Cap Barbell RK-1 Standard Plate Rack: Review

December 17, 2011 — 1 Comment
Plate Rack by:
CAP Barbell
Price:
$49.00

Reviewed by:
Rating:
5 Stars
On December 17, 2011
Last modified:June 6, 2012

Summary:

Got 2 of these bad boys to organize my Olympic plates in my basement home gym.

The thinner pins of the standard plate rack (opposed to the thicker Olympic plate rack) makes it super easier to take Olympic plates on and off.

So after getting tired of seeing weights scattered on the floor of my basement home gym (and nearly tripping over them a few times), I decided to get organized and bought 2 Cap RK1 Standard plate racks for each side of my power cage from Amazon for $49 each (with free shipping!).

They arrived on my front door in 3 days.

Here's what the box looks like:

Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack Box

Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack Box

I've considered the Olympic version of the plate rack, but from my experience training at a variety of gyms, unloading weight plates from 1" pins are a lot easier than those designed for Olympic plates with 2" pins.

What's In The Box

  • 1 triangle frame
  • 2 base frames
  • Bag of bolts (4), nuts (4) and washers (4)
Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack

Assembly

The only tools I needed was:

  • a socket wrench
  • adjustable wrench

Assembly was a snap. All I had to do was align the holes of the base frames to the holes of the triangle frame, insert the bolts, place the washer & nut on the bolt and tighten. I used the adjustable wrench to hold the bolt in place while I tighten the nut with the socket wrench.

It only took about 10 minutes for each plate rack to unpack & assemble.

Cap Barbell RK1 Standard Plate Rack Assembly Instrucitons

Use

Since I have a lot of 45lbs plates, I need to use the bottom-horizontal pins on both ends of the weight tree.

The vertical pins on the center of the plate rack can only hold weights that are small in diameter. I can place 10lbs weights on the center-bottom pin, and 5lbs weights on the center-top pin.

The weight capacity is supposedly 500lbs, but I'm able to store 520lbs of weights on the rack, with some room to spare (pictured below).

Cap Barbell RK-1 Standard Plate Rack

What I Like

My home gym is a little bit more organized! The floor no longer looks like a landmine of weight plates since they're now stored on the plate rack.

And since the diameter of the pins are 1", and the diameter of the hole on Olympic plates are 2", it's really easy to load & unload the weights on and off the rack.

What I Don't Like

The base of the plate rack is not leveled, so it tilts from side to side. It's more of a minor annoyance than anything, since it doesn't interfere with the function of the plate rack, which is to hold weight plates.

Not level

The paint was scraped off right away when I placed my rusty York Olympic plates onto the holding pins. I suspect this wouldn't be a problem if your plates aren't rusty on the insides like mine. I have since added some oil onto the pins and they seem to slide on much easier.

Paint scraped off

Lastly, there's no bar holder. But even if there was, it would probably only hold a standard 1" diameter barbell.

Overall

If you have a bunch of Olympic plates (or standard plates) lying around and considering a plate tree, get yourself something that is designed to hold standard 1" plates such as the Cap barbell RK-1 standard plate rack. It's a lot easier to slide Olympic weight plates on and off the tree, it can hold 500lbs+ of weights without any problems, and having all the plates on the rack and not on the floor or leaning against the wall will certainly impact the look of any home gym.

Got 2 of these bad boys to organize my Olympic plates in my basement home gym. The thinner pins of the standard plate rack (opposed to the thicker Olympic plate rack) makes it super easier to take Olympic plates on and off.

John Phung

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Ever since I started taking strength training seriously, I was bitten by the Iron Bug. Then it burrowed under my skin and laid eggs in my heart. Now those eggs are hatching and I... the feeling is indescribable.




Quick Stats
Height: 5'4" on non-squat days
Weight: 200 lb 210 lb ~220 lb (FOREVER BULK BRAH)

Credentials


Programs
  • Texas Method: March 4, 2011 - April 28, 2013
  • Smolov Jr for Bench Press: June 4 - 22, 2012
  • Starting Strength: Nov 29, 2010 - March 4, 2011