I have purchased the black bumpers for my garage gym and they were great! I used them for almost a year and when I saw the Alpha bumper set on sale I got one pair of each plate, 55, 45, 35, 25, 15, 10. I must say that while both sets are great and get the job done, the Alpha plates are just delightful to look at and I absolutely love lifting with them. Also I think they have a better design than the standard black bumpers. The standard ones have a bevel around the edges, reducing surface area and increasing pressure from drops on the plate whereas the Alpha bumper set has a greater surface area that contacts the floor, reducing the pressure from a drop. I am sure that these differences are negligible for my purposes as Vulcan tests their products extensively, but I do notice the little things like that. I suppose the best evidence of my satisfaction with Vulcan bumper plates was my willingness to buy a second set. I love them!