Review > Pusher Gear > Molecule

Ah "Big Black" as we call it... ah "BB" as it's known to us, to you it's called the Molecule and it's one of what we call classic holds from Pusher Gear. For those of you not versed in the language of Pusher, let us introduce your worst nightmare:

It's big and it sure is beautiful to look at, Noodles took some "artistic" shots of it whilst it was going through it's paces (you can find them amongst our usual Facebook updates). The Molecule is a shape by renowned climber and shaper Jason Kehl, this is probably one of the first large holds that Jason became known for, the first time this shape saw the light of day was back in 2001 at the first PCA competition (anyone remember those comps?) and it was well received. If you've climbed indoors at all you'll know the story of Pusher and that they stopped making holds for a good long while until they resurfaced last year... and the reemergence of Pusher meant that shapes like the Boss and Molecule came back for another generation of indoor monkeys

So it's big and it's black, what else is there to this thing? Well it's heavy as well, 26lbs is a lot of urethane to put up on the wall, even with it's new hollow back this thing is a two person job rather than the old days when it was a three person job; sure it's a pain to get up and move about but once it's up... well that's when the fun starts :)

Now it's going to look like we didn't rotate the hold from it's original position on the wall, or move it around. We did, but the other routes we set weren't anywhere near as enjoyable as the ones we filmed, the best of them is right at the end of the video and is the last two clips... let us explain:
Start on some Kando holds and then into the Molecule, set yourself up with the top sloper and then get your arm all the way underneath "BB" and then back step into a long move to another Kando hold... needless to say getting to the Kando hold was hard, getting out of "BB" is something we're still trying to work out as the move is just pure power. It's something that was set late one night and was worked on and off for a couple of weeks until we moved the Molecule... but it will come back.

We made the decision right from the get-go to put this beast of a hold on the 30 degree wall, it was going to be too easy on the vertical and a little trickier on the 45 (it makes any route a hoot on this angle)... we even put it on the 60 (talk about powerful moves!)  For instance when this hold was at the PCA comp it was used as a mantel on a V5 or V6 problem, it's just about big enough to do things like this with it. We wanted everyone to get onto the hold and to play around... the 30 degree wall seemed like the best option for all... and it was, anything less makes the features of this hold too easy and anything more makes them a little too hard (for some climbers)... and the 30 degree wall allows nearly all of the intricate sloper / undercut / pinch moves you could want. The amount of times we set a route that used this hold wasn't even funny; from three move, get on, get off the Molecule to routes where you had to position your body in the right place (at times it involved 3 or four hand movements just on the one shape) the Molecule took it all... even though she was injured before anyone climber on her :( This is pretty unusual for Pusher as they normally drill out the holes and we've never had a problem before... maybe because it was the first pour that came out of the mold they just over looked some of their usual steps

Injured, yup. Chris cracked the hold when he was putting in a set screw. A number 8 set tapper to be exact, with the drill on almost minimum torque. Noodles was not amused. It's not the first time we've cracked a hold and it sure as hell won't be the last... but something that is $200 and a classic... well that's something completely different!!! The are a number of reasons why the hold cracked, we had the drill angle right, and the correct sized screw AND the drill on super slow and easy... despite having placements for screws the holes aren't drilled all the way through so you either have to use a self taping screw (which we use a lot) or you have to pre-drill the hole. We took self taping and the hold cracked.

SUGGESTED USES:








The only reason this hold doesn't get a roof rating is because we're not that evil :) You could put it up there but a) it'd be hard and b) it'd probably be a waste of a feature like this. If you have a gym or a wall with a lot of space (the middle of an 8ft by 8ft surface is good enough) then you're going to enjoy owning this hold; it's not for everyone and when it's down from the wall it does take up a bunch of space for storage but considering what you can do with this hold it's worth it, sure it's not cheap at $199 but it is a (as the Pusher Gear website classes it) a MONSTER hold.

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 1
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $199
• Color: Black
• Bolt placement: Off centered
• Sanding: Awesome
• Hollow backed: Yes
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Good
• Set size: Massive, they call it a monster
• Versatility: Great
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes but not drilled through
• Shaper: Jason Kehl
• Weight: 26lbs
• Distribution:
• US: www.pushergear.com
• EU: www.revolutionclimbing.eu
• Scandinavia: www.frictionwalls.com
• Japan: www.crux-jp.com
• Australia: www.bigjohn.com.au

Right it's heavy.. but it is bloody massive... sure compared to some of the stuff that Jason Kehl has shaped of late it's not actually that big :) But it is still massive, you do need some wall space for this puppy that's for sure.
The hollow back is perfect, the walls of the holds are nice and thick and give the shape a lot of structural strength.

The texture is grippy but not so grippy that you're going to walk away with flayed skin and sore tips, we spent many hours on the hold and never had a problem, from slapping it to pinching it the whole shape is well designed. If you over chalk then you will find yourself brushing the hold a bunch as chalk does build up quite quickly.

Our hold is called Big Black, guess what color it is... yup black. As the hold was the first out of the mold it did have some little bits of dust within the material, but considering it's now covered in chalk it's something that you don't notice at all.

The bolt hole has a good straight hole and wall placed washer. Considering this hold is so big the fact that the sanding is perfect is a feat in itself, the hold sits level on a wall with no little areas where you could sneak a finger tip for some extra purchase (aka: cheating)

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Awesome

RATING:
Noodles:
Right, consider this statement: Jason Kehl shaped this hold back in 2001. For it's time it was probably the biggest bad ass piece of resin (now urethane!) piece that people could bolt onto a climbing wall... let's face it, it's pretty bloody impressive. This hold and the Boss started a revolution (ha!) within the industry, so this hold and the fact that it's back on the market means you're buying a piece of history.. consider the size of some of the holds that Jason has been putting out lately, they're not so much holds as art, the industry has moved on and so has his style but you can see and feel it with this monster.. you can feel the beginning of something much bigger (ha!)

Whenever a box arrives from Pusher or Revolution it's always an interesting time as you never quite know what is going to be inside, Clark likes to keep us on our toes that's for sure. This time we knew it was coming but we didn't quite realize how big the Molecule actually is. Again, considering when this hold was made it's impressive to say the least.

The stand out route using this hold was one that didn't get finished, I'm going to put it back up again soon. The back-step undercling on the Molecule with the pinch and then up into the roof... amazing movement, super hard but great fun. I must have hit that problem more than I care to think about and I never had a problem with the Molecule or my skin. It'll be back and we'll film it because it will be hard as all hell.

The Molecule (considering I don't think I'd ever seen or climbed on one ever) actually kind of blew my mind a little, I didn't know what to expect, apart from pictures I'd seen and now I have climbed on one I can say that I enjoyed the hell out of it, yes it's big, yes it's heavy but it sure as hell is a good addition for a gym...and then if you consider the price of it... and that it's actually a feature and from what I can work out considering the size it's about 1/2 the price of much of the stuff that's on the market

Chris:

Look out plague, black death has a new contender and its name is the Molecule! Now if you're a fan of the Boss from Pusher Gear then you'll find a different kind of modular hold here. What we've got with this hold  are options and unlike the Boss, this big boy has pinches, incuts and slopers all in one. With the Boss its hard to get away from the open hand sloper and this has its limitations.


So I made a rookie mistake in not piloting a screw hole and on this first note, this hold need screws. I wouldn't trust a hold this size with just one bolt.

Whichever way you rotate this hold it has options... some are obviously better than others and it can take a little while for you to find out which way you want to grip the hold. We tried it every which way and then how and there's no mistaking that this is a hold that has a lot to give. On the downside it is still heavy and it will take two people to put up, but it's more than worth that hassle for the fun you can have playing with it.


PROS:

• Lots of grabbing options
• 
  

CONS:

• Heavy, needs two people to put up
• Screw holes should be drilled out before sending

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Review > Climb It Holds > Tufas

Ah Climb It... their new website with all of their new sets will be online very soon... so here's another sneek peek of what's going to drop very very soon... the Tufas as you can see there are a lot of them.

Photos: Aidas Rygelis | Ruby Photo Studio
www.rubyphotostudio.com

That when you think about it is a lot of holds, from small to 2XL+, there is enough urethane here for some of the tallest routes around and if you use the sloping holds you're not looking at an easy route at all, you're looking at some stiff ol' grades :) We were told by the shaper to pinch these like men because we mentioned that we were going to make a whole layback route out of them... so we went one further and stuck them across the roof which meant some really mean pinches, to make things even more interesting Noodles decided that the move into the roof should be a sloper. The route was described as "not doable" by Bobby... ha! Once you figured out the beta, which was a right hand bump three times and then a big old toe hook on a hold on the roof it because really doable, pumpy as all hell but totally doable... sure it took some working to get the moves down but it wasn't really that bad.

Was that pinchy enough for you Mr Anderson?

Photo: http://www.bonuel.ca

Once that route was put to bed we set some traverses and some layback routes where the only holds you could use were the same for your feet, thank god some of the holds are deep because it would have become impossible if they'd not have been.

Those of you that read this site a lot will have noticed the pictures that we're using of the holds in action... Dustin was in town to do some setting some months back for Allez Up and he wanted to borrow the Tufas for a couple of finals routes at the Tour De Bloc when it was held at True North in Toronto. In true Dustin style the finals problems were just crazy, one of the mens problems and one of the ladies problems were set with just the Tufas (and a couple of extra footholds, considering the steepness of the walls that True North have at their disposal the problems look pretty damn stiff! (As usual all of the images are click for larger)

Photo: http://www.bonuel.ca

There are more than enough holds when you look at the entire set for any angle of wall, you just need to shop carefully when you look at what you're looking to buy. From the get-go apart from the holds being slick and needing time to "bed in" because of the release agent that Climb It uses to get the shapes out of the mold the holds received lots of praise from everyone that climbed on them. Everyone was kind of sad to see them disappear for a couple of months whilst they were off on loan, we have them back and we know full well that they're going back onto the wall as soon as we make some space :)



SUGGESTED USES:








Stick them wherever you want! There's a little of everything on these holds with the exception of pockets, they do feel pretty rock like, well more rock-lite feeling, they all have nice rounded edges and even when you're hitting them hard and at speed you're not going to have any problems... hell if you're in the wall for hours and hours these guys don't trash your hands, Noodles and Bob hit the same route at the end of a long session for about three hours and they both walked away with their skin intact.


Some of the larger holds may end up being too big for a small home woody, but thankfully you can just choose a smaller set of holds that will fit your needs

OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 28
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): TBC
• Color: Neon green
• Bolt placement: Centered
• Sanding: Great
• Hollow backed: On the larger shapes yes
• Soft back (Rubber backed):
• Texture: Awesome
• Set size: Small to 2XL+
• Versatility: Not bad
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes in ALL the holds
• Shaper: Louie Anderson
• Weight: Various

Climb It have done a superb job with these holds, from the hollow backs to the set screw holes in every hold... the sanding is perfect and the color is even throughout the shapes. From inset washers, to bolt columns it's like they've gone down the checklist on what to do and have ticked every box.

There are a few problems with the holds but they're minor, the holds do take a while to "bed in" because the release agent that Climb It uses makes the holds super slick, so don't expect to be cranking down right away; we actually pre-chalked the holds before we climbed, it just makes life a little faster :) Despite the holds all having set screw holes pre-placed, not all of them were drilled through; this is something that is a minor point that is going to become major in the future for us, if you have a set screw hole go that extra step and drill it all the way through, don't half measure this little step, it does make a huge difference. Pre-drilling the holes is also important as it will lessen the likely hood of the hold snapping when you chuck a screw in once the hold is on the wall. The only other minor gripe is that some of the bolt holes on holds that have center columns are drilled a little off center... they're straight but not right down the middle, again another minor point but something that should be pointed out

Overall the holds are superbly built 

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
One huge box, super well packed. No damage en-transit

RATING:
Noodles:
Right off of the bat I'm going to state something. Something that is interesting.
"These are the best holds that Climb It make"
Do I need to continue after a statement like that?

Let me explain a little

a) The holds came through with no defects
b) They were well packed
c) They look gnarly but are super comfortable
d) There are enough holds for really tall walls and long routes
e) Some of them are massive and have well formed hollow backs
f) Even the small holds had screw holes

I could go on and on. We've seen a lot of Climb It holds, almost their entire range in bits and bobs and there's always been something wrong... some little thing that just isn't quite right. The Edges were a little too sharp, the Blockys cracked etc etc, but these are perfect. They're hard enough for a 5.14 but useful enough for a V2... hell they were lent to True North for a Tour De Bloc finals route that was in Dustin's words "pimp"

Now the best set of holds is a BIG BIG statement, the Power Domes are some of my favorites as well. So maybe I'll refine my statement a little. "Of the new sets that Climb It are releasing in 2011, the Tufas should probably be in your gym"

Again, another statement that warrants some explanation...

You want long lay back routes? Tufas
You want to work your pinch strength on a variety of rock like pinches? Tufas
You want holds that you can hook and hand match on? Tufas (the big ones)

You want interesting slopers that are evil? Tufas (only some of them thou)
You want to hear me show you the holds? Watch the walk through, it's super long :)

Photos: Aidas Rygelis | Ruby Photo Studio
www.rubyphotostudio.com

By far of what we've seen from Climb It over the last three odd years these are the best holds that we've seen from them, of course there are a couple of complaints :) The release agent they use makes the brand new holds hard to hold onto and they do take some time to get chalked up and in working order. One of the screw holes (and we used all of the holes) did crack, but that was us (Mark) with the wrong sized screw. Other than that they should be checked out, soon as we have some space they're going back onto the wall.. and lets face it if they make a Tour De Bloc finals problem like the images we've kindly been allowed to use (that are all over the review) then they're something special... read Dustin's comments for the full break down on the problem and how he used the holds

Chris:

Wow! Like usual, Climb It has molded some awesome shapes. They're all pinchy and kinda look alike but each one has some hidden features. The other thing is, like the gym, we have quite a bit of Climb It holds and we can get the feel for all the different sizes Climb It has to offer.

So I would say if you don't like pinches, you should pick up a set of these holds (and if you're like us, you'd have the full range ;) The versatility of this set will keep you setting over and over but you can also train on these holds since their open hand and comfortable.

I would have to say that these holds are some of he coolest pinches I've seen from Climb It. The shapes are versatile. If you want a slope or a pinch, you'll find it with these holds. The ridges and intricacies in the mold make for some interesting grips and are really great and fun to match, you can even get digits from both hands onto the smaller guys.

All that said, I love this set. We had them up on the vertical, 45 and roof and they always had something to offer. The shapes have a lot to offer and even though their pinches, you could pass them off as crimps and even slopes. Another winner from Climb It.
 
Mark:
These green tufa's were a pleasure to climb on. The versatility and size of this set was leaning towards spectacular.  To top it all off, the negative aspects of the holds were almost non-existent. This set came with everything from massive to tiny slopers and pinches.They could be used as said holds, you could hang on them on almost all angles and some of them had in the rippling features miniature sloping crimps to work off of. The toeing and heeling on these holds were great, you could bicycle them, sit on them or pretty much anything.

The downsides of these suckers are that when new they are pretty slick and they absorb a fair amount of chalk before you start sticking them properly. Though on the plus side; even though we kept slipping off of them we never destroyed our hands since the texture wasn't too porous. They also only have one set screw hole and it isn't drilled all the way through making it a bit of a hassle to screw them the first time.
 
What I really would of loved on this set is that the large pinches would of had screw holes all around the hold so that you could place them without a bolt. These big pinches would make great hand jam cracks if only they could be placed properly. For sure you could make a cool hand jam in a roof with a couple of those to spice up your route or boulder problem style.
 
As for actually climbing them as tufa's we unfortunately didn't have the chance since our room is too small.  I would imagine it'd be pretty wicked and given the real tufa's I've had the chance to climb on I'd say these are pretty realistic. I look forward to climbing them as they should be climbed one day, I'm sure it'll be a wicked line!  


Dustin:

Photos: Aidas Rygelis | Ruby Photo Studio
www.rubyphotostudio.com

So the Climb It Tufas... Lets talk about one of the best damn sets of holds I've ever laid my hands on, tightened onto a wall or watched someone else fondle! These holds are the best that Climb It has put out, by far and I'm a big fan of all their shapes, Black Mountain crimps give you some heinous crimpin, they've got giant jugs for haulin on roofs or for the gym's classic 5.8 route, power pinches for your simple thugged-out bouldering, simple shapes, natural shapes, all of it, Climb It has one of the most diverse line in the biz, and these shapes are the fucking pinnacle of this shit! I swear to you, I borrowed these to sample them on some finals problems for True North's Tour De Bloc, and I had to give them back to Jeremy since I borrowed them for the comp and a month afterward from him, and my setters will not shut up about when we get our order.

Let's just get down to basics, I know that I'm supposed to write some bullshit about how they worked on certain angles and shit like that but honestly, that's what Jeremy is for. I'll be honest, I am a Climb It athlete and this shit is not biased! As a route setter, as the comps head route setter, the problems that I set with the tufas, (men's and women's final #4) were a bit too hard, I know but still, they consisted of some dope holds with some cool movements but the thing about these holds, is diversity. If someone asked me about the Climb It Tufas I'd say that the word tufa, doesn't really aply to this style of hold. When I think of Tufa's I really think of long pinches. These were not only that but bad slopers, moderate ledges, slopey pinches, incut crimps, all of it! If you are looking for a style of hold that perfectly rounds out your gyms selection or your home walls versatility, look no further! These would be perfect on steep, to slightly overhung to even vertical, just use your imagination.

I used these holds as positive pinches, bad slopers on a triangle feature, big feat, ledges, the works! On top of all this, the quality of urethane is unreal! Most solid and durable urethane on the planet. Believe me, we at True North have broken everything, every climbing hold company that we have, we have broken at least one of their holds, Climb It is one of those offenders, yet these holds, with their hollow backs, have stood up to the best and worst, that we have had to offer and use and abuse. If you don't have these holds, get them. Jeremy, I'm waiting for mine.


PROS:

• Huge size range
• Lots of grabbing options

CONS:

• Take a while to bed in
• Some of the larger matchable holds might be too big for a home wall