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Review > Enix Climbing > Medium Slopers

Ok hands up who loves climbing holds?

Well if you don't then you're in the wrong place reading the wrong post about the wrong thing; maybe you should go read: http://theoatmeal.com/ or something because this is a hold review site and we're about to get balls deep in some urethane loving

Got that?

Good!

So Exix, run by Brian May aka: The Hollow Back Master is a new company, less than a year old and it's something that people should probably take note of. When we say people we really mean Teknik.... boom, first shot fired across their bow for sure... we think there maybe a few more fired before we're done writing this one lol

Let's get to the stuff we're talking about; slopers, simple, pure, dirty dirty slopers! Want to climb in Font? Train on slopers; want to climb on zee Grit? Train on slopers (and really small dime ball edges (and learn to place gear)) So yeah, blah blah another set of slopers is what you're hearing; well you're hearing wrong and it's time to grab a Q-Tip and work on the ol' wax deposits because this review is about slopers... but not just any slopers, we're talking about these:

They look all unassuming and easy, they look like slopers... hell anyone can make a sloper but these are special; not short bus special but special! Don't believe us, go watch the video, the wall that the climbers are on is slightly slabbed to less than 10 degrees overhung and see what happens when you take 5 simple holds, a few feet and you let Noodles set for the hard climbers. What happens is a spit fest, not because he set like a complete idiot but because these holds take finesse to hold on to.

fi·nesse

[fi-ness]

noun

1. extreme delicacy or subtlety in action, performance, skill, discrimination, taste, etc.

2. skill in handling a difficult or highly sensitive situation; adroit and artful management: exceptional diplomatic finesse.

Or as Noodles likes to put it "getting burnt off by a 90 year old in Font when you've been training like crazy but you can't hold onto a simple sloping bit of rock"

Yeah, these are not normal slopers... thumb catch, ha, there's no thumb catch. Dual texture, ha, there's no dual texture just the texture of the shape. A way to cheat the hold, ha, good luck with that! There are slopers and then there are these, we can list some great great slopers.

Hell, lets do that so we can see where these holds stack up:

• Friction: Chrome Domes; amazing shapes, slightly scooped, dual texture. Slightly heavy
• Climb It:Shallow Slopers; we thought that these were hard on a vertical wall and then these guys turned up
• Teknik: NKR1; awesome hold, awesome shaping. Needs a set screw hole, some back bracing but as close to just awesome as we thought that it would get
• Teknik: No Shadow Hands; about as evil as a sloper can get, enough said
• Teknik: Mathematics; Hell these we`rent hard enough so Teknik made harder versions of these! Great great holds

So what do we take from that quick summary? Teknik makes great slopers and we can make a really long list of REALLY good slopers. Enix has done just that, they've not just make good slopers, they've made epic slopers. The kind of thing that you'd expect from Teknik, Climb It and all the other people out there... they've not just done it they've made epic slopers that when we talk about this type of shape we're going to have to mention this company

Yeah, they're that good. Blown away? Yeah you could say! From the texture that is just right, to the pre-drilled set screw holes to the hollow back you cannot fault these holds and we really really tried to find fault but we cannot. Oh hang on we can!! We can find a fault and it's a crap one... "someone beginning to climb will not be able to use this set of holds" or "if I set them over 15 degrees then I cannot hang on"... well thats just the way the cookie crumbles we guess. These holds are pure comp fodder, these holds are meant to test the strong climber that dwells deep down inside of you, these holds will make you strong and they will make you humble

Most of all they will make you climb with Finesse; and sometimes that's all you need

SUGGESTED USES:
 

What? Only 30 degrees? Well yeah, sorry we can't really get onto them (no one really can) past 30 degrees but we know we'll keep on trucking on that one for sure. These holds are great for comp problems and shallow walls, if you're up for the challenge then up the angle and just watch the fun because people are going to fly all over the place on these holds. Well formed, matchable and if set right some of the best holds you can find.

If you want to set hard, go to 45 degrees and you're looking at V6-V8 problems without breaking into a sweat


OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds: 5
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $110 / 5 = $22 per hold
• Color: Green
• Bolt placement: Middle
• Sanding: Awesome
• Hollow backed: Oh hells yeah
• Soft back (Rubber backed): Nope
• Texture: Great
• Set size: Medium; but they're not medium sized holds
• Versatility: Limited
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yup
• Shaper: Brian May
• Weight: TBC
• Where can you get them: www.enixclimbing.com

You have to take note straight from the beginning that the images on the Enix website do not do these holds any justice at all; no sir. Our green screen doesn't really do them much justice either, but you'll get the idea from the walk through

Near prefect hollow backs with a reinforced set screw hole; near perfect texture and near perfect slopers is what you're looking at.

The sanding is lazer sharp, the center columns are straight and well drilled with a nicely placed washer. Even the slightly raised logo is there just enough to accent the shape without compromising the gripping placements

We cannot fault these holds at all.. if we were it would be that the color runs off a little from green to yellow at the bottom edge of the hold.

The other thing this is to note is that these holds are not medium sized, medium is how hard they are; these holds are more XL or a little larger. So the price is there or there abouts; you're paying for what you get and in this case its quality

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Awesome, went to Ontario and then we're man handled to Montreal with no issues

RATING:
Noodles:
Take my money, take my money... JUST TAKE MY MONEY! Yeah it's kind of one of those; whats funny is we started with this set of holds thinking that it'd be an ok review and we saved the better ones for a second review and then we got thrown a curve. Because what we thought was going to be ok holds ended up being just superb.

We don't like writing gushing reviews, we hate them, we want to find the niggling little details that are annoying and then hammer on about them and then hammer them some more and then we're pretty good.

It's really hard to hammer some holds when they're pretty well perfect

Let me explain; you know that you want something but you don't know what it is? You know, there's something missing but you can't quite put your finger on what is missing... well these holds are one of those things. We didn't know what we were missing until we got our hands on them. Yeah it's one of those sets of holds where home wall owners are going to groan because they'll want them routesetters are going to want them, Jackie Hueftle (one of the setters from the Spot) recently said that if people had them and didn't like them that she'd take them all. Routesetters are going to want three of these sets... oh yeah, there are larger ones

Yeah, they're actually that good, yes I cannot recommend them enough and I suggest you go and check these holds out

Chris:
I'm going to make this short and sweet, there's a set of Enix pinches that I want to go play with. Read the review, it's all there! These holds are superb in every way, I love them and want more of them NOW

PROS:

• Amazing slopers, great for comps
• Tick every box that we need ticked 

CONS:

• Slight color fade on the edges
• Possibly a little expensive for home wall owners