UKC

Been looking at metolius master cams was surprised to see the lobes are connected to the triggers with string and glue, how reliable is this in service?

In reply to andic:

I've had a couple for a few years and used them pretty heavily. A few of the strings are a bit frayed, but nothing serious.

The fact that they seize up if you don't wash them straight after going anywhere near salt water is much more of an issue.

In reply to andic: I'm pretty sure the 'string and glue' are Kevlar and knots

In reply to Nick1812P:

just read up on that, kevlar with a nylon sheath but I could not see a knot just a blob of (presumably) resin.

In reply to andic: The Kevlar strings had issues when they first came out and Metolius did a recall. I would wait for the BD x4 if I were you.

I have some, to be honest the BD C4 plastic trigger bar worried me more.

Haven't used them much but the whole mastercam feels solid.

In reply to victim of mathematics:

Second this. Personally I think that the strings work better than the wire used - I've had to replace this on a fair few cams and never had to replace the string on my alien (I'm presuming it's the same, certainly looks and feels the same) which I've had for 7/8 years now.

Seizing up is a serious problem, not sure I'd buy any more master cams because of this.

In reply to andic:

I'd owned some Mastercams for only two months before they seized up after a visit to Boiler Slab in Gower, which is only by the sea and nowhere near the lapping waves or sea spray! This was despite carefully washing, drying and lubing them each evening. I sent them to Beyond Hope for inspection and they weren't sure why my cams seized up. Even though they replaced the cams for free, the replacement cams suffered the same fate as well after a later trip to Swanage.

In reply to andic: One of my climbing partners uses them and we spend half our time at least on sea cliffs. Yet to seize up! And no issues with the string at all. I really enjoy using them, solid, lightweight and simple. I would buy a set but the corroding steel spring put me off. With a decent spring I would buy the entire range, the nicest cams i have used.

In reply to andic:

I wouldn't worry about that have used mine solid for about a year now and no problems, but unless you keep them well maintained the triggers get really stiff and you start to loose some of you camming range. I would suggest wait for C4's or go get some bomber C3's because the camming range and smooth trigger are a must have.

In reply to andic:
They're very good.

In reply to andic:

To add to most of the voices on here already, I have a few Metolius cams (mastercam + TCU) and after a fair bit of use over the last two years haven't had any trigger wire/kevlar break. The wires on one of my TCUs are a bit bent, but it still works (I think I've fallen on it in its current state).

They do seize up a bit more than my camalots, but nothing horrendous. Just be aware that they may require a bit more maintenance. They soon loosen with a bit of warm water + WD40, then some bike chain lube gets the operation very smooth again. (I'm quite careful to wipe off excess oil from the lobes!)