Initial impressions of Trango Rock Prodigy Training Center (RPTC) hangboard

Love this board. it is so damn awesome. Especially using pulleys etc and taking off/adding weight and making improvements nearly every session, even if it's by 1 or 2 kg (I'm british).

The pinch grip is absolutely brutal. I can just do about 10 on 5 off x 6 with like 20kg taken off. The last rep is desperate. I'm a skinny, super flexible 6ft guy and I boulder like v4-6 indoors. Definitely in that stereotype of skinny weakstrong guy. (it sucks being that guy!)

Quick question -- what's the height of the rptc hangboard?

I'm wondering if I could mount this sucker on the blank slate slim, which is only 8" tall.

Seems like the instructions advise for 10" but hoping I could get lucky here...

Thanks!

edit: just saw a picture of this sucker on the slim on the first page of this thread. sorry guys..nothing to see here.

Here's a picture of my RPTC on my Tribrid Tower. It's a squat rack/gymnastic rings pulley system/hangboard tower all in one!

PlanchePRO wrote: Here's a picture of my RPTC on my Tribrid Tower. It's a squat rack/gymnastic rings pulley system/hangboard tower all in one!

That is sweet! You have an interesting pulley setup. Is that something gymnasts use to practice rotations?

Monomaniac wrote: That is sweet! You have an interesting pulley setup. Is that something gymnasts use to practice rotations?

No, my tower wouldn't be strong enough to sustain any swinging movements like that. I'm using it to learn how to do a Butterfly Pull (Straight Arm Pull Up).

In this article :

Also, the legendary rock climber John Gill credits his strength training on the rings for his boundary-breaking strength in the world of rock climbing. Interestingly, Mr. Gill didn't begin training on the still rings until his freshman year in college; yet in only two years he was doing crosses, levers and butterflies (a straight arm pull-up).

In this article

He claimed could do two in a row: youtube.com/watch?v=yNKgrxV…

This is me testing it out:

youtube.com/watch?v=t0RSo6N…

I'd like to match his skills one day seeing I started around his age and he's 6'2" and 170-180 lbs.

PlanchePRO wrote: Here's a picture of my RPTC on my Tribrid Tower. It's a squat rack/gymnastic rings pulley system/hangboard tower all in one!

Interesting setup! What height do you have under the hangboard? I'm trying to decide if I should setup in a low-ceiling basement (enough clearance for hanging with knees bent, probably not ideal) or go freeze my nads off on the garage...
Does anyone have experience with a "low-clearance" setup? Say, 6' ceiling?

Edit: nevermind, the video show the board being much higher than I thought from the picture.

Boissal wrote: Interesting setup! What height do you have under the hangboard? I'm trying to decide if I should setup in a low-ceiling basement (enough clearance for hanging with knees bent, probably not ideal) or go freeze my nads off on the garage... Does anyone have experience with a "low-clearance" setup? Say, 6' ceiling? Edit: nevermind, the video show the board being much higher than I thought from the picture.

The horizontal post the hangboard is on is 80" off the ground. The top of the jug measured from the bottom is 82".

Monomaniac wrote:For those interested, I finally got around to building an adjustable mount for my RPTC, based on the French Cleat idea suggested on this thread. Here's a short video of the rig in action: youtu.be/BnEobt_C1kU You can read a tutorial/trip report about the project here

I'm anxiously awaiting my RPTC in the mail but already making plans for a French cleat installation system. From the wording in the tutorial linked Monomaniac linked, it sounds like the relative height of the fixed and floating cleat is somewhat arbitrary -- but I'm wondering if anybody knows what the truly optimal geometry is.

To me, it seems like it would be best to have the fixed cleat relatively tall and the floating cleat short, such that the RPTC hangs mostly below the mating interface. Seems like the forces on the mounting system would then be mostly down, rather than down as well as out, particularly when using holds high on the RPTC.

Is there a reason not to make the floating cleat shorter, say only 1-2", with the fixed cleat say 8-9" tall? Within the limit of maintaining the structural integrity of the floating cleat, it seems like the shorter the better, right?

(To be perfectly clear, above I'm only asking about to the vertical dimension of the two cleats -- although I also wonder whether going with a 14"-long floating cleat would help reduce some flex when using the pinches).

I posted this same question on Monomaniac's tutorial page, but thought I might see if anybody here had any feedback for me. Physicists, engineers, folks who've made their own cleat system for the RPTC... your feedback would be most welcome!

Oh, and one more question... any thoughts on whether 3/4" plywood would provide a sufficiently deep cleat, or if using 2x lumber is really better?

we have a total of 4 french cleat set ups at our place (back deck setup with one for me and one for my wife, and a garage setup with one for me and one for my wife). she is quite a bit shorter than i am and we didn't want to deal with a platform for her to stand on. she already has a foot injury and the platform seems like an opportunity to turn an ankle.

couple quick things - you definitely want to go with a 2x piece of lumber instead of 3/4" plywood for the cleats for several reasons. first, for the top cleat - when you attach your HB to the cleat a 3/4" thick cleat won't be sufficient to anchor the HB securely to the cleat in terms of screw pullout. the thicker cleats will also provide better stiffness and it is easier to get the cleat faces mated better.

i agree that you want the floating cleat to be relatively high so that you are hanging more below it. that being said, you don't want to skimp on the height of the actual cleat. a taller cleat allows you to have more distance between the 2 rows of screws that mount it to the board, which is pretty key to improving the torsional stiffness. same thing with the bottom cleat (the torsional stiffness is even more important here, otherwise the board will want to tilt to a less 'positive' angle when you start hanging with heavier loads). also, definitely go the full length of your panels with the cleat to make it as rigid as possible.

i used 2x6's and just cut the corners off for cleat. so, they are 5.5" on one side and 4" on the other. this has worked pretty well.

Thanks for the great feedback. I ended up going with a single piece of 2x10 lumber, ripped at a 45° lengthwise (using the table saw at my local lumber yard... there was no way my circular saw skills were up to that task!). I chose to cut it such that the floating (upper) cleat was 3" tall (so 4.5" on the long side), and the fixed (lower) cleat was 5.5" (so 7" on the long side) -- see image. That way, all three upper screws holding the RPTC go through both the plywood and the 2x lumber. The screws are about 2.5" from the top, so my previous idea of using a 1"-2" cleat would preclude you from screws through both plywood and cleat when mounting the RPTC itself, and that seemed key. However, I do think the physics of the forces are better with a larger lower cleat and smaller upper one. The 3"-7" split seems just about ideal. Due to lumber not actually being the nominal size, and after ripping and sanding, the total height of both cleats came to just about exactly 9" -- which is the exact height of the RPTC.

I made my two floating cleats a bit wider than others have described here, so each is 14" wide to provide extra stability when using holds on the outside edges. To the floating cleat, I screwed a piece of plywood, (9"x14"x1/2"), to which I mounted the RPTC. The bottom screw for mounting the RPTC is thus only through that 1/2" plywood, which is marginal, but I'm using three full length screws up top, so I don't expect any issues. I just happened to have the 1/2" ply on hand... but 3/4" would probably be better.

Because I'm mounting this in a doorway, I was concerned that I might chew up the paint of the wall sliding the cleats back and forth, so I cut a 9"-wide strip of some 1/8" panelling scrap wood they had at the lumber yard and mounted that behind the fixed cleat. This also makes it easier to slide the floating cleats (but only with a gentle upward nudge -- they can barely slide at all when unweighted, and don't budge when weighted). The sanded wood-on-wood glides easily when lifted slightly, but locks in really solidly when weighted.

I had some minor issues finding studs to attach the thing to the wall (100+-year-old construction with plaster and lath...) but managed to sink some 5" #8 screws into studs eventually. All in all, thanks to many great comments and suggestions in this thread and in Mark's tutorial (see my post above), I'm pretty stoked on my system! And best of all, the wife doesn't mind having this in the house because I found an out-of the way doorway to put it on!

A few other comments thoughts:
-- I made sure the RPTC, the plywood, and the floating cleat are all perfectly flush on top, and that the wood is nicely sanded. That makes it so the sloper has an easier variation, where my fingers can extend the extra 2" over the wood of the cleat.

-- I have a wide doorway, so using the wide 14" floating cleat worked well. Not having tried shorter ones (the RPTC is only 12" wide) I can't compare, but I did find the mount to be rock solid when using the pinches. In a narrow installation, it might limit your ability to adjust the widest separation between the two halves. But I think 14" is about right. I mounted the RPTC slightly off center (see image) to provide added stability for the pinches.

-- It is absolutely and without a doubt worth mounting the RPTC using some kind of adjustable system, whether French cleat or other. This is to me the biggest advantage of the modular RPTC design, and screwing it down in a fixed configuration means you lose that adjustability. I really found it makes a huge difference when your holds are always shoulder width apart! I don't have any scientific basis for this claim, but I can't see how maintaining shoulder width wouldn't help to avoid injury. Choose your mounting method for the location and tools/skills you have, but definitely take the time to make it adjustable!!!

Been using the basic workouts in the book and just now got the board. Will be setting it up next week. Is everyone of the same thought that the French cleat is the way to go?

Gunks Jesse wrote:Been using the basic workouts in the book and just now got the board. Will be setting it up next week. Is everyone of the same thought that the French cleat is the way to go?

Yes, French cleat is awesome, it doesn't have to be a French cleat, just make sure that it is moveable and stable.

Yep. French cleat. I'm adjusting the width of the two boards during the workout. When using pinches and wider holds I slide them in. Brilliant. Wouldn't mount them any other way. Particularly as my shoulders and elbows are rubbish.