UKC

Over the autumn and winter, Steve Long and other Mountain Training UK and British Mountaineering Council staff have been getting to grips with a pre-production sample of Metolius' new Contact Training Board. The Contact Training Board has just landed in shops, and is Metolius' most deluxe full-featured training board to date, with a wide variety of holds and new, ergonomic variable width pinches.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=5168

In reply to UKC Gear:

Eighty quid? Jesus.

Hi there, thanks for the informative review.
Any thoughts on how this compares to other options out there - maybe the oft-mentioned beastmaker, or the moon?
I'm interested in the beastm. as an alternative material to usual formed plastic, but haven't got a local wall to go and play!

Cheers
f

It does look like a great device for all kinds of pull-ups, lock-offs, levers, etc. a good thing to keep you motivated through the winter. However, it is not a finger board, i.e. it will not make your fingers stronger, the holds are too large. It can probably be used quite well for training forearm endurance for overhanging routes on 2-3 finger pockets. But again, you won't build finger strength on it. So, it has a different purpose than e.g. the moon board or the beastmaker.

In reply to tomma: hmm, interesting didn't pick up on that - looks like the bm2000 has it. plus has nice wood effect look so the mrs wont object (much) to putting it up. cheers

In reply to fawlty: er, duh - actual wood not wood effect...

In reply to tomma:

That's not true, it's only the top row of pockets that are deep, they get shallower as you go down the board until tips only at the bottom.

The main advantage of a beastmaker over this board though is that the wood is not going to rip your skin to shreds whilst your fingers are getting strong.

In reply to UKC Gear:

My 2p.

It's pretty hideous. It's huge. It must weigh an absolute ton. It destroys your tips.

Wooden holds please. I've got a simulator under my bed which nobody wants to buy off me for the exact same reason as stated above. It just isn't as good as the wooden rivals.

In reply to UKC Gear: I like the pinches and the fact that you can campus up it a bit, but I think it's lacking small crimps. Plus, I wouldn't go back to resin now after using a wooden board.

In reply to fawlty:


I'd go for the BM every time. I sold my Simulator for one and don't regret it. The friction on the Metolius is simply too rough and, as others have said, most of the holds are too large. Not seen this one, but I imagine it's similar. The review could have done with some decent, oblique product shots, rather than people's backs. Plus that Metolius is going to weigh a lot more than a BM!

In reply to fawlty:
...maybe the oft-mentioned beastmaker, or the moon, or the crusher?

In reply to UKC Gear:

This just looks a bit rubbish.

The main selling point seems to be that its guaranteed to be symmetric, and I can't say perfect symmetry is one of my key criteria when buying a fingerboard. Other notable features are that it maintains calluses (?) and has nearly 600 holds, all of which look way to big.

Also, it looks suspiciously like this is just the old simulator turned upside down.. http://images.usoutdoorstore.com/usoutdoorstore/products/full/met_simulator...

In reply to UKC Gear: Thanks for all the comments and opinions. There are some smaller crimps on the Contact than the Simulator, and a wider variety of sloping edges.

In reply to UKC Gear: I think that the verdict on materials boils down to aesthetics and to what you are training for. All I can say is that training on resin makes sense to me if you climb at a wall and find that your fingers get tender before strength becomes an issue. I find wooden holds feel really polished so have to use chalk to hang them; chalk is unnecessary for this board. And it does have some pretty small and slopey holds; i can't imagine pulling up on smaller holds footless, and I wouldn't advise it really. This board is convenient to use as a standalone feature; if you are building a complete training gym it's probably not going to be what you're looking for.

I think this fingerboard is aiming at too big a spectrum. Would an advanced climber needs the deep pockets and would a novice need the narrow ones? Also, there is a fair few fingerboards out there now that £80 is hard to justify .

That aside, the may thing that puts me off is how hideous it looks. If i was to mount this indoors i would be embarrassed to allow guests in incase they seen it.

In reply to UKC Gear: If your not using chalk, your not trying hard enoug to be training and may as well spend the equivalent time reading a nice book, or writing a little poem.

In reply to Steve Long:


I read these comments gave a little chuckle, then to my astonishment realised it was you that wrote the review. Who on earth let you review a training product? Your comments regarding getting tender fingers and not using chalk are laughable to say the least.