Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Review > Delire > Polisporine
So we picked up a couple of sets of Delire holds from last years Tour De Bloc and we've had them lying around with some stints on the old wall and the new. Delire holds aren't new to our wall and we've done some reviews for them in the past, notably a mixed set we picked up from Le Mec and the Red Point Training Board.
When we spoke with Lisa, the owner of Delire holds, she asked us what set we want. Our answer was all of them but since that was a bit of a steep demand, we settled on two sets: The Egypts and the Polisporine. This week we'll be looking at the Polisporines and keeping The Egypts on ice for a future review.
This seven hold set is a dual textured doppelganger. Are they pinches? Are they slopers? Are they edges? Now we thought that this set was full of pinches but there are some holds that gave us a surprise. The base of the set is made up largely of good positive pinches but there are some that have only one side of the hold that is textured for grip. Out of these guys, there are some that are slopey while others are more of an edge. Can you say alter ego?
Alter Ego! :D
So we sat there with a set of holds, some pinches others not so pinchy and we figured on putting them on the 45 (the old wall). . There are two types of holds found in this set. Now you could clasify them all as pinches although some holds only have one textured surface. The others have texture on opposing sides with an incut that make them bomber on the 45. The holds with one textured surface could also be used as pinches although you'll be finding yourself on your ass pretty quick if you're placing them on overhanging terrain.
So for us we found that the set was best suited on over hanging terrain. Putting them up on a vertical wall would not pose too much of a challenge and we used the angles of our wall to create our problems, even when you put them on a straight wall upside down you can actually hold onto the dual texture, it's not that slick :(
From easy to hard, we put some beginners onto the holds and when they're on a moderate overhang people just walked through the problems, get them onto a more competition style route and then things start to get interesting, thank god all of the holds are easily matchable
SUGGESTED USES:
A set like this can be used in all kinds of applications. The holds are diverse enough to have holds suited better for vertical while others can be used on overhanging terrain as well. We spoke about how the Comfy Pinches from Summit Labs could be used as system training holds but noted that they are very small. The Polisporines could be used for this set up but they are right or left hand specific and you'll need two sets of holds to make it effective, but the holds themselves....well the pinches anyways....are a good way to train pinch strength on a 45 degree wall.
Putting these holds onto the 60 degree wall was possibly one of the silliest ideas we've had in a while; if the holds are set with the edges with the most positive direction with some good feet (and there are some semi incut holds in here) it is soo close to being doable, so so close. Even on the 45 degree wall some of the holds some of the holds are pretty hard and as you can see from the video there were some interesting ways of getting through some of our sequences.
OVERALL BUILD
- Number of holds: 7
- Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
- Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
- Color: Mustard yellow
- Bolt placement: Middle
- Sanding: Ok
- Texture: A little rough on the part you're gripping, slick part is smooth
- Set size: Medium
- Versatility: Not bad
- Pre-drilled screw holes:
- Shaper: Lisa
Color-wise these holds are what you'd best call mustard yellow, it's not a color you'd see everywhere... they're certainly unique.
These holds certainly have personality, they're an interesting mix of pinches / edges or slopers. They work best as pinches, but they do have multi use's and it's up to you which way you use them. Delire use resin, so these holds do weigh in as pretty heavy, the mixture is still also a little brittle so you have to take care to not drop them and make sure you store them carefully (no throwing them into a bucket!)
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Resin, and it's pretty brittle. Even though we put all of the holds we have for review into a separate box for moving some of these holds got chipped
PACKING / SHIPPING:
We picked these up direct from the maker
RATING:
Noodles:
Ah Delire, like Chris I'm going to come out and mention that I have a love / hate relationship with their holds. Some of their holds are sublime, some of them... well not so much :) The reason we asked for these sets is because we were at the Delire gym for a Tour De Bloc and as we were at the gym that is owned by Delire, and the wall was (surprise) covered with Delire holds it was pretty easy to pick out what we wanted. (think of the gym as basically a Delire hold showroom, there wasn't much from other companies)
The reason we picked these holds is because they were used in some problems that we really enjoyed... well maybe we didn't get up all of the routes and that was part of the reason that we wanted them.
From the old wall to the new wall these holds hit a lot of angles and a lot of people climbed on them. I'm not sure if they're edges, pinches or slopers; they're an interesting mix of all of these things. I find these shapes could do with the edges being sloped off a little bit more, they're not super sharp but when you're hauling ass on the 45 I find my fingers hurt a little. Saying that I find that Delires texture is a little rough but when I say rough it's a very close thing... it's probably about 2% off of perfect for my liking.
Resin? Really? We chipped holds just moving them around and that is something that people should take note of. Here anything that is resin are kept in separate boxes and are looked after. But even after mixing out to be reviewed holds in a small box (with no wrapping) and this was moved with a bunch of TLC the holds still ended up getting little chips in the edges. I'm pretty sure that if I pulled a drop test that there would be some pretty sizable chips and possibly a breakage, if you're a routesetter and you have resin holds of course you're going to take care with what you're doing, but I think one of these holds from 20ft to a padded surface might make some interesting results.
Do I like these holds? I like the way they look, and at the comp when my brain was in comp mode I was centered on just getting up the route. What I should have taken more notice of how the holds actually climbed when I was playing with them... but that would have been hard to do when I'm trying to climb for point. I learnt an interesting lesson... and that is "all that looks nice may not necessarily climb well" They climb fairly well, but they're not some of my favorites because of their weight and because the texture is a little rougher than I really like
Chris:
I'll say it right now: I've never been a fan of Delire holds. That may be a bit of a harsh statement but I've never liked the way they feel. Don't get me wrong, there are things I do like about their holds. They have some really awesome shapes that are both artistic and unique. Their holds are always challenge to climb on but it always comes down to the same thing, I just don't like climbing on them. It's hard for me to give you any specifics but I always know that I'm climbing on a Delire hold. With that being said, I 'll get into what I like with this set.
The texture of the holds is nice. You won't be able to keep you feet on the smooth part of the hold. The other textured part of the hold is actually quite smooth and is not abrasive but gives you just enough texture to grip. The pinchy holds of the set have an incut side to them that help you grip the hold but with the others that are flat or a little slopey, the texture quickly becomes a negative. Any bit of sweat will have you slipping of the holds in no time.
Now for me, I found the holds a bit of a challenge. The good holds (the ones with texture on opposing sides) are great on overhanging terrain and I could easily commit to a move without worrying too much about breaking off. As for those other holds that who find themselves in no mans land somewhere between slope, pinch and and edge gave me problems on the 45. Those holds are hard to grip since you can't use your thumb to pinch down on the hold and the movements on them needed to be very static.
So what's the verdict? For the price, its a good set and you find a diversity of holds and grips. The dual texture is very good, not as good as DRCC, but almost. The shapes are nice and comfortable and out of all the Delire holds that we have, they are the most comfortable. I have found in the past that Delire holds, be it a jug or crimp, bite into the hands and it doesn't make for pleasant climbing. The edges on these holds have a nice radius and the texture is nice on the skin. As far as the set is concerned, I'm sold, but I'll need to climb more Delire shapes before I come over to the dark side:)
PROS:
- Pretty nice Mustard Yellow color
- Good price
- Resin holds that chip easily
- Heavy (because they're resin)
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Review > Summit Labs > Small Comfy Pinches
Small Comfy Pinches... read it to yourself... slowly...
Small COMFY Pinches. Whenever we see a set of holds with a name like this we're always going to think a couple of things; 1: Are these actually comfy? 2: Whoever named these is either completely mad or they've actually made something that is what it says.
Like Jeremy says in the walk through "naming a set of holds Small Comfy Pinches is like naming a hold large shi**y sloper". The name it self is a brave brave statement... and with that let's look at these so called Small Comfy Pinches :)
What we received is what you see above, five pink holds and they're certainly small!
They're obviously pinches!
And...
The big question is are they comfy? This is where we hit the wall and see what's up.
These guys hit both walls (old and new) and we played with them an awful lot, probably more than we should have; from setting super simple problems to stuff that was just a little bit too far. Well I guess that's the way we roll, we take holds and we push them as far as possible to see where they begin to become useless.
Where did we decide to stop? At about 45 degrees if you like pain, 30 degrees if you want to work a problem for more than five minutes. We also set some interestingly long routes between the holds and they do allow you to get away with pushing the limits... all in all they're not what we expected.
SUGGESTED USES:
Holds that are this size if you have multiple sets then they're going to be a pretty good addition for a system wall. But a system wall is 45 to 60 degrees overhung so these holds are waaaaay too small for that use, we suggest the exact same shapes but larger and then you've got some great system training holds. As usual that being said, if you're system training on say a 15 degree wall then these are something that should be looked at. (Chances are that system training on a 15 degree wall is going to be pretty well useless... we're not training gurus, so please read up on system training before you do it)
We put these holds on the 45 degree wall and they're just not big enough to be comfortable, you can just about get onto them but it's a very very hard send... and even then we were using them as crimps/edges. On a 30 degree wall they're super comfy and then put them onto a vertical wall and they're super nice to climb on.
These holds, if you're looking to set long pinch routes would be well paired with Element Climbings Ions and if you're ;ooking for something larger then probably the Teknik Svelt Pinches.
OVERALL BUILD
These holds are well made and there are only a few places where they can be faulted... the logo is a large SL and despite looking a little gangster is is more indented than it really needs to be and if this logo was used on larger holds then it would probably catch your skin and cause some pain, the other main complaint is that when in bright light (our new wall gets a lot of sun) you can see that the color isn't totally uniform, there are a few light patches towards the outer edge of the shapes.
Sanding is great, the texture is a little crystalline.. but that is what you need with something this is so small. If the texture was less then these holds would be 200% harder to grab on to; there is just enough texture to keep you on but not so much that you're going to get skin burn. The shapes are all very ergonomic i.e: there are no sharp edges anywhere, the radii of the holds are all nice, in fact the shapes are so uniform that if you're super strong you could use these as system holds...
All of the bolt holes are properly drilled and flat (90 degrees) to the back of the hold with the inset washers are all nicely placed... there's no need for set screw holes as these holds are too small to warrant them.
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane
PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good
RATING:
Noodles:
Yeah I swore, and I think I made a pretty good point in the walk through that if everyone named their holds what they are it'd be a different World we live in.. can you imagine? "Weird looking sloper thing"... "Utterly crap piece of BS"... HA! Maybe I'm on another planet (maybe not) but wouldn't it me nice if there was (and get this)...
Chris:
When we get a new set of pinches we're always wondering whether we can use them on the 45 degree wall. Usually we can tell right away if we have any chance to stick the holds on the 45 but most often than not the holds are in the shady ground between white and black. There were times when Noodles had a laugh when I couldn't get through a pinch problem on the 45, others when I got under his skin for the same reason. When the question of whether we bolt the Comfy Pinches on the 45 I was a little apprehensive with the idea. These holds are small, I can barely get three fingers on most and they're very narrow adding to the degree of difficulty of the holds. We went through a lot of trial and error finding the beta on the problems we set but we knew after the first attempt that our sequence was tough and painful, but not impossible.
There are a couple of things that helped us: 1) These holds are Comfy and we could try the problems over and over 2) The holds are incut. Considering the size of the hold you can imagine that there isn't much of an incut on the holds but it give a surprising amount of friction. One of our problems started with a throw to the first hold and after getting it the first time, we managed to get onto that hold every attempt there after. I was able to get through the two problems we set on the 45 but some of the moves were at my limit and it's hard for me to hang on some of the holds but all in all, I like them.
PROS:
Small COMFY Pinches. Whenever we see a set of holds with a name like this we're always going to think a couple of things; 1: Are these actually comfy? 2: Whoever named these is either completely mad or they've actually made something that is what it says.
Like Jeremy says in the walk through "naming a set of holds Small Comfy Pinches is like naming a hold large shi**y sloper". The name it self is a brave brave statement... and with that let's look at these so called Small Comfy Pinches :)
What we received is what you see above, five pink holds and they're certainly small!They're obviously pinches!
And...
The big question is are they comfy? This is where we hit the wall and see what's up.
These guys hit both walls (old and new) and we played with them an awful lot, probably more than we should have; from setting super simple problems to stuff that was just a little bit too far. Well I guess that's the way we roll, we take holds and we push them as far as possible to see where they begin to become useless.
Where did we decide to stop? At about 45 degrees if you like pain, 30 degrees if you want to work a problem for more than five minutes. We also set some interestingly long routes between the holds and they do allow you to get away with pushing the limits... all in all they're not what we expected.
SUGGESTED USES:
Holds that are this size if you have multiple sets then they're going to be a pretty good addition for a system wall. But a system wall is 45 to 60 degrees overhung so these holds are waaaaay too small for that use, we suggest the exact same shapes but larger and then you've got some great system training holds. As usual that being said, if you're system training on say a 15 degree wall then these are something that should be looked at. (Chances are that system training on a 15 degree wall is going to be pretty well useless... we're not training gurus, so please read up on system training before you do it)
We put these holds on the 45 degree wall and they're just not big enough to be comfortable, you can just about get onto them but it's a very very hard send... and even then we were using them as crimps/edges. On a 30 degree wall they're super comfy and then put them onto a vertical wall and they're super nice to climb on.
These holds, if you're looking to set long pinch routes would be well paired with Element Climbings Ions and if you're ;ooking for something larger then probably the Teknik Svelt Pinches.
OVERALL BUILD
- Number of holds: 5
- Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt ons
- Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): 26.95 / 4 = $5.39 per hold
- Color: Pink
- Bolt placement: Dead center
- Sanding: Good
- Texture: Slightly crystalline
- Set size: Small
- Versatility: Not bad
- Pre-drilled screw holes: No, they're not needed
- Shaper: Morgan Barnes
These holds are well made and there are only a few places where they can be faulted... the logo is a large SL and despite looking a little gangster is is more indented than it really needs to be and if this logo was used on larger holds then it would probably catch your skin and cause some pain, the other main complaint is that when in bright light (our new wall gets a lot of sun) you can see that the color isn't totally uniform, there are a few light patches towards the outer edge of the shapes.
Sanding is great, the texture is a little crystalline.. but that is what you need with something this is so small. If the texture was less then these holds would be 200% harder to grab on to; there is just enough texture to keep you on but not so much that you're going to get skin burn. The shapes are all very ergonomic i.e: there are no sharp edges anywhere, the radii of the holds are all nice, in fact the shapes are so uniform that if you're super strong you could use these as system holds...
All of the bolt holes are properly drilled and flat (90 degrees) to the back of the hold with the inset washers are all nicely placed... there's no need for set screw holes as these holds are too small to warrant them.
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane
PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good
RATING:
Noodles:
Yeah I swore, and I think I made a pretty good point in the walk through that if everyone named their holds what they are it'd be a different World we live in.. can you imagine? "Weird looking sloper thing"... "Utterly crap piece of BS"... HA! Maybe I'm on another planet (maybe not) but wouldn't it me nice if there was (and get this)...
A UNIVERSAL SIZING GUIDE FOR CLIMBING HOLDS
You know as it currently stands one mans XL is someone else's 2XL and so on and so forth... that'll be the day.
I'm off topic again.. let me talk about the holds as that's what we're all here for...
These holds are actually pretty comfy, even if you use them as small edges/crimps.. they're not big by any means but they're not small. Would I suggest that they should be used on a 45 degree wall or steeper... sadly no... they just don't hit the mark as they're not incut enough to warrant this happening! Yeah I know we used them on the 45 and lets face it on the 60 as well and here's the problem... they can be used on the 45 and they could be used on the 60 degree wall as well if you're someone like Daniel Woods or if you just don't like your fingers
I'm suggesting to Summit that that make the exact same shapes but in larger sizes, maybe with some variations on incut so that people can pick and choose what they want for their wall and their training needs. More is good, even more is superb.
If you grab two sets of these and chuck them at a 30 degree wall you could have yourself the start of a nice system wall... I believe (off of the top of my head) that system walls should be 45 degrees and steeper... but I'm not 100% on this fact. Wether this is going to be of any benefit to anyone I don't know, I'm not a sports trainer or Eric Horst :)
Final thing, do I like these holds? Yeah, what I like more is that Summit Labs are getting a bigger range of holds, they're got some slick dual texture and some nice pinches. There will be more sets coming soon I'm sure. I don't like the SL logo on the small holds, it looks a little cheap (compared to their normal logo) but that's just personal taste really.
I'm off topic again.. let me talk about the holds as that's what we're all here for...
These holds are actually pretty comfy, even if you use them as small edges/crimps.. they're not big by any means but they're not small. Would I suggest that they should be used on a 45 degree wall or steeper... sadly no... they just don't hit the mark as they're not incut enough to warrant this happening! Yeah I know we used them on the 45 and lets face it on the 60 as well and here's the problem... they can be used on the 45 and they could be used on the 60 degree wall as well if you're someone like Daniel Woods or if you just don't like your fingers
I'm suggesting to Summit that that make the exact same shapes but in larger sizes, maybe with some variations on incut so that people can pick and choose what they want for their wall and their training needs. More is good, even more is superb.
If you grab two sets of these and chuck them at a 30 degree wall you could have yourself the start of a nice system wall... I believe (off of the top of my head) that system walls should be 45 degrees and steeper... but I'm not 100% on this fact. Wether this is going to be of any benefit to anyone I don't know, I'm not a sports trainer or Eric Horst :)
Final thing, do I like these holds? Yeah, what I like more is that Summit Labs are getting a bigger range of holds, they're got some slick dual texture and some nice pinches. There will be more sets coming soon I'm sure. I don't like the SL logo on the small holds, it looks a little cheap (compared to their normal logo) but that's just personal taste really.
Chris:
When we get a new set of pinches we're always wondering whether we can use them on the 45 degree wall. Usually we can tell right away if we have any chance to stick the holds on the 45 but most often than not the holds are in the shady ground between white and black. There were times when Noodles had a laugh when I couldn't get through a pinch problem on the 45, others when I got under his skin for the same reason. When the question of whether we bolt the Comfy Pinches on the 45 I was a little apprehensive with the idea. These holds are small, I can barely get three fingers on most and they're very narrow adding to the degree of difficulty of the holds. We went through a lot of trial and error finding the beta on the problems we set but we knew after the first attempt that our sequence was tough and painful, but not impossible.
There are a couple of things that helped us: 1) These holds are Comfy and we could try the problems over and over 2) The holds are incut. Considering the size of the hold you can imagine that there isn't much of an incut on the holds but it give a surprising amount of friction. One of our problems started with a throw to the first hold and after getting it the first time, we managed to get onto that hold every attempt there after. I was able to get through the two problems we set on the 45 but some of the moves were at my limit and it's hard for me to hang on some of the holds but all in all, I like them.
PROS:
- Could be used as system holds (you'd need two sets) as they're not left / right biased
- They are actually comfy, despite their size
- Color is a little faded towards the edges on two of the holds
- The SL logo is a little cheap looking
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Review > World Cup Climbing Holds > Morbs Set 1
It’s been a hot week in Montreal, luckily the wall doesn’t get too much sun and we had our first review on the wall with the Morbs from World Cup Climbing Holds.
This set is made up of a series of pinches, of varying shapes and sizes but why this set is called Morbs is anyone’s guess. Some of the holds are simple in shape, while others are more intricate in design. The smaller hold are a plain and simple one pad pinch where the larger ones which are sculpted with more and more grip options. The manufacturing of the holds are consistent and the texture of the holds is like those we’ve received from them in the past. (As in we have a bunch of their stuff that we're currently reviewing!) The texture is smooth and nice on the skin and even though some of the holds may be small, there is plenty of friction to keep you on the wall.
Even though there are only seven holds in this set, the shapes worked well with all the angles we have on our new wall and it made for some great problems all on their own. It can be difficult to set a fun problem with a small set of holds, the size of the set limits you to the amount of moves you can make in a problem, but with the Morbs, the shapes of the holds create more options and as a setter you can easily force moves. On our new wall, we have three different angles, vertical, 45 and 30 degrees (Actually we have five angles... the roof and the 70 degree) and we’ve had pinches up on these angles and Noodles has always liked to see me fall on those routes so he set.
The Morbs are much easier than you would first think. With the exception of the smallest hold, there was plenty of space to get a second hand on the hold. Although you’ll be getting a lot of weight onto the hold the shape gives you edges and features that will give you more friction, they're skin friendly little shapes that can be trickier than you think, especially if you let Noodles loose on the wall with a wrench.
Small holds with lots of variety is a good thing for people with limited space and these holds certainly hit the mark! If you're running a single panel wall, or something that's small then space is always at a premium and you want to get as much stuff up there as possible... Morbs anyone? Hell both sets (there are two)... check what we did with just seven holds... you can set some pretty interesting stuff. Easy or hard, your choice
SUGGESTED USES:
Well, as usual someone suggested that we put these on the roof. Our common sense kicked in and the Morbs didn’t make their way on the roof. Granted the larger holds of the set could be big enough ;) but we never tried
The set is best for vertical to slight overhanging terrain and once again it's the variety of shapes and sizes in the set make it versatile and can find a place on any angle even though the holds aren't large. These holds are going to be good for beginner to intermediate climbers and even though we're saying that we had lots of fun on the 30 degree wall trying different ways to get through just one move... there's something to be said for that, the move was fun but the fact that Jeff, Noodles and Chris all stopped and started playing on one move of a pretty short route means there was something there. Even Nick who's only really just started climbing had no problem with the holds and was getting pretty far on the one route that we filmed.
Putting these holds onto the 45 is probably not the wisest thing, but having them there does start to show the holds true colors... simple to look at and really when you get down to base facts pretty plain to look at, and despite that and the fact that they are pretty basic shapes they are pretty tricky on a steep wall. Again nothing completely crazy, but for someone that's just starting to climb and has a steep wall something that will test them and will give them good value for money to boot
OVERALL BUILD
The holds are too small for set screw holes so they obviously don't have any and each hold has the World Cup logo on them.
Shaping... ah shaping. These aren't amazing holds to look at, that's for sure, but they are nice to grab onto... they look a little plain and in some cases they're actually deceptive to grab (or to find the correct way to grab the hold) and for sure it's not going to be to every one's taste, but that's a matter of person opinion. Given the size these holds are good fillers for any home wall, they're cheap and they're pretty versatile with sneaky thumb catches on most of the large shapes. What these sets need to be really is one large set (rather than two) as it will give route setters a chance to set routes and will give the home wall owner a bunch of hand or foot holds for a cheap price. So the shaping is pretty basic, no mad flourishes and no new leaps in handhold design... but they do get the job done well without hand/finger pain
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane
PACKING / SHIPPING:
Bomber, the box was padded with foam around the inside and the holds were all perfect
RATING:
Noodles:
World Cup Climbing Holds are pretty new kids on the block, we've had a bunch of their stuff for a while... and what did we choose to review first? The Morbs, the first set of holds that Jeff shaped and that was just a weird coincidence! So our first review for a new company is also on the holds that were first shaped... ah this could be interesting!
There seems to be a running theme through the World Cup lines and it's something you'll see us repeat over the up coming reviews and that is the thumb catches... it is something I noticed from the start when we were running the walk through is that there always seems to be (more often than not) thumb catches on the holds.
The Morbs are an interesting little set of holds that are kind of hard to classify, there seems to be everything in the set; they're not focused on any one style or shape and that's a pretty good thing as it means you can really play around with the seven holds and will end up making some fairly varied problems with them. We had them on both walls, our old wall in a rough set (where we took all the World Cup holds) and just set something set by set in one long route and then we became more focused on the new wall on the 30 degree wall; setting something that go's from the Diablo dual texture holds into the angle and the Morbs... it looks pretty simple and given the easy nature of these holds it is easy... until you get to the one small sloper of the set on the side wall. Matching this hold is pretty hard, doable, but hard to do. As you've seen from the video we played around with one move of the route to see how many different ways we could get through it.
On the 45 degree wall for me 5 of the holds are fine, the smallest sloper and it's bigger brethren are always going to get relegated to footholds, there isn't enough to catch and hang on..
Overall being another new company World Cup Climbing Holds waited for the bell and then came out swinging. Not having the biggest line out there but also not having the smallest, they're trying to make a name in a market that has expanded a lot over the last two or three years... it's a good for us (the hold buying public) but hard for them to get noticed. The Morbs aren't the most creative holds out there, but there is some great variety within the set... you know a little something something for everyone and the price is pretty good; I'd point people looking for some cheap holds towards this set (there are actually two Morbs sets) they're pretty good filler for a wall that needs some holds, pretty beginner friendly and very well made. They're not for everyone, as hold shape / size / style is going to be subjective to the person looking at them... I'm honestly 50/50 on them because they don't give me the degree of challenge I looked for in a set of holds (that's just my personal taste), I enjoyed climbing on them but they're not a.m.a.z.i.n.g.
So that's the end of Round One with World Cup... we kept the more interesting stuff for Round Two... we really wanted to kick the crap out of the next set of holds that we've got coming up sooner rather than later (and for us to do that we needed a new wall... well now we have no excuses :P)
Stay tuned, there's some more stuff coming and it's pretty jaw dropping
Chris:
Ok…I was pleasantly surprised with these holds. At first glance I didn’t think much of them and passed them off as “just another set of holds”, but after a setting with them I changed my tune. We had these holds a while and they’ve seen some time on the old wall. We used them mixed in with other holds and they’ve been one of our staple sets lately. It all comes down to the fact that they’re fun to set with. They're finger friendly and have more options than less that's for sure, I came back from BC and was thrown on a route that Noodles set on the 30 degree wall... we ended up getting all caught up playing with just one move of that route as it really captured our imagination; a lot of fun was had that afternoon!!
From 45 to vertical these holds will serve you pretty well, they're not much to look at but they do get the job done that's for sure. I'd have liked to have both of the sets at the same time so we could have set some longer problems
PROS:
This set is made up of a series of pinches, of varying shapes and sizes but why this set is called Morbs is anyone’s guess. Some of the holds are simple in shape, while others are more intricate in design. The smaller hold are a plain and simple one pad pinch where the larger ones which are sculpted with more and more grip options. The manufacturing of the holds are consistent and the texture of the holds is like those we’ve received from them in the past. (As in we have a bunch of their stuff that we're currently reviewing!) The texture is smooth and nice on the skin and even though some of the holds may be small, there is plenty of friction to keep you on the wall.Even though there are only seven holds in this set, the shapes worked well with all the angles we have on our new wall and it made for some great problems all on their own. It can be difficult to set a fun problem with a small set of holds, the size of the set limits you to the amount of moves you can make in a problem, but with the Morbs, the shapes of the holds create more options and as a setter you can easily force moves. On our new wall, we have three different angles, vertical, 45 and 30 degrees (Actually we have five angles... the roof and the 70 degree) and we’ve had pinches up on these angles and Noodles has always liked to see me fall on those routes so he set.
The Morbs are much easier than you would first think. With the exception of the smallest hold, there was plenty of space to get a second hand on the hold. Although you’ll be getting a lot of weight onto the hold the shape gives you edges and features that will give you more friction, they're skin friendly little shapes that can be trickier than you think, especially if you let Noodles loose on the wall with a wrench.
Small holds with lots of variety is a good thing for people with limited space and these holds certainly hit the mark! If you're running a single panel wall, or something that's small then space is always at a premium and you want to get as much stuff up there as possible... Morbs anyone? Hell both sets (there are two)... check what we did with just seven holds... you can set some pretty interesting stuff. Easy or hard, your choice
SUGGESTED USES:
Well, as usual someone suggested that we put these on the roof. Our common sense kicked in and the Morbs didn’t make their way on the roof. Granted the larger holds of the set could be big enough ;) but we never tried
The set is best for vertical to slight overhanging terrain and once again it's the variety of shapes and sizes in the set make it versatile and can find a place on any angle even though the holds aren't large. These holds are going to be good for beginner to intermediate climbers and even though we're saying that we had lots of fun on the 30 degree wall trying different ways to get through just one move... there's something to be said for that, the move was fun but the fact that Jeff, Noodles and Chris all stopped and started playing on one move of a pretty short route means there was something there. Even Nick who's only really just started climbing had no problem with the holds and was getting pretty far on the one route that we filmed.
Putting these holds onto the 45 is probably not the wisest thing, but having them there does start to show the holds true colors... simple to look at and really when you get down to base facts pretty plain to look at, and despite that and the fact that they are pretty basic shapes they are pretty tricky on a steep wall. Again nothing completely crazy, but for someone that's just starting to climb and has a steep wall something that will test them and will give them good value for money to boot
OVERALL BUILD
- Number of holds: 7
- Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): 35 / 7 = $5 per hold
- Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
- Color: Semi swirled purple on purple
- Bolt placement: Middle
- Sanding: Good
- Texture: Pretty grippy
- Set size: Small
- Versatility: Better than you think
- Pre-drilled screw holes: No, they're too small
- Shaper: Jeff Lemaster
The holds are too small for set screw holes so they obviously don't have any and each hold has the World Cup logo on them.
Shaping... ah shaping. These aren't amazing holds to look at, that's for sure, but they are nice to grab onto... they look a little plain and in some cases they're actually deceptive to grab (or to find the correct way to grab the hold) and for sure it's not going to be to every one's taste, but that's a matter of person opinion. Given the size these holds are good fillers for any home wall, they're cheap and they're pretty versatile with sneaky thumb catches on most of the large shapes. What these sets need to be really is one large set (rather than two) as it will give route setters a chance to set routes and will give the home wall owner a bunch of hand or foot holds for a cheap price. So the shaping is pretty basic, no mad flourishes and no new leaps in handhold design... but they do get the job done well without hand/finger pain
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane
PACKING / SHIPPING:
Bomber, the box was padded with foam around the inside and the holds were all perfect
RATING:
Noodles:
World Cup Climbing Holds are pretty new kids on the block, we've had a bunch of their stuff for a while... and what did we choose to review first? The Morbs, the first set of holds that Jeff shaped and that was just a weird coincidence! So our first review for a new company is also on the holds that were first shaped... ah this could be interesting!
There seems to be a running theme through the World Cup lines and it's something you'll see us repeat over the up coming reviews and that is the thumb catches... it is something I noticed from the start when we were running the walk through is that there always seems to be (more often than not) thumb catches on the holds.
The Morbs are an interesting little set of holds that are kind of hard to classify, there seems to be everything in the set; they're not focused on any one style or shape and that's a pretty good thing as it means you can really play around with the seven holds and will end up making some fairly varied problems with them. We had them on both walls, our old wall in a rough set (where we took all the World Cup holds) and just set something set by set in one long route and then we became more focused on the new wall on the 30 degree wall; setting something that go's from the Diablo dual texture holds into the angle and the Morbs... it looks pretty simple and given the easy nature of these holds it is easy... until you get to the one small sloper of the set on the side wall. Matching this hold is pretty hard, doable, but hard to do. As you've seen from the video we played around with one move of the route to see how many different ways we could get through it.
On the 45 degree wall for me 5 of the holds are fine, the smallest sloper and it's bigger brethren are always going to get relegated to footholds, there isn't enough to catch and hang on..
Overall being another new company World Cup Climbing Holds waited for the bell and then came out swinging. Not having the biggest line out there but also not having the smallest, they're trying to make a name in a market that has expanded a lot over the last two or three years... it's a good for us (the hold buying public) but hard for them to get noticed. The Morbs aren't the most creative holds out there, but there is some great variety within the set... you know a little something something for everyone and the price is pretty good; I'd point people looking for some cheap holds towards this set (there are actually two Morbs sets) they're pretty good filler for a wall that needs some holds, pretty beginner friendly and very well made. They're not for everyone, as hold shape / size / style is going to be subjective to the person looking at them... I'm honestly 50/50 on them because they don't give me the degree of challenge I looked for in a set of holds (that's just my personal taste), I enjoyed climbing on them but they're not a.m.a.z.i.n.g.
So that's the end of Round One with World Cup... we kept the more interesting stuff for Round Two... we really wanted to kick the crap out of the next set of holds that we've got coming up sooner rather than later (and for us to do that we needed a new wall... well now we have no excuses :P)
Stay tuned, there's some more stuff coming and it's pretty jaw dropping
Chris:
Ok…I was pleasantly surprised with these holds. At first glance I didn’t think much of them and passed them off as “just another set of holds”, but after a setting with them I changed my tune. We had these holds a while and they’ve seen some time on the old wall. We used them mixed in with other holds and they’ve been one of our staple sets lately. It all comes down to the fact that they’re fun to set with. They're finger friendly and have more options than less that's for sure, I came back from BC and was thrown on a route that Noodles set on the 30 degree wall... we ended up getting all caught up playing with just one move of that route as it really captured our imagination; a lot of fun was had that afternoon!!
From 45 to vertical these holds will serve you pretty well, they're not much to look at but they do get the job done that's for sure. I'd have liked to have both of the sets at the same time so we could have set some longer problems
PROS:
- Small sized holds that are great for small walls
- Pretty versatile shapes, there's a good mix of styles
- Good price
- Well built
- Shapes maybe a little too simple for some peoples tastes
- 7 holds isn't a long boulder problem
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Chris goes to BC part deux
Now that I've spent a couple of days in the city, I'm ready to go back and rough it out in Squamish once again. While in Vancouver I had a chance to see Stanley Park and spent an afternoon on Granville island. Stanley parl reminds me a lot of our own urban park back home in Montreal. I also had a chance to go climb at the Edge Climbing Center. The Edge is smaller than Allez Up, the routes are about 15-20 meters high (Allez Up has high ceilings and our routes are quite long) but they boast a large boulder section. They have a good wall to warm up on and they have some nice roof and steep overhanging sections. It's a little out of the way and you need to cross the Lions Gate Bridge to get there but there is a really good vibe in that gym and my friends living in Vancouver suggest that I go to the Edge. So I spent an afternoon climbing with an old climbing partner who relocated to Vancouver last year and we climbed hard and got re-acquainted.
I planned to get back to Squamish on the weekend but the local forecast calls for rain this weekend so I decided to go early and hope for some nice weather.
June 18
1:oo p.m
I'm at the Vancouver Bus Depot and it's a beautiful day. I hope it's like this in Squamish.
3:30 p.m
It's a cloudy day in Squamish. People have been telling me that the weather hasen't been great this week but its been climbable. If it doesn't rain, I should be able to get a session in before dark.
5:00 p.m
I've got my shelter up and I'm stilltrying to locate Aryane. She's been here since Tuesday. She's probably out climbing some sport or trad. The weather held up and I heven't seen the rain all afternoon. The boulders are calling me.
9:00 p.m
I went up to Dreamcatcher and found the crashpad that I found there last week. I want to focus my attention on Baba Hari Dass so I warmed up on some of the problems I sent last week. So far I find the Black Dyke boulder is the best place for me to warm up. The easy highballs put me in a good head space. I moved onto the Easy Chair boulder and then headed back to Baba Hari Dass. I have three quarters of the sequence dialed in and the few hours spent at the Edge has prepared me for working on this problem. Now I'm pretty much getting to the top most of the time but I'm trying to figure out hoe to top it out. So far, out of all the people working this problem (and there are a lot of people who try it out) I haven't seen anyone finish it so every time I get to the top I'm trying to figure out what to do and I fall off. Thank god the landing is flat, its a scary fall.
June 19
8:30 a.m
I found Aryane at the cooking shelter last night hanginf out with the Quebec contingency. No surprise there, we make up a large part of the climbing community here in Squamish. We're heading out to Cheakamus Canyon for some sport climbing. Should be fun and it will give me a break from Ali Baba...I mean Baba Hari Dass;)
8:00 p.m
What a productive Day! We started off on Foundation Wall and although there are only six climbs in that area, it's a good place to warm up, with climbs ranging from 5.7 to 5.10. I find that the grades here are light comparedto what I'm used to at Montagne D'Argent back home. We moved onto the Forgotten wall and I found a really good 5.11d to work on...I think it's called Rug Munchers, although I'm not sure since I don't have a guide with me. I worked on it and sent it on my third attempt. It's a pumpy route with one good rest despite the obvious good holds found throughout the climb. My friend Jason sent a nice 5.12d with a hard throw to a three finger pocket in the crux of the route. Its a really impresive climb that I would like to work on the next time I'm in Squamish. We've been invited to go out and party in downtown Squamish but we're pretty tired from climbing today and we'll be taking it easy back at the campsite. No Baba tonight.
June 20
10:00 a.m
Breakfast is in my belly and I'm ready to go climb. Aryane went to go spend a second day in Cheakamus Canyon with Jason. It's been a pretty overcast all day, but I don't think it'll rain and I've decided to stay in Squamish and try to send Baba Hari Dass. I think this is becoming an obsession.
2:00 p.m
I went and did my regular warm up on the Black Dyke before moving onto my project. I can execute every move...start matched, cross onto a slope, left hand pinch, foot onto start hold, roll and cross into crimp, etc...and the moves come so easily the first couple of attempts but then I lose my juice and my sequence gets sloppy and I fall of the first couple of moves. Maybe a V7 will be unattainable this trip.....nah....I think I just need a rest day.
6:00 p.m
I went out to hit some new problems to boost my morale. I met a guy from Utah named Sam working on a cool problem on the Titanic boulder called the Mantis. The first move is a throw from an undercling and its a move that is really my kind of style. It goes from this to a top out. Short and sweet:) I also sent Titanic and Jer's Arrete on the same boulder. This ended up being another great climbing day.
June 21
9:30 a.m
This should be a rest day but I met some tree planters that Aryane was hanging out with and they've invited me to go out to Cheakamus Canyon. They're planning on taking it easy and I won't climb any harder than 5.9.
3:00 p.m
Did I say 5.9? I meant to say 5.10 c. There was one climb on Foundation Wall that I had left untried and unsent the last time I was at Cheakamus that I neede to climb to complete the six climbs in that area. We tried to find another area with easy climbs but got lost so we decided to come back to the campsite.
June 22
8:00 a.m
It's early and I've alredy taken a walk around the park, eaten and ready to warm up and hit Baba Hari Dass.
11:00 a.m
I found the crash pad under Dreamcatcher again. It must be my lucky pad:) There are many boulders around Dreamcatcher that go untouched. I can see that they've been climbed before from the faint chalk marks washed away by rain under the overgrown moss. I worked on an arrete that is a V6 or higher that I wasn't able to send so a changed the starting holds to make it a V0. I sent the Easy Chair problems to prepare for work on Baba Hari Dass. It was a good warm up and I made it to the last move on my three attempts on the problem. Now it's time for a break and lunch.
1:00 p.m
My bus leaves at 5:30 and I have enough time to give Baba three more attempts.
6:00 p.m
I'm on the Grayhound going back to Vancouver and I still haven't sent my project. I'm disappointed but I've made progress. I'm consistently getting to the last move but I'm having trouble toping out the problem. I don't know if I'll be back in Squamish on this trip since I'll be leaving for Skaha Lake on the weekend and may stay there for the remainder of my trip.
My Sends
Random 5.8-5.10c sport climbs in Cheakamus Canyon (I don't have my guide book)
Rug munchers-5.11d sport
The Mantis-V4
Jer's Arrete-V4
Titanic-V3
Random V0 near Dreamcatcher
I planned to get back to Squamish on the weekend but the local forecast calls for rain this weekend so I decided to go early and hope for some nice weather.
June 18
1:oo p.m
I'm at the Vancouver Bus Depot and it's a beautiful day. I hope it's like this in Squamish.
3:30 p.m
It's a cloudy day in Squamish. People have been telling me that the weather hasen't been great this week but its been climbable. If it doesn't rain, I should be able to get a session in before dark.
5:00 p.m
I've got my shelter up and I'm stilltrying to locate Aryane. She's been here since Tuesday. She's probably out climbing some sport or trad. The weather held up and I heven't seen the rain all afternoon. The boulders are calling me.
9:00 p.m
I went up to Dreamcatcher and found the crashpad that I found there last week. I want to focus my attention on Baba Hari Dass so I warmed up on some of the problems I sent last week. So far I find the Black Dyke boulder is the best place for me to warm up. The easy highballs put me in a good head space. I moved onto the Easy Chair boulder and then headed back to Baba Hari Dass. I have three quarters of the sequence dialed in and the few hours spent at the Edge has prepared me for working on this problem. Now I'm pretty much getting to the top most of the time but I'm trying to figure out hoe to top it out. So far, out of all the people working this problem (and there are a lot of people who try it out) I haven't seen anyone finish it so every time I get to the top I'm trying to figure out what to do and I fall off. Thank god the landing is flat, its a scary fall.
June 19
8:30 a.m
I found Aryane at the cooking shelter last night hanginf out with the Quebec contingency. No surprise there, we make up a large part of the climbing community here in Squamish. We're heading out to Cheakamus Canyon for some sport climbing. Should be fun and it will give me a break from Ali Baba...I mean Baba Hari Dass;)
8:00 p.m
What a productive Day! We started off on Foundation Wall and although there are only six climbs in that area, it's a good place to warm up, with climbs ranging from 5.7 to 5.10. I find that the grades here are light comparedto what I'm used to at Montagne D'Argent back home. We moved onto the Forgotten wall and I found a really good 5.11d to work on...I think it's called Rug Munchers, although I'm not sure since I don't have a guide with me. I worked on it and sent it on my third attempt. It's a pumpy route with one good rest despite the obvious good holds found throughout the climb. My friend Jason sent a nice 5.12d with a hard throw to a three finger pocket in the crux of the route. Its a really impresive climb that I would like to work on the next time I'm in Squamish. We've been invited to go out and party in downtown Squamish but we're pretty tired from climbing today and we'll be taking it easy back at the campsite. No Baba tonight.
June 20
10:00 a.m
Breakfast is in my belly and I'm ready to go climb. Aryane went to go spend a second day in Cheakamus Canyon with Jason. It's been a pretty overcast all day, but I don't think it'll rain and I've decided to stay in Squamish and try to send Baba Hari Dass. I think this is becoming an obsession.
2:00 p.m
I went and did my regular warm up on the Black Dyke before moving onto my project. I can execute every move...start matched, cross onto a slope, left hand pinch, foot onto start hold, roll and cross into crimp, etc...and the moves come so easily the first couple of attempts but then I lose my juice and my sequence gets sloppy and I fall of the first couple of moves. Maybe a V7 will be unattainable this trip.....nah....I think I just need a rest day.
6:00 p.m
I went out to hit some new problems to boost my morale. I met a guy from Utah named Sam working on a cool problem on the Titanic boulder called the Mantis. The first move is a throw from an undercling and its a move that is really my kind of style. It goes from this to a top out. Short and sweet:) I also sent Titanic and Jer's Arrete on the same boulder. This ended up being another great climbing day.
June 21
9:30 a.m
This should be a rest day but I met some tree planters that Aryane was hanging out with and they've invited me to go out to Cheakamus Canyon. They're planning on taking it easy and I won't climb any harder than 5.9.
3:00 p.m
Did I say 5.9? I meant to say 5.10 c. There was one climb on Foundation Wall that I had left untried and unsent the last time I was at Cheakamus that I neede to climb to complete the six climbs in that area. We tried to find another area with easy climbs but got lost so we decided to come back to the campsite.
June 22
8:00 a.m
It's early and I've alredy taken a walk around the park, eaten and ready to warm up and hit Baba Hari Dass.
11:00 a.m
I found the crash pad under Dreamcatcher again. It must be my lucky pad:) There are many boulders around Dreamcatcher that go untouched. I can see that they've been climbed before from the faint chalk marks washed away by rain under the overgrown moss. I worked on an arrete that is a V6 or higher that I wasn't able to send so a changed the starting holds to make it a V0. I sent the Easy Chair problems to prepare for work on Baba Hari Dass. It was a good warm up and I made it to the last move on my three attempts on the problem. Now it's time for a break and lunch.
1:00 p.m
My bus leaves at 5:30 and I have enough time to give Baba three more attempts.
6:00 p.m
I'm on the Grayhound going back to Vancouver and I still haven't sent my project. I'm disappointed but I've made progress. I'm consistently getting to the last move but I'm having trouble toping out the problem. I don't know if I'll be back in Squamish on this trip since I'll be leaving for Skaha Lake on the weekend and may stay there for the remainder of my trip.
My Sends
Random 5.8-5.10c sport climbs in Cheakamus Canyon (I don't have my guide book)
Rug munchers-5.11d sport
The Mantis-V4
Jer's Arrete-V4
Titanic-V3
Random V0 near Dreamcatcher
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