Uni-core rope

Ready to replace a 70m rope.
Looking into Uni-core technology. Would really like bicolor. Are they as tough as the hype? Anyone shopped/used these and have advice?

https://www.maximropes.com/home/products/dynamic_ropes/product_detail/product/maxim_platinum/

I have a season of working routes on this rope. So lots of pendulum swinging, scrubbing, jugging and climbing- It's holding up well. 

My experience is the opposite of Drew's with Maxim ropes. Fuzzed up very quickly and never handled that well either. I gave it away after six months. 

What type of climbing do you do that you regularly get core shots to your rope? I just don't see the benefit to my climbing. I really love my Sterling ropes. The 70m Helix I have right now has dry treatment and is bi-color, super sweet for trad climbing out west.

Only use unicore, never had a core shot after putting 5 or so ropes through the ringer. Only have to retire them when they are so old, not because of fuzz or flat spots. Never even needed to cut an end

Buck Rio wrote:

My experience is the opposite of Drew's with Maxim ropes. Fuzzed up very quickly and never handled that well either. I gave it away after six months. 

What type of climbing do you do that you regularly get core shots to your rope? I just don't see the benefit to my climbing. I really love my Sterling ropes. The 70m Helix I have right now has dry treatment and is bi-color, super sweet for trad climbing out west.

Recently had a rock fall and cut the rope. Just thought of replacing it with the strongest thing available if price was reasonable.
I climb combination of Trad and Sport Mostly in Red River Gorge, but do go on occasional trips for longer multipitch.

After a scary rap experience when I had to do many many raps on a pair of core shot 8.7 ropes I made the switched over to unicore. First unicore rope was a Beal Joker 9.1 - had a car size block come off with me on it and hit the rope but somehow I survived making me a total convert for alpine and multipitch. The Joker handled very well and seemed to be middle of the road durability wise, maybe not as good as some mammut ropes I've had but better than my sterlings. I also recently unwrapped a Beal Stringer 9.4 unicore which so far is great - it's more supple and handles better than the mammut 9.5s I have used but does seem quite a bit stretchier which I need to get used to. Haven't had it long enough to comment on its durability yet but still looks basically new after a few uses.

Bi pattern ropes are fine if you never have to cut an end but a huge waste of money if you do.    I have been using Beal Unicore for years and had to cut an end recently.   I just made a new VERY distinctive middle mark with a Sharpie.   I wouldn’t get too stuck on the Bi Pattern rope.   I will admit the Maxim Platinum rope does look pretty cool though. 

I've been using a Beal Booster (unicore, bi-pattern), which I've found to be a pretty good do-anything rope.  Exactly what kind of "toughness" are you hoping to get out of it?  There are a lot of different ways to define "durability" in a climbing rope.

My understanding is that the whole point of unicore is that if you get a core-shot or damage it in a way that would normally sever the entire sheath, the rope remains usable to get you down off whatever multi-pitch/bigwall you are on.  You will still be able to jumar and rap past the damaged section.  The rope would then get retired as soon as you get yourself off the wall.

I'm not aware of anyone claiming that unicore ropes have longer-lasting sheaths or resist fuzzing.

Alec Baker wrote:

Jumping off this... if rockfall or falling over sharp edges is your primary concern, would a Unicore rope like the Beal Joker or a aramid sheath rope like the Edelrid Swift Protect be better (assuming diameter is similar)?

Short answer: aramid-containing ropes are more cut resistant, unicore ropes are not more "cut resistant" than other ropes.

Here's the situation where unicore is useful:

Imagine you're jumaring up a fixed line, hanging in space.  Your partner mistakenly set up the line so it's weighted over a sharp edge.  Now imagine your jumaring technique sucks and you're really bouncy on the rope.  As the rope stretches and saws back and forth on that sharp edge, sheath fibers are getting cut.  You come 10 feet from the edge and look up to see the very last sheath fiber cut (core fibers are all intact).

If you have a standard rope, the sheath which your jumar is holding onto will start to slide down the the core fibers (let's imagine you slide down 20 feet before it bunches up enough to bring you to a stop).  You're now going to have to figure out a way to ascend 20 feet of bare core fibers (yikes!).  If you need that rope for double-rope raps, you're going to have to tie a knot and pass the knot on your way down.

If you had a unicore rope, you're still going to shit your pants when you see the partially sawn-through rope, but the sheath won't slide down, and you'll still have a usable (though mortally wounded) rope to get you more easily to safety.

I feel like the main use-case for unicore ropes is big wall, though I think it's also a nice feature for adventurous/alpine multi-pitch.

What Sam said; and including cleaning, swinging, trundling, sequencing. All things where extra confidence matters. 

Really great info! Thanks guys!

After reading some of these insights, I think I’m overreacting on the unicore tech. Sounds like it’s overkill for RRG KY.  Also good point about a bipattern sheath. My sharpie mark worked pretty well on the Black Diamond I’m replacing.

Sam Skovgaard wrote:

If you have a standard rope, the sheath which your jumar is holding onto will start to slide down the the core fibers (let's imagine you slide down 20 feet before it bunches up enough to bring you to a stop).  You're now going to have to figure out a way to ascend 20 feet of bare core fibers (yikes!).  If you need that rope for double-rope raps, you're going to have to tie a knot and pass the knot on your way down.

This is exactly what happened to me jugging fixed lines on El Cap.