Bells of Steel Technique Plates, 5 lb
Full-diameter 5 lb plates at durometer 94-96 — bar height without bar weight, for learning the Olympic lifts.
Specs
| Contents | 2 x 5 lb plates |
|---|---|
| Plate material | Virgin rubber |
| Insert material | Steel |
| Center hole diameter | 1.99 in (50.5 mm) |
| Bounce | Medium |
| Durometer | 94 to 96 |
| Weight tolerance | 2% |
| Warranty | 1 year |
These figures are copied from Bells of Steel’s own published specs and were last checked on 2026-08-31. Manufacturers revise products without notice, and variants differ. Confirm anything your decision depends on with Bells of Steel before you buy.
Choose this one if
- You are learning the snatch or clean and 135 lb is too much
- You want the bar at competition height with almost no weight on it
- You are coaching someone through the Olympic lifts
The detail
Technique plates exist to solve one problem: bar height. The Olympic lifts start with the bar at a specific height off the floor, set by a 450 mm plate. Loading a bar with small iron plates puts it far lower, which changes the starting position entirely — so a beginner learning to snatch is practising a different movement from the one they will eventually perform.
Technique plates are full diameter at a fraction of the weight. Ten pounds total on a 45 lb bar puts you at 55 lb with the bar exactly where it should be.
Durometer 94 to 96 is the hardest rubber in the Bells of Steel range — harder than their urethane plates at 90 and their colour bumpers at 85. That is deliberate: a thin, light, full-diameter plate has very little material resisting a drop, so it has to be hard not to deform. Bounce is still listed as medium rather than low, which is the consequence.
The 2% tolerance is looser than the 1% on their bumper range, and it barely matters — 2% of 5 lb is 1.6 ounces on a bar you are learning technique with.
A one-year warranty is short and honest. These are the plates most likely to be dropped by someone who has not yet learned to drop a bar properly, which is precisely the point of owning them.
A 1.99-inch centre hole with a steel insert fits any Olympic sleeve.
They are not a substitute for bumpers once you are lifting real weight — they are a teaching tool, and a good one.