Grivel north machines NEW generation

https://us.grivel.com/products/north-machine?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=0bb35593a&pr_rec_pid=6597787615405&pr_ref_pid=6597787451565&pr_seq=uniform&variant=44371610665133

Most importantly it seems like they now come in pink. Secondly it seems there's a real spike on the bottom of them.

Does anyone know if there are other changes? Grivel is following their typical marketing campaign of telling you nothing, having no videos or literature, not even having a new product section on their website and simply selling you something that they don't even delineate the changes to you outside of you studying the pictures.

I know historically people complained about the spike or lack of. I'm looking to pick up a pair of north machines, probably carbon for cold baby hands, but the pink is now giving me second thoughts. But really do you all think the new spike is worth it or should i just pick up a set of tools second hand from someone who isn't using them?

Thanks y'all. Winter is coming.

The only times I’ve noticed the trekking pole style tip is a bit more ‘squirrelly’ than a proper spike is if you are caning up long sections of hard packed spring snow or snice. The proper spike does look like an improvement but not enough for me to change up.

New pommel looks slightly larger(?) which may be nicer for steep ice but again hard to tell with no description from grivel

 And whether the pink is worth it, only you can decide that  In your shoes I’d probably just look for second hand carbons since they can be found pretty readily.

Not worth it to me to upgrade, never had a problem with the current generation.  Are the dark machines discontinued? 

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll prob get some carbons and just get pink tape anyways.

IMO, a steel spike isn’t an improvement over a carbide spike.  However, the design change may allow the pommel to be longer and more durable, which would be an improvement.

The North Machines are fantastic tools. I'm glad to see they integrated the adze/hammer better. I never did like those additional nut's and bolts on the head required for the previous model.

Ok so who has some hot tips on switching picks and fitting the dual shims and pick into the head while holding the simple vario/hammer/adze in place as well? This seems like their manufacturing was off so they just sent us shims that don't work well. No one else has ever created such a problem where there wasn't one before.

I eventually gave up and started using just one shim because it was such a pain to get both installed every time I wanted to swap out hammer/adze. The shims are a terrible design and I can’t believe that Grivel allowed them to come to market like that. 

I just went back to the stock ice vario picks - which climb better than the katanas and are super durable already. The shim design is so stupid. 

Graham Johnsonwrote:

I just went back to the stock ice vario picks - which climb better than the katanas and are super durable already. The shim design is so stupid. 

The stock ice picks from Grivel are the best production picks from any of the large manufacturers. They have a thin profile and a great design that climbs ice really well and also performs great for mixed too. I hated the katanas because they were thicker than they need to be and I was annoyed they cost more for a shittier product than what comes standard on their tools. 

There are tips posted in a previous thread on the Katana and Razor Ice picks.

I chamfer the edges of the shims and place a bolt in the “shim-blade-shim stack,” before inserting into the head from the back.  Once the bolt clashes with the head, I remove it and push the stack in the rest of the way. 

Karl Henizewrote:

There are tips posted in a previous thread on the Katana and Razor Ice picks.

I chamfer the edges of the shims and place a bolt in the “shim-blade-shim stack,” before inserting into the head from the back.  Once the bolt clashes with the head, I remove it and push the stack in the rest of the way. 

Thanks karl. Minus the chamfer, I've been trying this and usually one of the shims dislodges itself from the puzzle-piece connection w the simple/hammer. And then since they aren't designed to slide against each other, the shim can't just be pushed/tapped back into place.

I'll try to shave it down to make that chamfer edge and that should help but I fear the shims will always get stuck and dislodge anyways.

I put a single large chamfer around the entire edge of each shim, so I end up with “left” and “right” shims that taper from the head side to the pick side.