Climbing Holds?
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Hey Everyone, |
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yes there is such a thing as a shitty climbing hold and unfortunately price usually doesn't always help determine quality. |
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I agree with Andy, there is a difference. However, you really only need good holds for your hands, and since you should be making ~3 foot movements for every hand movement, you need a lot more footholds. Go cheap on the footholds. You can get bolt-on footholds for ~$1 each, and they are fine, but I almost never change the location of a foothold, so if I were doing it again I would get screw-on jibs. |
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I agree but disagree on the foot holds. We break foot holds all the time at my gym and it's always the cheep crappy ones that break. |
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I've got a bunch of smaller screw on holds for sale if you're interested. I bought them from a smaller local company here in Utah and don't remember the name, but never had a problem with the holds. I'll ship them for free if you're interested in them. They have been used, but very mildly. |
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@ Andy Librande, thanks for the props on Climbing Hold Review. We've been working long and hard to get to where we are and we always strive to do better. If there's anything that we're missing drop me a line and let me know what it is that we can do to improve (climbingholdreview@gmail.com) we're always open to suggestions |
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A while back we ran something we called the $200 question. |
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Agree Climbing Hold Review site is the leader as a 'clearing house' of holds available. Just skip the foreign ones, as the shipping is terribly expensive and lengthy. Atomik is one of the best for price and quality. Some newer ones I've seen on CHR in the last year and purchased are Element, Escape and Atxarte holds. Agree that Metolius are soo overpriced and over rated. Boring gray color for most too. Don't forget to go to ebay for some cheaper generic off-brand foot holds to fill in the parts of the wall as needed. |
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Just want to clarify that Metolius holds are really only good when you find deals on them as a ton of people are always selling them used. Recently I bought a bunch used at a local gearswap and got some pretty large holds for $1-3 each which was nice but I would never buy Metolius at retail price. |
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Many more nice looking holds by Euro and New Zealand companies at climbingholdreview too, but doubt it is worth the shipping to the US. Climb-IT is definately the best for giant holds of spectacular size, shape and price. Go for it if you need a feature sized item. |
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If you look at Uncarved Block (from the land down under) they have airmail which is $ and they used to run via ship which was either cheap or free!! |
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I tend to agree with having the worst holds possible for the feet, unchanged as is your wont. The best wall I ever trained on was short and traversy, the biggest footholds profile was no larger than this text. It really emulated outdoor climbing. He glued on chips iirc. Your feet actually could hurt from pressing so hard. It was just like nasty overhanging granite, ...I'll call him sometime and ask him if he remembers the specifics. |
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Our gym is full on clay holds made in house, (See the FaceBook page below). |
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A few of the old hold companies, now long gone from late 80's and early 90's had some fantastic tiny chips and crimps that really have never been duplicated. Great for tiny foot moves or rippin' finger stuff. U.S.Sportstone(made of ground granite and recycled plastic) and Krimpers were two I remember. Some of these 20 yr old holds are still on my home wall. As for total eye pleasure, nothing was as much a real piece of artwork as the original set of CARP holds. Most were made of resins and bullet hard surfaces back then. |
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hey, I mentioned this before... because of this discussion I ran the $200 question to pretty much every company on the planet, some answered, some didn't |
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Climbingholdreview wrote:hey, I mentioned this before... because of this discussion I ran the $200 question to pretty much every company on the planet, some answered, some didn't scribd.com/full/35079136?ac… The document is on climbing hold review here: climbingholdreview.blogspot… You can download it, it's 56 pages long and had us up for a long time to get done Thanks to Dave Alie for starting the discussion and making me think of running this againInteresting write-up! Your table at the end is quite helpful and it seems you were quite thorough with your inquest. Unlike some of the responses. Your info kind of parallels something I did about 8 months ago as a new customer in the home wall world. I'm in the middle of making a home wall and at the time I was interested in the monthly hold clubs as a possible (and interesting) way of increasing how many holds I have with time. I emailed quite a few companies with the help of your website (to find out who was out there). I also asked the companies if it was possible to get a sample, stipulating that I didn't mind paying shipping. I did infact receive samples from Element, Rock Candy, Climb-It and So-Ill (the latter of which were VERY generous in what they gave me for the price of a "sample" pack)... The follwing list is the information I received at the time as far as their monthly hold "subscriptions" (and could be something you could tabulate on your website): -Element: "Periodic Table" choice between two new sets with a third "combined" set, 12 month minimum, incl shipping and hardware, $40, $60, $80 -So ill: "Sick Kit" new sets, 12 month minimum, incl shipping and hardware, $39 -Climb-It: good variation of hold sizes each month, 12 months minimum, incl shipping and hardware, $45 -Rock Candy: new designs, can exchange if not happy, value + 25-50%, 12 month minimum, incl hardware and shipping, $39 -E-Grips: "First Dibs" new designs, size varies through year, can exchange if not happy, 12 month minimum, incl shipping (hardware?), $40 -Project: "Monthly Fix" three subscription levels $39, $59, $99, can switch subscription levels or put on hold, includes hardware (shipping?) -ThreeBall: no contract, value +20%, good variation through year, tailored, incl hardware and shipping, three levels $50, $75, $100, $200 -Contact: [your article says they don't anymore] new designs, tailored to your wall angle, good variation through year, semi-annual or annual sign-up bonus holds, no contract if monthly, incl shipping (hardware?), $45 (quarterly also available) -Atomik: choice w/w'out hardware, choice of color shades, tailor to angle of your wall, value + 20%, incl shipping + hardware, three subscription levels $50, $75, $100 -Asana: new designs, shipping?, hardware?, $35 (6 months), $30 (12 months) -Nicros: "Get-A-Grip" free t-shirt on sign up, 12 month minimum, new designs, hold sets pre-determined for the year, variation through year, shipping $6-$12 each month, hardware?, $50 and at 20% discount of normal pricing. -DRCC: "Gang Membership" featured "center" holds each month, include shipping, hardware ?, 12 month minimum, three subscription levels - $40, $75, $140 Since last year, and from the levels of positive feedback I have received from certain companies I've purchased sets from those I felt were worthy of my money (part of my decision was based on the choices from their collection that I thought looked decent)... for me it was Element, So-Ill, Rock Candy and Contact, with the interest in also purchasing from Climb-It. After reading your article I'd be happy to also consider E-Grips, DRCC and Escape. To me, the most important factor when buying something... ANYWHERE... is customer service! |
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I agree with Rhoads. Check out NU Climbing. The holds are fantastic. They keep grip in a way that plastic can't even come close to. The closest thing you'll get to climbing outside while being inside. |
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We're waiting on NU to send on over some stuff for review, it's always nice to see a new company pop up on the radar. |
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Willa wrote:Check out Detroit. I've been able to try almost all of their shapes and they are amazing! Great texture, creative shapes, fun to climb on. thedrcc.com/catalog/Great holds, yes. But quite pricy for a low budget wall builder. Shop around at Climbing hold review for the very best stuff. Slow delivery from some smaller hold companies has been my biggest beef. Some don't pour the holds until you order, thus are weeks behind on shipping. |
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@Woodchuck ATC |
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I have had companies right on the phone tell me they 'have it in stock', then they wait over 2 weeks before it is even shipped out. Some were over a month, for a small (<20 holds) order. Live and learn, and I've thinned out my listings of who I order from since then. |