Stay tuned kids this is going to be a long one.. and when we say long you're talking about two (actually three) reviewers and a walk through video that is 30+ minutes long!! Grab a cup of coco or tea or whatever is your bag and sit back and have a read...
For reference we're a little way from what we usually write as there are many people in many different places for this review... when you see SUGGESTED USES we're also going to talk about what we did with the holds here and some of the build issues that we found. We've also broken down the sets to their themes to make it easier for you to read! And when you look at FULL SET INFO we're giving a general overview on the whole set and then we're talking about the full set price not just what we received. We will talk more about the holds we received in the ALL SETS wrap up at the end :)
When Metolius switched over to PU (don't worry they still pour their old stuff) and the opportunity arises for you to review said holds, you jump at that opportunity. It's a no brainer for sure; we've had a long relationship with them since the beginning of this site and when you get an email saying "hey would you like to see our new holds" you're brain goes in two directions... are they just going to remake the old shapes in a new medium or are they going to have new shapes to add to their already large hold line.... well it's a bit of both and whichever way you look at it... it's gooooooood
Holdz sent us these chewed slopers back in the spring. And, the review is well over due. We blame Nick. When it comes to holds, his not into one night stands. He type of fella that gets into long intimate relationships with holds; you know, takes them for walks in the park and stuff. We've always said that reviews take time because they do; with a walkthrough you can pretty much tell how a hold will be but until you get it onto a wall a bunch of times and actually set with them you're just blowing hot air and that's no good for anyone... thankfully Nick has the eyes of Noodles all over him all of the time (there's probably some strange webcam action happening somewhere) so he's been taught by the best in the business.. Enough about Nick's weird hold fetish and waxing lyrical about how to review some holds..... lets look at some bad ass Chewed Slopers by Holdz.
Boom:
And Boom:
And... BOOM!:
We received these Holdz's Chewed Slopers set just slightly before but almost around same time we received a big sample of each of new lines from each of Metolius' sweet new polyurethane holds (Check out those coming next) That's friggin' right, I just used those to words in one sentence; Metolius and urethane... so it was a bit of a toss up with what to go with. The plan was as Noodles got these holds sent to me for him to do the Metolius review and as we had similar shapes for me to weigh in on that and as Noodles had seen these Holdz holds somewhere before for him to weigh in on these holds... what happened?
Well Noodles got bogged down with some Atomik stuff, and some Etch stuff (which he's still working on) then he had a bunch of work (we do have day jobs) and then he had round two of surgery which put him down and out for a while and then he got those Artline reviews out.. well Nick; Nick just went climbing and as the boss says you review what you get in the order you get it... so it's Holdz first and then a bumper Metolius review afterwards
Straight out of the box, Nick was pretty impressed. He went around to Wallnut's (Local Gym) showing off the new plastic candy to all the setters that he could fine. He actually left them sitting on kitchen table at home to be admired for a time like a fine piece of art. (Until his better half finally convinced him they didn't belong there) It was Nick's belief that he had some deadly ol shapes on his hands.
If you look at these holds, slopey pinches and sloped edges that looked ideal for compression style problems on low angles. The other setters at the gym didn't seem convinced. The jury was out on this one......
When time came we ready to set with Holdz Chewed Slopers, Wallnut's was hosting a comp, so we figured hey why not give them to their setters to play around with for some comp problems. Nick was thinking maybe they'll see what he saw in these holds, sick compression problems and some sloped action... they decided that they should be set on vertical because they wanted everyone to be able to enjoy these holds, so they set friendly V0-V2 on vertical that's in the video. And.... we'll tell you now if you set these holds on a wall much steeper then vertical, not many people are getting off the ground. These holds can be spit the best of them off pretty good.
The chewed slopers were a hit among most climbers. The head route setter, Ben Winstanley, told us this after that he had received several compliments on the holds. In particular, climbers were saying that they were nice shapes with excellent texture that were fun to climb on and they really liked the color as well! Sounds like the local climbers gave these ones a solid review.
We even ruled out the "new hold effect" i.e. people are stoked just to see new plastic, but this wasn't the case because there was several new sets up for the comp from other companies as well. The climbers just liked these ones.
After the comp, Nick striped them from the vertical to set a second problem on slightly steep terrain. He set them on 20 degrees and came up with the second problem in the video, which goes around V6, give or take a number grade.
SUGGESTED USES:
It's easy to come up with problems in high single digits on only a 20 degree wa;;. Any steeper, your probably looking at double digits without breaking a sweat. On 45, we were able to make some pretty cool and hard sloper problem pulling straight down and when we turned them sideways, it made for some hard slopey compression problems that felt like climbing on real slopey featured granite.
To use them on a 45, we had to have some pretty incut toes like Teknik horns (Probably not the real name but you know what time talking about). When we threw em on slab, they were funky but as you can always get a thumb somewhere which makes them not the best for this angle. You get lots of heels and toe hooks which make for cool problems if set correctly with other holds and limited feet. Actually, you can get some pretty cool heel n' toe action on most angles, another reason this set is soo cool.
When it comes down to it the only two criticisms we have on otherwise perfect holds are:
1. Texture may be a bit to fine for Noodles liking (we'll have to see below)
2. Name of the set should include pinch in there somewhere
When it comes to the texture, it may be a bit fine. We all know Noodles doesn't like the idea of constant brushing for gym setting. Nick on the other hand, doesn't have a problem with brushing between every attempt, as it something he does between every slopey attempt anyways. As for the pinch comment, we found that 90% of the time we were pinching these holds and maybe 10% holding you used it like a sloper. Naturally, we just feel like the hold name should reflect that these are mostly slopey pinches because most times your not using it as a sloper. This being said, relatively minor issues in the grand scheme of amazing holds.
The new dual bolt system coming on holds these days is a nice touch. I know some may think this minor but when you're hanging on a rope and you're running out of bolts (These take 120mm length btw) it makes a setters life easier.
The color was great. Solid color throughout the hold with no fading. Several climbers at the gym complimented the color of the set.
Sanding was perfectly flat.
I haven't had a chance to weigh them yet, but they feel like lightest holds that I have ever lifted. That being said, the hold still feels super strong. It seems well supported by three walls in the hollow back.
The column on the bolt and the screw supports the full length of bolt and screw.
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Polyurethane
PACKING / SHIPPING:
Perfect
RATING: Noodles:
I've had a long history with Holdz and it's owner Steve. As I'm from the UK apart from all the Pusher and S7 stuff that I have I still have original holds from Holdz, yes I live in Canada now blah blah but I still have all of them and I'm keeping them
I think I was one of the first customers to order from him when he went into business :)
Now I had these holds sent to "Nick Up North" because I was bombed with other reviews and as I knew that I was heading out for surgery so I was going to be down and out for a period of time (That and as I edit all the reviews and videos it just seemed a good time to give Nick some work y'know)
Have I climbed on these hold?
Yup! Thankfully one of the local gyms has them and there was a Tour De Bloc problem set with them... now the question you should ask is this "as you're a broken old man who just had surgery should you have climbed on these holds so soon after surgery?" well that answer is twofold:
1) No I should have kept my camera in my hand and I should have just kept taking pictures
2) And NO I should have kept taking pictures and should have not climbed on them
What I missed was some great sends of some great problems (finals was happening) and therefore some great problems but there were enough cameras / phones for me to not worry about this... no-one was going to look at the far flung corner of a gym when there's some great climbing happening
The problem I climbed was on a vertical wall and it looked like a walk in the park; it probably weighed in around V4 which is nothing to really worry about but as I'd just had surgery and I didn't have climbing shoes AND I couldn't hit the mats at full speed sort of added into the mix of things. I didn't get up first time, I'll put that down to a pair of New Balance sneakers (Trainers for everyone else), no chalk and the fact that there are options on these holds... a lot of options, it looks like turning them 15 degrees here or there will make a whole new level of difficulty for sure
Well designed? It's Steve and Holdz so I expect nothing less than good holds
Well poured? I know where they're poured and well yeah, they're magicians
Good holds? I only have maybe 15 minutes on these holds during and after the comp but I know that if I was a setter I'd want to play with them.. for me that's good enough. They are holds that will need some thought per move for the grade because a V2 can easily become a V4 depending upon the angle but isn't that what we have professional setters for??
Nick:
I think these holds are very well designed and shaped. I really do believe if a hold has been designed and shaped well, they usually almost set themselves. It really makes all the difference when setting with them, or at least this is my personal experience. Maybe it's just the cool shapes are more motivating or inspiration or something.
However, I this happens because the shaper has thoroughly thought about the use of the hold on each angle and each rotation of the hold on each angle when they are shaping them. There are directional holds that are used to force moves in problems, and sometimes this means that a large part of the hold is just useless.
That is not the case here, holds like this set which forces moves because each time you turn the hold a little bit the good part of the hold has now become worst then the more difficult parts of the hold. In this way, this set really lets the setter force the moves while giving you much more options.
I battled with texture for a while and really gave it some thought. I think the texture is prefect. You will have to brush them, but thats slopey holds for you. I brush the holds between every attempt on a slopey problem at my limit. I think if they made the texture more aggressive, it would have taken away delicate movement from the holds. That would have made them worst. I don't mind brushing slopers constantly.
So as with the artline holds noodles reviewed last, lets do a comparison for a buyer (you) in the US ordering from Holdtopia vs Holdz directly.
I chose a random place in Florida, so depending on where in the US that you live, your shipping could be cheaper. Either way, its roughly the same price, and that does surprises me ! I would have expected Holdtopia to be cheaper like Noodles said when he did the Artline calcs on the font holds. Regardless of the matter, your not being ripped off by ordering from Holdtopia. Their pricing seems to be equivalent or better across the board. One thing that is nice about Holdtopia, you can order a bunch of different sets from different companies at once. However, Holdtopia selection is limited to certain sets from these companies and does not carry there full line, so it is a trade off.
Here is a website for calculating duty/tariff. Looks like it works for most countries.
One suggestion that I will make to Holdz, is to change the out of stock on their website. I initially thought this meant that I could order that set, but if you look under FAQS, Holdz will have them made for you it just takes longer. I feel like some sales could be lost here with people not realizing this. I think most people I know wouldn't bother reading the FAQ. Changing the "out of stock" to "out of stock-order now" would probably be better.
When it comes down to it, I would buy this set for sure. There is no doubt in my mind that this is a set that will always be up on my home wall because the shapes are just that good. They are expensive but I think you will get more out of the hold then you would a more affordable priced equivalent from another company. Since, they really thought out how to maximize the hold uses on each angle - rotation combination. This set is priced comparable to some of the best sets out there, and it should be. It very well could be best set from Holdz. PROS:
You know after the last Artline review (here) which of course was on those Freshline slopers aka: these feel exactly like Font we wanted something, well, bigger. Something that would allow us to monkey around a bunch; something that most walls need more of and basically something that more people would actually buy
Now there's nothing wrong with the Font holds... nowt, they're awesome... but they're hard as hell and this will exclude most people from buying them unless you have a really large slabbed wall or you're training for a trip to France
Jugs are more for everyone; everyone loves a jug... beginners love them, people leading after a crux section like them... everybody loves a jug and every wall needs jugs
So let's get to see what Artline has in store for us this time:
20 jugs that despite the images shown here we're so bright that you almost needed sunglasses to look at them!! Seriously we were worried about the white balance on the camera and how they'd show up when we went to edit the video
When some one drops us a line and asks us if we want to review their holds there are generally two answers...
Yes
and
Hell yes
When Brice asked us to look at what we wanted to play with from his company Artline we had to make some pretty hard decisions... arguments happened but in the end we all decided what we'd want to see that would give us a pretty good overview of what they're offering
Noodles in all his wisdom chose these:
Hailing from the "Fresh Line" these are the Mini Slopers 1... lets take a closer look:
This review we've got some more holds from Atomik and get this a guest climber; Ol' John Bowles was hanging out at Wallnuts Climbing Center, here in St Johns, NL. He joined in for the review when we were filming so that's kind of a win win!!
The good thing about having John around is he certainly gave me some beta to get my ass up the climb; what's embarrasing is I set the problem and I needed the help :) Those of you that's not from Canada may not recognise John, he won the Tour De Bloc a few years back and he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet!! He just happened to be in town so we took him out to some of Newfoundlands untapped rock potential!!
Atomik is no stranger to Climbing Hold Review; Noodles and Chris have reviewed tons of their stuff over the years and our new partner Chris Simmons just did a review in conjunction with us. In fact Atomik is probably the most reviewed company on the page as they're always happy to send out their new holds for review.
These holds are actually something that I brought and paid for myself... I ordered them back in October 2014 when I was ordering some other holds for review. I have a pretty large home wall in my back yard (see the walk through video for that) and Noodles pointed me towards these holds, I wanted some slopey pinches, he trawled through his memory (seriously the guy can name most holds and companies from a picture) and he suggested these:
These holds may look innocuous but they're a little bit special... anyways where was I??
This being my second order from Atomik I'll say that they're batting 2 for 2 on shipping; both times I've ordered holds from them I've received an email the same day saying that my holds had shipped!! The emails always had a tracking number and a rough date for delivery. Atomik is seems keeps a large stock of holds so when someone just orders a single set if it's in stock they just send it out the door, of course if they don't have the color you want then they'll have to pour it but from what I've heard from the boys this is no more than 48hrs!! What more could you want really?? I order holds, they're in stock and then they ship, worst case it's 48hrs before my order ships (And Atomik ships and pours a boat load of holds daily)
48hrs; yeah! That is customer service for sure
I received the holds a couple of weeks after ordering as it is international shipping from Utah, from the US to us as far east in Canada as you can go means that shipping takes time! My friend and routesetter came out as soon as the holds arrived this was a pretty good sign, as soon as he saw these holds the wrenches were out and we were away. He set a problem on a 15 degree angle that kept spitting us off for a few sessions.
Seeing as it was November when we got the holds and my home wall is outside, we only set once with these holds before Winter had gone down south to bother some other people. We headed indoors to escape the cold but the holds remained outside for the season; considering the temperature changes that we recieve I was wondering how the holds would fare through the winter; winter here come with alot of precipitation varying from rain to snow to rain. When I did check in the Spring, the holds looked almost exactly the same as I'd left them, there was even some chalk left on them. I do have a tarp hanging over the front of the wall which means that the holds are spared from the full force of the elements... but the temperature issue is still there, I'm amazed that they didn't crack! Let me tell you the Winter was one of the wettest I've seen in a long, long time.
We did eventually bring the holds inside to our local gym, Wallnuts Climbing Centre, we set with them on every angle possible, These holds make some nice lay-back heel hooking routes on lower angles and the holds holds are placed in a horizontal position. Very early on we discovered that you need to decide when setting how you want the holds to be used, whether it be as a sloper, pinch or as a crimp; it's really up to the setter and what they want to set. As we all know (or should) Font is a texture that's similar to a tortoise shell, or elephant skin (depending upon the region of Font you're climbing in so Noodles says); depending upon the angle of how the holds is set you end up crimping on the creases. Using them as pinches is generally you're best bet, what makes these holds a little tricky is when you hitting them is getting your fingers into the optimal position in the Font pattern.
Just like in the infomercials... there's more! If the slightly tech gripping positions wasn't enough for you, did I mention that these buggers are savage to hold onto? Let's put it this way; when I took these into the gym one of the setters said the review should be like this "these are do good because they're so bad to hold onto" and this guy climbs 5.13; so yeah they're pretty challenging!!
SUGGESTED USES:
These holds aren't easy; if you're an intermediate to experienced climber then you're going to want these on any wall to set anything from V2-V10+ with them; as usual it's all about the feet :) The real beauty of these holds is the value, if you're a lower grades climber with a wall then you're going to be challenged by these holds for a long time without getting bored with them. The steeper you go the harder the grade (which is generally the case) and it's easy to set double digit problems with these guys on a 60 degree overhang. If you want something easier then Atomik sells different versions of these holds in sets ranging from #1 (incut) to #5 (slopey) Set #5 or #4 (neutral) are going to let you set with more finesse in your harder problems and they still come with a hold that's possible to make a dyno to; if you want sets to purely chuck to then look at #1 & 2.
OVERALL BUILD
Number of holds: 5
Type (Bolt / Screw Ons): Bolt
Price per hold (set price divided by number of holds): $15.23 per hold
Color: Mixed bright tones for us
Bolt placement: Center
Sanding: Great
Hollow backed: Yes
Soft back (Rubber backed): No
Texture: Lightly textured sandstone; needs a brush from time to time
Distributors: Japan; Israel (Hard Rock Climbing Walls)
These holds are very well shaped, the design despite them just being pinches is tricky which is a nice benefit for spitting your friends off of a problem that looks easy. As usual the hollow back is taken pretty much to the max so these holds are light; there's always that compromise between strength and being light and Atomik has always walked this line very well
The color on these holds (and others that I own from Atomik) is solid with no fade away towards the edges.
Missing a set screw hole is something that should be on any hold and would have made this set perfect; when climbing and setting with them I managed to spin them a few times... we've always said (or Noodles has) that set screw holes are a must on anything like this. For now you're going to have to drill your own.
You should probably buy these holds, unless you don't like fun and then you should probably stop climbing :)
WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM:
Polyurethane
PACKING / SHIPPING:
Great not even a mark on the box
RATING: Nick:
I love these holds, heck for me these are going to be a staple on my wall... from the start of your climbing career to the end these holds are going to create great problems.... these may even be my favorite set from Atomik! Well ok, Atomik has a lot of holds to choose from, but between these the Yarino sets and the simple slopers (review: here) or the set that our new partner in crime Chris Simmons just reviewed (review: here) I really think that I'd choose these guys. They are just so delicate to hold onto it's what makes them special in my mind; they stand their ground against other hold companies pinches that's for sure.
Sure other companies make Font pinches but these are different; most of the others are more rounded, these holds have that hexagonal pattern that's a little flatter and these holds are WIDE!!
For me it's about the hard burly problems, throw in some finesse and a touch of funk and I'm happy. You want these holds for your wall, gyms should look at multiples of the whole range because the variety of what can be set for the price that they're at (considering the size) you can't really find much better IMHO
