Favorite Gear Fridays - RPM Rope Review

The FringeSport crew recently returned from the CrossFit Games, and they brought me back a new toy- the RPM Rope from RPMFitness. Now, we do carry speed ropes at FringeSport, and I am pretty handy with the double-unders already, but I am always up for new gear. So, I jumped at the chance to skip rope with the RPM rope.

In short

Very cool new speed rope.

The pros:

• Build quality feels high
• Rope is fast fast fast
• This thing looks awesome- your friends will all ask to borrow it

The cons:

• Not sure about durability of the cable wire rope
• Fast rope- this is not the best choice for newbies to the double under

The RPM Rope review

Peoples' choices in high-end jump ropes are exploding- there are a lot of companies that have developed unique speed ropes. This is great, as I learned to do my double-unders on a $10 Academy special. Any workout with a significant double-under component took forever.

RPM Fitness recently debuted the RPM Rope. The RPM Rope is unique in that RPM Fitness has developed the rope from the ground up- all components seem unique to their rope (unlike some companies that put a wire rope onto the handle of a traditional jump rope). I've put the RPM rope through a few thousand double-unders and I like it. 

Immediately out of the packaging, the RPM Rope screams quality. It comes in a soft bag- similar to a nice pair of sunglasses. The wire rope is long, and comes with instructions on how to size/cut it to your height. Once you get the wire rope sized with the included hex key, you must cut it with (not included) wire cutters. Remember, measure twice... The handles are knurled aluminum and the build quality seems very high.

Jumping with the RPM Rope is awesome. The knurled aluminum hand grips feel solid and the rope whips very quickly.  Now, here is where my caveats come in. I have been doing double-unders for years, so I quickly got the rhythm of the RPM Rope. However, I think a newbie may have a lot of trouble with the speed of the rope. Additionally, the cable wire rope is uncoated. This makes for a fast rope, but I worry about the durability. In any speed rope, the cable wire is a wear item, but as the RPM Rope's is uncoated, it may wear out fast. Note that RPM Fitness sells replacement cable wires for $3 each on their website.

One other thing- this is a fast rope. When you miss, your feet/legs/arms will get whipped with a fast-moving, uncoated piece of wire. So don't miss!

In conclusion, the RPM Rope is a great high end speed rope. If you have experience with double-unders and you are looking for a high end speed rope, buy it- and a few replacement cables!

The RPM Rope video review

This has been Peter from FringeSport. Got questions? Tweet me up @petekeller, or call us at Fringe at 512.201.4404.