Review > Metolius > Contact Board

So for a long while Noodles has been injured, so he's been embarking on a bunch of hangboard training to keep up his strength. Whilst he's been playing around we've also been training with him; so what have we been training upon?

Review > Capital Climbing > Clasts Small & Clast Lip Feature

Ding ding! Round two for Capital Climbing; whats funny is that when we were filming this review Noodles had set in his normal fashion two routes side by side for filming; when the comp at Shakti Rock Gym came about he set the camera up to film the two routes and then went home to watch the Canadians in the Stanley Cup. Someone knocked the camera and put the other route (The Enix sloper route) out of shot :(

Ah people, thankfully this guys stayed in shot and we were able to get the videos made.

So enough fluff; lets get to talking about holds!!

This review we're looking at the Clasts from Capital Climbing, and the Clast Lip Feature that was featured in our first review of Capital Climbings Barnacles which you can find: here. The holds that are from the same line are the medium Clasts, there are ten of those guys; as we were sent a sample pack of holds we only received five of them.

Clasts

 Clast Lip Feature

As you can see both the feature and the medium sized holds all follow the same vein; smooth gripping area with the distinguishing lines on the outside of the holds. They are definitely something that stand out from your normal run of the mill shapes that are similar; they're not overly embellished with details like some holds so they really do keep to their simple nature.

Our shapes arrived in pink; once Noodles was done with setting with the Clast Lip Feature and the Barnacles we grabbed the smaller Clasts shape and decided to make a simple comp route with them. The shapes are simple so hell why not make a nice simple easy route in the lower grades for the local comp?
What we set was something that we thought was going to be simple, a sequence that if you stood back and look at it would tell you that you needed to maybe pull a match or so some small crosses to get to the top. As we knew this was going in as a comp route we wanted to test the newer lower grade climbers a little; we didn't want to set a gimme route, we wanted to test them and to make them work for the points.

Setting with these holds is pretty simple, they're all smooth semi jugged holds that will excel on shallowly angled walls; anything too steep and then you're going to running into harder grades despite their easy seeming nature. We chose a nice shallow angle and went to work; as usual the results of what came out of the comp is below in the video:

What resulted is people seemed to like the safety of the feature and really didn't want to step up, bump or to match some of the holds. Now these holds are pretty small, and they're slightly juggy enough that most people will just haul on through a route on them; but slopey enough that people without the confidence or skill level of some moves will find trouble with them. It's clear to see that maybe the sequence that we set was maybe a step or two ahead of where some peoples climbing grade actually was and for us that's fine; it's part of the review process to sit down, watch all of the video and see what happens when people climb! Noodles climbed this route with a bad back, bad ankle and after a couple of long days setting on a ladder. He wasn't graceful getting up the route but if he can get up to the top then we knew we're at the right level (He's still quite subjective on what he climbs these days)

We put these holds through the ringer; they've been through a few cycles of setting and it's plain to see that they're pretty solid holds; the one downside to them (which is also a plus) is that as they go into the wall the edges are a little thin; this stops people from cheating on a route but it also means that if you throw holds around and they hit something then the edges will chip.

SUGGESTED USES CLASTS:



Like their big brother these guys will be good for hard or easy routes; they're tricky for beginners as they look like jugs but aren't as incut as expected. Take them past 30 degrees and you have enough meat of a hold to be able to hang but not enough to really campus through moves; go steeper and then the problems get waaaay more interesting and challenging

SUGGESTED USES CLAST LIP FEATURE:






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.

OVERALL BUILD: (Note see our earlier review for the Clast Lip Feature)

• Number of holds: 10
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt on
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $49.95 / 10 = $4.99 per hold
• Color: Ours are pink but there are great colors available
• Bolt placement: Middle
• Sanding: Great
• Hollow backed: No
• Soft back (Rubber backed): No
• Texture: Sand stoney
• Set size: Small
• Versatility: Good
• Pre-drilled screw holes: No
• Shaper: Chris Neal
• Weight: TBC
• Where can you get them: Capital Climbing on Facebook

Overall these holds are pretty bomb proof; they're very well constructed with the color going all the way through without too much bleed off at the edges (pink is a bugger to pour) they feel solid when they're in your hands and when on the wall they're bomber. The addition of a set screw placement would be nice on these holds because they can spin on you if you're not careful with your tightening; strange for holds of this size but because of the way we were using them for hands and feet there were a couple that did spin.

Sanding; bolt holes and washer placement are all perfect. 

What is interesting about these holds is the shaping; they are way trickier than you first think when you get them. They are not for beginners unless you set very carefully with them; these holds are aimed at intermediate climbers and above; but you know us we like a challenge and set easy problems with them anyway :) The steeper you go the harder you get, that's generally the same with most holds, but these guys do kind of make thumb catches hard so they do get a little more brutal as you go to harder angles. 

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Urethane

PACKING / SHIPPING:
Great

RATING:
Noodles:
If i'm honest; which I am. I was a little unsure about these holds. The feature I was down with right from the start but the little guys, well I was unsure and then I played with them a little bit and became happier with what they are

These holds (the Small Clasts) are what I'd call evil in nature; for all intense purposes they look, when on the wall like little jugs but they're not! They are evil little slopers that are slightly juggy. On shallow walls they're awesome, on steeper walls these guys shine because they are hard as all hell. You can trick people of all grades with these holds because they're not going to expect what they're getting.

Like I said I was unsure and then well then I fell in love; these are pretty awesome holds; they're not what anyone was looking for but they should fit into anyone's arsenal of holds for setting

Chris:
Like Mr N I wasn't sold on these holds and i'm still not; I'm having trouble setting with them, maybe with the full range of holds the smalls and the mediums and the feature i'll be able to get to grip (get it) with the whole range. The feature stands out as something that is just awesome; adding these smaller guys to them just made for a interesting setting session, we figured that we were setting easy stuff for the comp but most part I kind of think we didn't hit the mark... I think we were way off; we ended up setting something that was too hard for the clients that were setting for. Sure it challenged them but it was maybe a little too hard for what we wanted

Why?

Maybe because of the holds; its essentially a ladder on a shallow angled wall but as the holds are a little tricky and maybe because the feature is there and allows people to stand comfortably it made people not want to move.

I dunno, I think climbers that are climbing V3+ are going to like these holds. I do, when we set hard with them but at lower grades they're maybe a little bit too much, it could be our setting it could be the holds... I know that when we set on steeper walls I like them, but I know what to expect now.

PROS:

• Trickier holds than expected
• Low profile

CONS:

• Edges may chip if mishandled

Base File 2014

Logo

Text about what we did here

SUGGESTED USES:













































OVERALL BUILD

• Number of holds:
• Type (Bolt / Screw Ons):
• Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds):
• Color:
• Bolt placement:
• Sanding:
• Hollow backed:
• Soft back (Rubber backed):
• Texture:
• Set size:
• Versatility:
• Pre-drilled screw holes:
• Shaper:
• Weight:
• Where can you get them: 

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:

PACKING / SHIPPING:

RATING:
Noodles:

Chris:

PROS:

• YADDA

CONS:

• YADDA

aomik ad

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