If you’re like me and are in the market for some of the higher end J-Cups from REP, then you’ve probably considered between their Round and Flat Sandwich J-Cups 2.0.
These J-Cups will give you the exact experience in almost every way. Both come in REP’s metallic black powder coat colorway. Both feature a thick urethane insert that stretches all the way up the J-Cup and wraps around the front lip to protect your barbells against bumps. Both feature recessed bolts to prevent them from rubbing against a barbell and damaging it. Both feature UHMW linings on all sides where the J-Cups mount onto an upright to protect it from getting scratches. Both have a weight capacity of 1000 lbs.
Really, the only difference is in the shape of the actual platform that a barbell rests on. One is rounded to prevent a bar from rolling back and forth. While the other has a flat and wider platform. This allows users to roll the bar back and forth and stage it in a particular position for a lift. The wider platform also allows users to mount certain specialty bars.
Personally, whenever I used J-Cups in the past, it was always the flat style because that’s what the commercial gyms generally had. I’ve never even seen a rounded J-Cup in one of those gyms. So I personally never thought it was a big deal. That is, until I tried a cheap Amazon rounded J-Cup and saw the benefits of such a product. To me, it’s just nice to put a barbell down and know it’s going to be in the same position. Of course, it won’t help you with the side-to-side positioning, but not having a bar be able to roll is helpful in most situations. Now, I rarely ever use the Flat J-Cups unless I need to rack a specialty bar.
I do want to touch on the fit and finish of these two J-Cups. Again, it's going to be the same between the two, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. I found that these REP J-Cups fit too loosely, even on my REP PR-5000 rack. I can shift the J-Cups with the slightest pressure. So imagine if you rack the bar too far to one side and need to pull it back to center. Because both of these J-Cups sit loose, they themselves will shift with the movement, which is just inconvenient and annoying. With my J-Cups, the size of the UHMW is actually inconsistent from J-Cup to J-Cup, as in the actual size of the UHMW is thinner and thicker in certain places and on certain J-Cups. I hate this because as I rack my barbell, the top shifts and hits the rack on top. Then, as I lower the barbell, the whole J-Cup shifts forward and hits the rack on the bottom. So it’s a level of extra noise and inconsistency that’s annoying to me. Because of this, I’ve actually ordered a new set of J-Cups to replace my REP J-Cups for general everyday use. The new ones will hopefully arrive soon, so make sure to subscribe to see that.
In general, I don’t personally recommend these REP Fitness Sandwich J-Cups. They work and function as they should, but the fit and finish are terrible where it counts, and that’s at the UHMW, which makes the whole thing stay in place.
I fixed the issue with the loose attachments!
Check this blog post out: https://www.haihoangtran.com/blog/2025/5/2/loose-rack-attachments-fix-feat-rep-fitness-j-cups-20
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