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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

Review > Capital Climbing > Barnacles XL & Clast Lip

So Capital Climbing are a new company, they're kind of officially on the market and at some point they should be launching a full on website... right now it's not the case but you can go see them at www.cheapholds.com for now.

We have a bunch of stuff to review from these guys and we're pretty stoked on what we have to play with for a while. What we're looking at this time is a set of holds called the Barnacles and one of the feature holds from the Clast Lips range.

When we received these holds Noodles just sat around and played with them for a few days... why? Just before the holds arrived he knew he had to set some comp routes and new holds means you have to get your mojo on and get it done... first lets look at the holds:

Barnacles

 

 Clast Lip Feature

Taking new holds into a gym is always a fun if risky proposition; we've been setting comps and routes for ages but it's always a new challenge when you have new holds; sure professional (paid) setters get to do it all the time but that is their job; we're unpaid reviewers that set a bunch and when you're setting for a comp the pressure is always a little higher!!

The way the friendly comps work at Shakti is there are three classes; beginner, intermediate and expert. All of the walls are sectioned off and there are three routes in that area; one for each class basically; the people that sign up are randomly assigned to a team and when the timer starts each team has 10 minutes to get up the three routes in their area... rinse and repeat. What Noodles did is set three routes in the same area to make filming them easy and went to work setting... he had a plan and here's how it went...

The Clast Lip just shouted GASTON so that was his starting point, the Barnacles due to their nature means that you can grip wherever you want were a trickier proposition. Being able to grab all around meant that he had to set some interesting footwork to try to stump the taller people whilst still allowing free movement to the shorter people; needless to say with some work he got it done the way he wanted and that's where the footage comes from. Lets let him talk about the route:

Knowing I wanted a gaston move was a great start, I set that up first and the move I wanted to follow which happened to be a cross through to a Barnacle. That set I went to work on the start and started figuring out the foot movement I wanted to use to force the gaston for all sizes of climbers but keeping it within the grade range for the intermediate climbers. What resulted (which you can see after the walk through video) is how people who have 10 minutes attacked the route and worked the sequence. If this had been a problem at a Tour De Bloc I would have been happy with the way it turned out because it really split the intermediate climbers down the middle.

There were a few people that struggled and one woman that kept going at it until she got it. I was glad to see people enjoying the problem as it took some finagling to get to a point where I was happy with it. My setting gets better month on month and these holds were fun to set with

Once the comp was done there was only one thing to do... grab the holds and then go set something on a steeper wall just for us (we had to put it back for people to climb on the next day) so we hit the 45 and went to town with the Barnacles... and that's where these holds become interesting. They excel on steep walls because you can easily hand / foot match and set some fun sequences; these holds are great all rounders

You will also notice that we're not using the glamor shots that normally we'd grab off of the company's website that's because the website is being made and the photos aren't done yet, so we took dirty dirty photos so you can see what we're talking about. Whats nice is that you can see where the hands and feet have been on these holds, spotting the start holds that have had the most feet hit them is pretty obvious. The good thing is despite these holds being about as dirty as you can get them they still retain their grip, some places need a brush but on the whole they're standing up to the daily abuse of climbers pretty well



SUGGESTED USES BARNACLES:








You have a wall? Then you probably need or want these holds! They aren't that big and because they can be rotated around for so many gripping options they will just make a great addition; go steep with them because like we keep saying there are so many options that you can find something that will work for most people. Although not all of them are full on jugs if you're moving fast across your terrain then its just a hoot


SUGGESTED USES CLAST LIP:







This guy is a big ol' sloping jug whichever way you look at it. When you look at the smaller versions in this range then there's a whole bunch of pulling fun to be had; this feature isn't the most incut bugger out there but it will go steep; the steeper you go the harder it gets. We'll get to the smaller shapes in a later review... so we will repeat some of what we're saying at a later date :)


OVERALL BUILD BARNACLES XL:

• Number of holds: 5
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Both
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $116 / 5 = $23.20 per hold
• Color: Ours are a good brightish pink
• Bolt placement: Middle
• Sanding: Great
• Hollow backed: Yes
• Soft back (Rubber backed): Nope
• Texture: Sand stoney
• Set size:XXL
• Versatility: Awesome
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
• Shaper: Chris Neal
• Weight:15lbs

The first thing to point out with these holds is probably the one negative thing that we've found; the coloration on these holds is a little see-through also where they sit on the wall they taper to sharp edge which means its not if it's when they get chipped... other than that the construction is bomb proof, they have a great center column and pre-drilled set screw holes.

Texture wise these holds feel like a great take on sandstone, they have a good feel to them which means you have awesome grip but you're never going to worry about them being too sharp.

From incut to slope you have pretty much every gripping style included with an overload of pinches around the edges. There isn't a company logo on these holds but as there's very little out there on the market that's like them finding them in the hold room

The one other thing of note on these holds is that they're marketed as XXL but they're larger than XXL holds from normal hold company's.... it works in your favor currently as although there is a color scheme across the entire hold industry there isn't a "footprint"  size guide... yet 

OVERALL BUILD CLAST LIP FEATURE:

• Number of holds: 1
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $65
• Bolt placement: Middle
• Sanding: Great
• Hollow backed: Yes
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Sand stoney
• Set size:Feature
• Versatility: Good
• Pre-drilled screw holes: Yes
• Shaper: Chris Neal
• Weight:6lbs

This guy is a big ol feature, not massive just big in a good way. Again the bottom edge could be a issue where it gets a little thin from the hollow back but it's thicker then the Barnacles edges so we see less of a issue with this shape.

Pre-drilled set screws and a well placed bolt hole with a column behind it means this hold sits nice and flush on the wall; the sanding was also very very good. Again our shape is pink and because it has more material at the edges it is a really nice shade

Again no logo for the company (god knows that there's space on the hold) which is a strange decision for a new company!!

The texture is different than the Barnacles, it's simple gripping area is nice and smooth with enough to inspire confidence in a climber and not enough that you'll get plastic burn if you slip off :) The sloped surface gets thinner at the edges so setting with this guy is interesting, you can easily get two hands on it with a heel for some really interesting movements.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Good

RATING:
Noodles:
I won't talk about setting with these guys because I've already talked about it above; what I will talk about is the shaping of these holds which to be quite frank is awesome. Capital is a new company and new companies will either go one way or another; sink or swim; be a player or be played... it seems Chris Neal is going to be a player, he's already shaped for a bunch of other companies and now he has his own.

We know the material and pouring is going to be awesome because Element Climbing pour them for him and the shaping, well if you can sell shapes to other people then you know you're shaping isn't anything to be sniffed at!!

Would I buy these holds? I guess I'll get down to that one quicker than normal...

For my home wall or gym, yes I would... we don't chuck our holds about all that much so I know the edges won't be a problem for us for other people well if you chuck a hold off of a ladder to a mat and it hits another hold then I guess you should have been more careful (obviously i'm talking about a bouldering wall here) The shapes are clean and simple, the Barnacles have grabbing options for days and a great texture. If I had a gym then I'd be very very tempted

I also had to slog to the gym to take photos of these holds because none were available... that's my summer hat and it was pissing down :(

Chris:
Oh Noodles, how do you do what you do? He set that route in 20 minutes from start to finish... yeah, comp route done in 20 mins and it was pretty bang on what he was talking about when he was fondling the holds in the living room; that either says a lot about his setting or about the holds

I think that the holds have at least 50% of it because like we said the Clast Lip in a comp setting is either going to be a huge dyno, slim undercling match or as Noodles set it a pretty fun gaston. I fore ran the route and I found that the Barnacles a little trickier than expected, you need to feel around a little to get to the optimum hand position for the moves. When we played with them on the steeper walls it was more a case of grab and go and less rooting around for the best hand position

I think that the Barnacles are a good addition to most walls and the Clast Lip Feature is something that I'd stick on a roof for some nice knee bar action

PROS:

• Barnacles can be bolted or screwed onto a wall
• Good color
• The Barnacles are over XXL by normal standards

CONS:

• Edges could chip easily
• Some of the set screws are a little close to the outside edge for our liking

meng logo

new companies

Review > Thrive > Snaggletooth Slopers and Moonpie Crimps

Based out of Phoenix, Arizona you have a team of three Ryan, Nicholas and Nic and a company that's been around for about a year producing climbing holds... no great surprise there as we're a company that reviews holds.

What can we say about Thrive Climbing LLC that's not been said? Well we could wax lyrical about their shapes which when you look at them pretty well talk for themselves, or we could talk about their mix (which of course we will) or the colors or the fact that it's a small home grown company that's doing a great job... but we won't, we'll let Thrive introduce themselves;

Ryan Wurm; Owner: We started making climbing holds for fun in my garage, and then we realized that we really enjoyed doing it. We thought we had something to contribute to the climbing industry, so we decided to make hold on a larger scale and to see where it will go. After one year of making holds we are expanding our company and product lines. 

We are a small climbing hold manufacturer Based In Phoenix, AZ running out of a tiny little shop. We have been making climbing holds for only one year now. Our product line is very simplistic, with the occasional artistic design. We have big plans for Thrive Climbing as we continue to grow, and we love what we do.


Take that!! Add the fact that they're getting shapes from Tony Reynaldo who shapes and has shaped for more company's that you can actually count on both hands... don't believe us, check this out, that's just a sample of his work:

And that's just a sample of his work and now he's added Thrive to his ever expanding resume and props to Thrive for getting him on-board, it only means that Thrive is going to be a very interesting company to watch in the future.

So we have two sets currently the Snaggletooth slopers which are a pair of slopers that are opposites, sloped on one side that's slightly incut and then the outside that is just sloped out. When we say opposites we mean there is a left hand and right hand version of these holds (why don't more people do this?)

 And the Moonpie Crimps, a set of eight holds that we're using the term 360 degree holds for because (and yes all holds are usable most of the time in 360 degrees) but these give you a little more...

Review > Atomik Climbing > Simple Slopers

So it's been a while eh folks? Between Noodles being just flat out injured (he had ankle surgery on Oct 7th) and everyone just being busy as all hell. This series of reviews have been a long time coming!

What do they say? Without the head the body doesn't function; Noodles is the head and they body stopped for a while... but now he's back, climbing and getting stronger and so we're back

DID YOU HEAR THAT PEOPLE? WE'RE BACK!!!

What do we have planned? Atomik... bit ol slopers
Lets look at what we're kicking off with:

These guys are the XL Simple Slopers and the guys below are the large version:

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The Big Bad Impact Review

So since we've been away for a while! Noodles has been injured and without the head the body cannot function; we're back now and for our first review we're looking at what we've been doing whilst he heals a little more

What could we have planned? Well it's a little impromptu that's for sure because we were planning on doing a hold review... but as Gui and Noodles brought themselves some new toys this week we're going head to head on two things; impactors, yes impactors!!

We're looking at two, the new Dewalt 20v and the Makita 12v: