Opti Vinyl Dumbbell Set Review

This is the set a lot of people start with because it is sitting in Argos for under £50: two short bars, a pile of vinyl plates, and screw collars to hold them on. For a very light beginner, someone rehabbing an injury, or an occasional home workout, it genuinely does a job for very little money, and you can collect it the same day.

The honest problem is in the numbers. The advertised 20kg is the whole set, bars and plates together, so each dumbbell only loads to around 8 to 9kg. The vinyl plates are bulky and vary in true weight, the screw collars are fiddly and loosen, and the whole thing feels cheap. Most people outgrow it within weeks. For a little more, cast iron is a much better buy.

The 20kg set is a pair of spinlock bars plus a mix of 1.25kg and 2.5kg vinyl plates and four screw collars. Vinyl plates are a plastic shell filled with cement or sand, which keeps the cost down but makes them large for their weight and a little inconsistent, so a 2.5kg plate is not always exactly 2.5kg.

Because the plates are shared across both dumbbells, you cannot load both to anywhere near 20kg at once. Fully loaded, each dumbbell is roughly 8 to 9kg. For curls, light presses, lateral raises and rehab that is enough to start. For anything approaching proper strength work it is not, and no amount of rearranging the plates changes that.

Three things catch people out. First, durability: vinyl plates can crack or split with rough handling and the filler can leak, and the thin bars flex under load. Second, the collars: screw spinlock collars are slow to change between exercises and, if you do not tighten them firmly, they rattle loose mid-set, which is both annoying and a safety issue. Third, the weight ceiling, which you will hit sooner than you expect.

None of this makes the set useless, but it does mean it is a short-term tool. If you are at all likely to stick with training, the money is better spent once on something that lasts rather than twice because you replaced the Opti after two months.

Great for

• The tightest possible budget, where under £50 is the deciding factor
• Very light training: rehab, mobility, lighter beginners, home classes
• Occasional use rather than a committed strength routine
• Anyone who wants to collect from Argos today rather than wait on delivery

Not for

• Anyone who will progress past 8 to 9kg per hand, which is most people
• Proper strength training or pressing
• Buyers who want equipment that lasts years, not months
• Anyone who can stretch to cast iron, which is the better budget buy

The Opti vinyl set is the cheapest way onto the first rung, and for a light beginner or rehab use on the tightest budget it does enough for the money, with the convenience of same-day Argos collection. But the weight is light once you understand the 20kg is the whole set, the vinyl plates and screw collars are basic, and you will outgrow it fast. If you can stretch even a little, a cast iron set lasts far longer, and a selectorised adjustable is the better long-term home for your money.