Review > Element > Chloroform + Ammonia

We've got a two for one special for you today. Element Climbing sent us a bunch of holds and we'll be reviewing the Chloroform and Amonia set. The Chloroform is your standard roof jug, big deep two hand pocket but the rest of the hold can be used for other grips mostly pinches and, if set at the right angle, slopey. The Amonia set consists of three incut pinches. We're reviewing these holds as one because we've been setting with both sets together all this time and we find that they compliment each other. The Chloroform is a single hold found on the jugs section of their website, the Amonias are a featured set and you can link to the product page right off Elements home page.

Ammonia

Chloroform

So you can see why we've been setting with these two sets as one, they really look alike, so much so that they could be from the same line. The Chloroform is shaped for bolting onto a roof and usually we jump at the idea of setting in the roof but in this case we kept it on the 45 degree wall. The shape of the jug itself is quit generic, the pocket is round, finger friendly and you could hang off it for hours but flip the hold sideways or upside down things start to get interesting, if it was by design or not, setting the hold up at different angles allowed us to use the fins as pinches. Now not only do we have a two for one review, we also have a two for one hold :)


The Ammonia set are three pinches and their shape closely resembles that of the Chloroform, minus the big pocket of course. There categorized as X large pinches but they're not all that big and won't take up as much space on your home woody. We think that the X large grading is due to the size of the pinch itself which in some places can be quit wide. The holds are incut and although they may be categorized as X large they are still on the smaller side and you can only get two or maybe three fingers around the hold. SO we knew from the start that these holds were going to be tricky so we set them up on the 45:)

Element Climbing sent us the Ammonia's and Chloroform with two other sets, the Betas and Metamorphosis's, and our first problem we set was with all four. The problem started on the Chloroform and continued onto the Ammonia's and they ended up spitting us off a few times before we found the right foot holds to use and the correct sequence for the hand movements. We set them up so we could use the incut part of the hold, being on the 45 we figured we'd be giving ourselves a break, but it was still necessary to use the other pinching options on the hold. This didn't make the problem any easier, it just made it easier to match the hold, and it still required a lot of strength to keep on the pinch.

Our second problem was once again on the 45 with a long move to the finish on to the Chloroform. It was a short problem. only three moves, but once again the Ammonia's spat us off. The shape of the hold has many pinch options and makes even the short sequences fun to work, but hard to hold

We've had these holds around for quite some time and they seem to always find their way onto the 45 so we handed them off to Seb to set something different. And he didn't disappoint. He started his problem on a vertical wall, under the box, and ending on the Chloroform. The sequence was much easier than the 45, the pinches are still a little tricky to maneuver, but what Seb did with the Chloroform was to set it on its side. With the hold set up this way we needed to use the hold as a slope...yes a slope. The Chloroform has a big pocket on one side, but the rest of the hold is slopey and when Seb set it up as a side pull, we were able to grab the top of the hold instead of the pocket.




OVERALL BUILD

Nice and centered, use cap head bolts
Slightly smooth but grippy
Versatility: More than you think on first glance... pinchy fun!
Screw Holes: The Chloroform could do with a screw hole, the rest are fine

Element Climbing have only been around a short time and they've done their research. The holds are well built, the bolts are centered and the holds don't spin, they've even hollowed out the back of the Chloroform to loose weight. The texture is smooth and we could work our sequence, unbolt the holds, move them around and work another sequence without feeling any pain. I was a little disappointed with the colour. On the website, the holds are molded in a cool marble green but ours came in a solid tone.

The holds have been on and off the wall and they've gathered a lot of chalk and the texture hasn't changed very much. Usually the texture of a hold will mellow out bit with Elements holds had a nice smooth texture all the way through even when it's been caked in chalk.

Build wise the backs are flat, the bolt holds nice and square with an inset washer... we've not had any of the holds spin on us yet, but it's a matter of time before the Chloroform gets some jewelery in the shape of a set screw
Urethane! It's a pretty strong mix we've not cracked a hold yet

I really like these holds, they nice and round with no sharp edges in sight, the texture is smooth and the shapes are unique. They gave us a challenge and everyone had fun with the holds. We had to work most of the time to get any progress, but in the end everybody had tried the problems repeatedly.

PROS

• Good for all level climbers
• Nice texture
• Varied pinches, just spin the holds
  

CONS

• They could have a bigger line, maybe some small pinches
  
• Order the colour you want, don't get caught with a colour you don't like
  

PRICE

Ammonia, are three XL pinches for $44.95
The Chloroform is a single XXXL roof jug for $49.95

Review > Nicros > Lotta Balls

At first glance you'll do exactly what I did, look again! Why? Because of this what came through the post:

The Lotta Balls from Nicros are a strange dual textured bunch of holds that routesetters smile that evil smile they sometimes get, and will make climbers wonder what the hell they're holding onto and what kind of sick genius put these onto a wall, let alone the wall they're climbing on.

From the base up these holds are a little strange to get to grips with, their geometric bases are slick and then the only place for someone to grab is the balls that are on the various angles that compromise these holds; I'll admit that it took us a few go's on some of the routes we set to get them to a place where we could complete the moves we'd set, but that is part and parcel of being a routesetter! Deceiving is a good was to describe these holds as well, many a time we've been talking about how to hold the grip in it's specific orientation and we've been totally (not just a little) TOTALLY wrong; Nick O has done an amazing job, these shapes do have a particular feel to them that says "balance is going to be key"

We had these at the wall when we grabbed a half set and Noodles used them in a route with some other black holds we had, he set the holds we had; the largest one and the two top holds in the above picture; as the crux move of a route that ran at 5.10+ The comments that came back from some of the staff was that it was the best route that he'd set at the gym for a while and they especially liked the tricky back step move off of one of the holds to the largest that spanned one of the stepped overhangs at the gym. It was a tricky route that really tested peoples grip strength and balance all the way up, despite the fact that he ran up it the first time in his 5.10 Guides it still proved to be tricky for a lot of the climbers, many making it to the top in one pumpy session and others getting stumped at the pinch move on the large hold (It was a real balance and trust move :P Noodles)

Even after a couple of months on our wall, and a month away at the gym we still had more to do with these holds, when they're set on a corner they make some wicked wicked pinches / open hand grips that test your trust in what you can hold, in most cases you can hold them but others you just find yourself on the floor. Noodles actually broke his foot last week when we were wrapping up our filming for the video below, you'll see a cut right at the end of the video when he fails on a route that we're still trying and kicks the wall so hard he flew backwards and into Eve who had just walked through the door into the room... all in a flurry of swearing as he missed the blank part of the wall and kicked a pointed foot hold :( He takes his climbing seriously!

So people will have a hard time reading the holds, that's not a bad thing to have in your arsenal if you're setter, or if you're playing on your home wall. They're not the easiest, they're not the hardest but they are fun to play with.





We'd like to know how many iterations they went through to get to where these holds are today. You can tell a lot of thought went into the placement of the balls, which have enough texture for you to holds and pull, but you're going to be surprised by how delicate you have to be with them when you're on them :P

These holds get three ratings, incut, sloper and flat, because it really depends upon where and how you're set these holds on your wall; we've been from crimps to wide pinches to around the edge pinches with these holds with little or no effort, nearly all of the holds can be matched, but you will have to work for it as these holds are hard. We'd suggest them for larger home walls as they are hard, but they are versatile.... and good for up to a 45 degree wall, it'd be nice if the were some more of these with different sized balls so they really cater for beginner climbers a little more... not that beginners can't climb on them, they can and they're going to have a lesson in how to hold a strange shape and then if they're using them for feet afterwards a lesson in footwork and that's something that these holds are good for as well. If you set the hold so it's just right for our hands, chances are the feet aren't going to be optimum so you can catch people out pretty easily. If you're good with your feet the amount of options available are huge, but if you're of a mind set to dump your foot onto the biggest / closest thing you could and probably will be surprised by what's going to happen, us we'd not be surprised as we got caught out too :)
It's surprising how many options there are to hold on these holds, we're constantly finding new ways to put them that makes for some either easy to just plain hard moves, the choice is yours, but if you get them you've got a Lotta Balls, that's for sure!


Versatility: Rotate for a new grip position, if you can hold them
Screw Holes: No


EVE
I like these Nicros holds, they are quite original! I certainly never seen anything like them. They're fairly big and usually big means comfortable but in this case don't be fooled: The Lotta Balls are not a beginner's friend. They are mostly impossible to hold on to, with a slick texture and very little angles, except for the 'Lotta Balls' plastered all over. Little beads set up in rows or aggregates that are truly the only thing worth squeezing on these holds. These holds are very fun to play on, don't get me wrong, but they are challenging holds and if you are climbing on a finger injury, I wouldn't advise climbing on these. The first route the boys set, I went on and killed it, one shot (yes, I am gloating!), and even after only 30 seconds of climbing, I felt the strain in my fingers for a few hours. My take on it? The Lotta Balls are 'lotta fun' but potentially 'lotta pain'! (and yes, I think I'm funny ;) lol!)

SEB
Promiscuity comes with a share of risk and the wall at climbing hold review lives precariously as it is making out with a lot of people and toys. I was stunned as I entered the room of the wall last week.

Me - WTF noodles!!

Noods - What?

Me - The disease on the wall for f@$# sake. Where does that comes from?

Noods - Red rock Nevada… well it originally comes from there but then spread to Minnesota

Me - Do these gazillion zits have a name? By the way; I’m not popping any of these.

Noodles - Lotta balls

Me - I know…

Noodles - No, it’s the name… and don’t lick them.

Me - hummm…

I gotta say that I did not play that much with these holds. Not that they were disgusting (but the color is weird) or anything like it but it just happened that way. Anyways once you stop starring at them (which is hard) and start feeling them in more intimate way; you quickly realize that they are not amateur stuff. In the sense that they are pinches/crimps but man these are tiny finger tip deep holds. Don’t get me wrong, they are fun… actually quite fun… even versatile in a weird way but HARD. Nicros is not lying when they describe it: “when you need a little extra something”.

As for the texture well there is not enough skin that gets in touch with the balls to really make it a matter of discussion :)

The route that I tried was not easy but taking advantage of these shapes. Their versatility became obvious as almost nobody did the route the same way and yet everybody had fun on it. Keep in mind that this is rare… not the fun part… the variety. We usually all end up doing it in a similar way except for the foot placement (there are giants and midgets in the crew).

Bottom line: Hardcore people should buy some. As for me, I would not discard them but they are a bit intense and expensive for my level of climbing / budget. That being said every gym should have some. They are really interesting so make sure that you do look and TOUCH them in order to make your own opinion.

All that said I must reiterate that they do look like a rock disease.

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Review > Motavation Volumes > Sml / Med

Motavation Volumes are a new company that's about a month old, they're not making holds from urethane or resin... they've chosen to make wooden volumes, simple shapes that mean you can spice up your wall easily and let's face it, not spend the time making them yourselves!!
We were sent three of their current line up, two smalls (pictured right) and one of the mediums (on the left), having something like these that you can bolt on and off the wall as needed is always nice, and as we'd been thinking of building some more we figured that after our last build... and the hassle we had we'd let someone else do the work so their timing was pretty spot on!

Now as Motavation is new and they were looking for feedback Noodles gave Jared a quick call to talk through what was going to be said and what he needed to do to clean up these shapes (and all of his other shapes in the line). Jared's had a bunch of people tell him that his shapes are sick and that they love them, but no one really gave constructive criticism of the construction and the overall aesthetic look of the holds... so here we go, we'll look at the shapes one by one:

Medium Willy Overview
Tell me you didn't laugh at the name! Because that's what they're called :) As you can see the medium willy (MW from here on in!) is actually a fairly large bolt on volume, it has 9 t nuts that are screwed in (which is a nice touch!) and is made from 3/4 inch plywood.

The corners are all nicely sanded so that when you grab the edges (rather than a hold that's on it) you don't get any skin pain or splinters, the sanding so so nice that the sheets of plywood look really quite pretty. Sanding on the back could be better, it's a little off on the corners. Bracing wise you're not going to have a problem with this breaking, it's 2 by 2 and it's screwed and cut really well.

The nut placement could be a little better, three a side is good but if you look at the right hand picture you can see that the top nut could be about an inch to inch and a half higher to give you more options for larger holds placement.

Small Willy OverviewYou laughed that time right? The Small Willy (SW) isn't that small, it's a good size to grab if you don't want to had holds on, and then when you do you've got four screwed in t nut placements to play with, three nicely centred nuts on a volume this size would probably be better (Yes more is great, but if the nuts are centred then you can have a larger hold piggy backing on the volume!)

We have two of these, one of them the sanding on the back is fine, the other is a little off, not by much but a little off none the less! The edge sanding, again, is excellent and makes the holds edges look really nice.

Right now onto what we did with them! The fun part :)