Review > Sequence > Virus, Power Blox and Sugar Plates

The triple threat today, reviewing the Virus is kind of apt as my girlfriend is sick. So as illness seems to be todays theme let's get started...

This is the Virus 1 set, there are actually two sets but Virus 2 is undergoing a face lift, I have them both and they've been a staple on the wall since the day they were shipped.

On the whole the holds have a texture that is quite fine, but doesn't get slick and the sets are sold as pinches and I find that its rare that we actually set with them as pinches because they make such nice open hand slopes. We've set routes with these on their own, but normally we end up mixing and matching between sets..

Like this, what we end up doing is having a mix between the Virus 1 & 2, the Power Blox and in the above image the Sugar Plates. This makes for a route that have either mean slopes, mean pinches or really mean crimps / side pulls. At the moment we have some of the Virus' on the roof (!), yup the roof and we're doing a silly pinch / layback hand traverse, its marginal but do-able. There's no way these holds are meant for the roof, unless your last name is Sharma, first name being Chris.

Which ever way you turn these holds gives you a new problem on how to hold it, slopes, pinches, ledges they've got it all...

RATING
NOODLES SAYS:
These holds are pretty big, but built strong and are hollow backed. If you over torque them you could easily crack em, so be careful when tightening. I've set many a warm up route with the Virus' and have spent hours pulling on them, the texture is amazing and for open handed problems they'll make you strong. They do need some brushing from time to time as they can get slick from all the chalk, but we do use alot of chalk, and checking with my local gym where they get alot of use it doesn't seem to be a problem.

I'm waiting to see what Mike pulls our of the bag next.
CHRIS' FINAL WORD
These are pinches? We always use them as slopes... whoops! I'm off to set some pinch problems :) Some of the holds are hard to hold, but that just means you have to try harder!!! Try to set some problems where you have to lower onto the holds and see how that feels...

Onto the Power Blox..
Who sung the song "Anyway You Want It"?
That's a song about the Power Blox, turn them any which way you want and you'll have a different pinch, of if you're going at the holds dead on a sloping edge.

The great thing about these holds is you can set a route and then change how hard it is with just a few wrench turns, just spin the hold about and its the same route... just a different pulling experience. The texture is slightly rougher than the Virus, but as some of the sides are so slopey thats a good thing, the set gives you five holds but I think that Sequence should make some more variations.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS:
The texture is rougher, but you can pull on it as long as you can hold on. On a vertical wall these holds would make some fun routes that would test a beginners skill at holding sloping pinches, on an overhang (which is where we normally have them) it makes for a far more interesting time, and when I say interesting I mean HARD! But you can dial in the difficulty really easily, so you can set how you feelCHRIS' FINAL WORD
These are pinches? That's twice today, we need to go and get the wrenches out again! I generally set with these as slopes with long moves between them, or as a traverse section as they're interesting to hold whichever way you come at them. I wish there were more of these, some a little larger some a little smaller. If you're looking for some devious sloping feet then I sometimes chuck these up, they make big feet but the slope of the hold makes all the difference.

Time for some Sugar...
Lets get something straight from the start, there is nothing sweet about these holds. They are HARD, HARD, HARD! If you're looking to train your balance on a vertical wall then these holds are super technical, on an overhang they are finger rippers.. it may sound like we're being harsh here but they are some really small holds.

But... there are some that are.. I_can_hold_this_if_i'm_gentle.

See! On an overhang :)
Where we find these holds to be great is when you mix them up with other Sequence holds and use of the Plates as feet, really technical horrible, horrible_my_foots_going_to_rip feet. As soon as you see a route with these holds and then you look at where you feet are going to go you start thinking carefully about how you're going to get through the moves.

RATING
NOODLES SAYS:
Ok, the above review sounds a little harsh, but there is good reason. If you're training then you don't want to injure yourself, climbing on anything other than vertical with these holds is a burly experience for sure. Soon as these holds are on anything past about 15 degrees its just a matter of time before you rip off and possibly pop a finger. I love these holds (and I did use a wrong bolt one time and took one to the face (not done that since)) they're great, just be careful when you set and climb on themCHRIS' FINAL WORD
Wise words from the Noodles there... let's ignore him for a second. I love these holds, I love pulling on small holds and these are some small holds. They ARE hard to pull on, and I like that. Noodles likes the big sloping holds so its nice on his hands. I don't mind pulling on the smaller stuff, so its give and take on this review. I'm going to go and smack Nud's in the head, and we'll figure out a score from there.

Review > Synrock > Side Pods

Ahh, it seems that Routesetter have beaten us to the punch on this one (last time I post what we're reviewing :P) but to offset our review you can read there's here:

http://www.routesetter.com

Onwards, and at times upwards...These are the holds in question, how can something like this cause so much controversy? Well I bolted the holds up and made sure Chris came in the back door (so he'd not see the wall, he has a keen nose for new holds) and then handed him the biggest hold of the lot... here's his face..Yup that about says it all! That's pretty much my face when I unpacked them the other day, I stood, I scratched my head, and then I grabbed a wrench, bolted them on and had a climb.













These holds are ugly as sin to look at, really ugly. The finishing is so-so, the colors are awful and the see through ones should just be banned! Some of the holds have glue on them, some have pit marks on the polycrete so it means you can see the end of the nails that are inside, they're just plain and simply ugly. One thing we did find endearing about the look of the holds is the fact that the name of the holds and pat pend is obviously inscribed by hand, so every time you get one of these through the post you know that its hand made, be it a little sloppy, but hand made none the less!

Once you get over the fact that they look awful, you can get to climbing on them. Now, its a well documented fact that I hate really small single pad holds, if I want to give myself an injury i'll get a fingerboard, strap on some weight and i'll knacker my hands. But in the interest (and there was a ton) of the holds I taped up, chalked up and had a bash...
Brutal on vertical, use them on a slightly overhung wall (15 over) and its brutal yet delicate climbing. I can see where these holds are going to be a dream.. when you want to force moves because with the polycrete and the rock on top you have no choice but to hold the hold the way it was set and therefore intended by the setter. That's where, for me anyway, these holds come into their own!

But wait! There's more! Let's talk about texture, these holds have it in spades, buckets of it, AND you can sand them down if you want... lets face it they're rock, so they clean up well and whats more they grip like nothing else out there on the market. That's what really surprised us, the look like they're going to be horrible and then they're not that bad to climb on, whether or not they're the best thing to pull on for hours on end is a different matter, because I can see tweaked joints and people ripping off happening alot. Also one thing you'll notice is that the holds feel cooler than your normal run 'o' the mill bolt ons, this is the rock talking to your finger tips. I even chucked the heat on in the wall for a few hours and where other holds were getting a little slippery the pods just went "yeah, whatever... you can still pull on us cos we're coooool"

Opinions are divided, really divided on these holds. I can see the benefits of what they are and what they do, but I think that with some time and a little more TLC when they're being made these holds will become a staple of any wall, if you see them at a commercial gym is another case. Well you will see them at my local wall because they're getting bolted up and we're asking anyone that has something to say about them to post a comment on here so we can see what the people have to say...

RATING
NOODLES SAYS
These holds are a love hate thing. They have screw holes so you can use them as screw ons, they have bolt holds, so you can use them as bolt ons, therefore they can be placed pretty much anywhere, so that's cool. When you use just the bolt you're thinking that the hold could spin, but they don't, which was an eyeopener, and my wall is varnished. The texture is amazing, the colors are baaaaaaaaaad, the finishing is not up-to par but (and this is a big but) if you close your eyes half way and bear down you could almost think that you're outside.

For me holds need to look pleasing to the eye, that's what makes people want to reach up and grab and to pull. These holds, thou semi pleasing to pull on are not pleasing to the eye and therefore don't really make you want to pull on them. Jim over at Synrock has more holds to offer and I shall be buying more, but I will be getting the bigger holds, these for me are too small for my pulling enjoymentCHRIS' LAST WORD
Hmm tricky. I like these holds, but I do like pulling on small things... they do look horrid, but they pull like rock. They have a unique texture, but they are rock. They do force the climber to climb a route the way its set, but you can't really use them for anything else.

Tricky...

There are many holds with rock like texture out there that aren't made from rock, there are many dual texture holds out there on the market as well. These are the only holds that I'm aware of that are made from rock, and therefore in my eyes are worth a look at from anyone. If they looked a little nicer, and the finishing was a little bit cleaner then you'd see these holds everywhere.... EVERYWHERE. For now they're a little bit niche, and therefore aren't going to be seen that much... but if you have a nice slab of vertical in your house, or a wall that's not too overhung then you can set some amazing (probably) stopper routes with these