Titan Fitness Loadable Olympic Handles Review

There are quite a few different styles of dumbbells to choose from if you're looking to upgrade your home gym. While we wouldn't recommend these to everyone, the Titan Fitness Loadable Olympic Handles would be an ideal choice for the home gym enthusiast who likes to lift very heavy weights and has a plentiful variety of Olympic plate weights on hand. These dumbbells are essentially miniature barbells, with a wide knurled grip and rotating sleeves that can each hold up to 400 pounds and weigh 12 pounds on their own. You'll need a few accessories purchased separately, but if you already have those, these can make a great addition to your home gym.

Performance Comparison

Exercise Versatility

The Titan handles are moderately versatile, especially for the experienced weight lifter. Due to their overall length, 20 inches per dumbbell, there are a few instances where your range of motion may be impeded and a slight variation to exercises required. That said, because of the high weight range, there are some exercises where, if you're looking to use dumbbells over other styles of weights, we prefer the Titan dumbbells. We tested the Titans in almost every free weight exercise we could think of, at a variety of different weight loads, to see how different-sized plates may impact the movement.

We found the Titan handles to excel when loaded up with multiple small-plate combinations. We also found that they were ideal for heavy dumbbell work that didn't require dynamic movement.

We struggled to use the Titan dumbbells on exercises that brought our hands close together, like a bench press or overhead shoulder press. We had some success mitigating this by rotating our hands; however, another problem arose. Because the Titan handles rely on adding plates to increase the overall weight, your range of motion can be impeded by both the length and diameter of each weight. Adding full-size Olympic weight plates was almost out of the question if you wanted to achieve a full range of motion across exercises.

Ease of Use

Compared to other dumbbells in our lineup, the Titan handles aren't the easiest to use. That's more of a testament to the simplicity of most dumbbells than anything against the Titans, though. When compared directly against other loadable handles, the features of the Titan handles are well-designed.

The knurling on each Titan dumbbell is appropriately aggressive. It provides a secure grip without hurting or tearing up your hands. The handle is one of the wider diameters of any in our lineup, but we felt it was appropriate given the tendency for higher weight ranges using these. It's 28mm, the same diameter as the handle on an Olympic barbell.

The sleeves, or the areas where you load the plate weights, are 6.5 inches long, which allows plenty of space to load multiple plates and some room for a locking collar. Each sleeve rotates freely on bronze bushings, helping with comfort and ergonomics when lifting.

Loading up the Titan handles is relatively straightforward, though more tedious than just picking up a regular dumbbell. We tested them with spring collars, which can be a bit tricky, but other collar types can make locking the plates in place even easier.

Weight Options

The empty base weight of each Titan Dumbbell is listed at 12 pounds. While that's higher than most lower weight ranges in our lineup, it supports the massive 400-pound maximum capacity of each Titan handle.

Since you adjust the weight of these dumbbells by adding weight plates purchased separately, there's almost an infinite number of weight options that you could achieve. The caveat is that you'll need to have those weight plates in your gym. And if you want to keep each dumbbell weighted evenly, you'll need four of each.

Construction Quality

These Titan dumbbells are incredibly well-made. They are essentially miniature dumbbells, complete with rotating sleeves on each end. We noticed no issues during our testing. The manufacturer-stated weight of each handle is 12 pounds. However, when we measured them, each came in at a hair over 13 pounds each — a full pound of extra weight. We also measured the accuracy of each weight plate since they comprise the adjustable part of the weight that you lift. We tested 2.5-pound plates, each measuring an average of 2.59 pounds, close enough to be within acceptable tolerances. Knowing that our plates were on and our handle was one pound over made mentally calculating the weight that we were lifting easy. We only tested one set from Titan and are unsure if this weight discrepancy was an outlier or not. We are still sure that the rest of the quality checks on the Titan left us impressed.

Each of these handles is comprised of a 5.75-inch handle area that is straight like a barbell, versus ergonomically shaped like other dumbbells in our lineup. It is completely knurled. There are bronze bushings that help each of the 6.5-inch sleeves rotate freely during exercises, even while heavily loaded with weights. The entire handle is chrome-coated steel to help protect it from rust. While we normally gauge construction quality based on whether or not dumbbells are drop-proof, in the case of the Titan handles, that is more dependent upon the plate weights than the handles. If you have bumper plates on them, you could drop these with little consequence to the handles. Your floor and feet may be at risk, though!

Storage

The Titan Handles are by far the longest dumbbells we tested and have one of the biggest footprints, especially if you store them with plate weights on each end.

From tip-to-tip, the Titans are 20 inches long, and that space is noticeable, especially in a cramped home gym. While they will fit on a standard dumbbell rack when empty, it may force you to keep that rack further from the wall, given the sleeve length on these. The one benefit to this style for storage is that plate weights are removable. Our testing team took to storing them empty and leaned up vertically out of the way. Width ways, they don't take up too much space.

Should You Buy the Titan Fitness Loadable Olympic Handles?

It is safe to say that the Titan Handles aren't for everyone. There's a bit more work involved in using the loadable style dumbbells versus others in our lineup. They limit your range of motion on some exercises, and they also require the additional purchase of multiple sets of plate weights to have a variety of weight options available. That said, we recommend these dumbbells for the home gym enthusiast who already has a plethora of Olympic plate weights on hand. They're also great if you know that's the direction you're going in as you build a home gym and want to use your Olympic plates on more than just a barbell. Thanks to their 400-pound weight capacity, you're certain to be able to grow with these weights for a long time.

What Other Dumbbells Should You Consider?

There are quite a few different styles of dumbbells that you can choose from, depending on your needs and fitness interests. For people who like the adjustable weight range nature of loadable plates but aren't interested in buying a lot of extra weight plates, our favorite adjustable dumbbell set is the Core Home Fitness Adjustable Set. A twist of the handle can change your weight from 5 to 50 pounds. While it's a bit of an investment, it's less expensive than buying a comparable number of individual sets of dumbbells. If you're just building out your collection of home gym and fitness equipment, then choosing a set of dumbbells provides a great variety of weights at a good price. We recommend the CAP Coated Hex Set with Rack for the 5 to 25-pound weight range at a bargain price. We also like the J/Fit Set with Rack, which is geared towards the lower end of the weight range and has a few different neoprene-coated dumbbell options to choose from. Both of these include storage racks, which is a huge positive. One of the most durable dumbbells in our lineup and a top recommendation in our standard dumbbell category is the Rogue Rubber Hex Dumbbells. They're high-quality free weights that come in an incredible amount of weight options. You can't go wrong with any of the standard dumbbells in our lineup, though, like the REP Rubber Coated Hex, a great pick for garage gyms, the Amazon Basics Rubber Encased Hex that can be purchased as single dumbbells versus pairs, or the Signature Fitness Sporzon Rubber Encased Hex, another great budget pick.