these bells, you can easily grab-and-go since the diameter is the same from end to end.

There’s a Price Difference

The nice thing that both of these companies offer is the ability to purchase their dumbbells in individual pairs, or as a full set. REP’s dumbbells are the more expensive of the two when you purchase them in individual pairs.

The 2.5’s from REP are around $30, while Rogue charges around $20, the 25-pound pair from REP is roughly $130, while Rogue charges about $90 for theirs. But when it comes to a full set, you will actually wind up spending more money with Rogue if you want your dumbbells to range from five to 100 pounds. 

Rogue Dumbbells

In terms of a full set, you have three options to choose from, the five to 50 pound set, the 55 to 100 pound set, and the 105 to 125 pound set. As you may assume, the five to 50 pound set is the cheapest of the three, and will cost you around $1,000. The 55 to 100 pound set is going to run you right around $2,900, and the 105 to 125 pound set is about $2,200.

While these aren’t the most expensive hex dumbbells on the market, and they’re definitely cheaper than a set of urethane dumbbells — they still aren’t cheap. If you wanted your bells to range from five to 100 pounds, you’re going to wind up spending more money than you would with REP Fitness since you’ll have to purchase two sets for almost $4,000.

REP Fitness Dumbbells

It was a bit surprising to us that REP charges more for their individual pairs of dumbbells, but they do offer a less expensive full set than Rogue. Like Rogue, you have the choice of a set ranging from five to 50 pounds, but you don’t have a 105 to 125 pound set available — meaning you’ll need to purchase those bells individually. The cool thing though is that you can buy a set ranging from five to 100 pounds, something Rogue doesn’t offer in one set. 

The five to 50 pound set from REP will cost you around $1,100, the 55 to 75 pound set is about $2,200, and the 80 to 100 pound set will cost you about $1,250. Now about that five to 100 pound set — with REP Fitness that is going to cost you about $3,600, which is less than the combined cost of the five to 50 and the 55 to 100 pound sets from Rogue. And since neither one of these companies include a storage rack for your dumbbells, REP is definitely the way to go if you want that full five to 100 pound set as that extra $300 or so can go directly towards a storage rack. 

Rubber Coated Heads

While not all hex dumbbells feature a rubber coating, both of these do which makes them ideal for at-home usage. Rogue used a heavy-duty rubber on the heads, which felt a little harder than the rubber from REP. They also had a bit of a smell fresh out of the box, while REP’s dumbbells had basically no odor. This is by design — REP uses a low-odor rubber, so you can get straight to work with your new bells without having to wait for them to air out. 

Center Knurling vs. Fully Knurled 

While both of these dumbbells feature medium knurling, which is ideal for high rep exercises you often do with dumbbells in hand — there was a bit of a different feel between the two. Since you get a fully knurled handle with REP Fitness, you may find that you get a better overall grip since you can get the same grip on the ends of the handle, as you can in the middle. 

With Rogue though, we felt that the grade of the knurling was a little bit more abrasive, which may give some users a better grip in the middle of the handle. But without the knurling on the ends of the handle, we felt the overall grip was better with the REP dumbbells. However, it really does boil down to personal preference, your fitness goals, and how they feel in your hands for the exercises you’re doing.

Head to Handle Construction

REP Fitness uses friction welding to secure the heads on their dumbbells. This essentially means that the heads are spun at a fast rate and compressed until they fuse into one piece. With Rogue, they describe their process as “proprietary head to handle construction.” We reached out to their support team to find out exactly what that means, but were not given a solid answer. While the REP Fitness process seems fancy, it’s worth noting that Rogue still makes some of the highest quality equipment available, and their dumbbells feel just as durable.

Numbering

This may not be a huge factor for someone in their buying process, but it’s worth mentioning that the numbers displayed on the heads of the dumbbells do vary a little. While you can still easily see the numbers on the REP Fitness dumbbells, the numbers displayed with Rogue do pop out a little more — this is solely because they’re raised up from the surface more than REP’s.

Which brand is the better option?

Both of these dumbbells are good options for weightlifters of all levels, so the answer of which is “better” really depends on personal preference. In terms of individual pairs, you will spend more money with REP Fitness. But, you could also wind up saving a little bit of money if you were to purchase REP’s full five to 100 pound set. This is because Rouge doesn’t offer this large set, and therefore, you must purchase their five to 50, and 55 to 100 pound set separately. 

The handles on both of these dumbbells are also quite different. Rogue features a classic ergonomic handle, while REP has a handle that is uniform in terms of diameter. REP’s handle is also fully knurled, while Rogue only offers knurling in the middle. You can still get a good grip from both of these bells — you’ll just want to decide which feel is best for your workout style. 

The beauty here is that both of these dumbbells offer enough versatility for you to perform a wide range of workouts. Whether you’re getting a pump in on arm day, working your back or chest, or maybe just focusing on your legs and shoulders — you can easily do all of that with these bells.

The hexagonal shape makes them ideal for super setting your workout with some push-ups — plus they won’t roll away from you when you drop them. In the end, you have to do what is best for your financial situation and the workouts you’ll be doing, which is going to help you determine the “better” option to suit both your fitness goals and your bank account. 

Does the design of the handle on these dumbbells matter?

To some people, the handle design is going to be a game changer, and may even be the deciding factor. At the end of the day, the design of a handle alone isn’t going to allow you to add on more muscle compared to another. It really just comes down to whether you prefer a handle that is thicker in the middle, or of uniform thickness. Some people may not like that you have to be a bit more precise with your hand placement on the Rogue dumbbells (because of the wider middle), and in turn, may prefer that you can easily grab the REP dumbbells and get right to it.

Since both of these dumbbells offer a medium grip knurling on the handles, they’re both ideal for the type of high-rep exercises that are typically performed with dumbbells. However, in our time with both of these products, we felt as if the knurling on the Rogue dumbbells was a bit more abrasive than the REP bells.

This doesn’t guarantee a better grip though, mainly because REP’s handle is fully knurled, while Rogue’s knurling is just located in the middle of the handle (you’ll find one big knurl directly in the center, and a thin band of knurling that lines up with the top and bottom of your hands). This is another one of those personal preferences that may sway you in one way or the other. Our opinion? We liked the grip from REP’s fully knurled handles best.

Final Word

Both of these companies offer some of the best home gym equipment on the market. Before you commit to either of these choices, you need to weigh the pros and cons of both of these dumbbells. While Rogue’s dumbbells provide a classic ergonomic feel, REP took a different approach with their fully knurled handle and uniform diameter. Though both of these dumbbells are solid choices to consider for your gym, and will enable you to isolate your muscles in a wide variety of exercises.

If you only need a few pairs of dumbbells, and have a large budget to work with, the REP dumbbells may be the ones for you. But if you are on a tighter budget, you may want to consider Rogue for your individual pairs because they are a little bit cheaper, but still high quality. 

However, since a full set is the most cost effective way to go about purchasing dumbbells if you’re filling out a home gym, REP could save you money if you buy the full five to 100 pound set. At the end of the day, both of these dumbbells are nearly identical in what they offer to your workout regimen — so what you’ll really want to consider is the grip you want, and the overall price you’re willing to pay.

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