UKC

Yey another G22 thread!

I've been climbing on Petzl Darts and the last few seasons and BD Stingers before that. The Darts were great but are now being relegated to my mixed crampon. The Stingers were also brilliant but unfortunately they broke quite spectacularly (they have now been relegated to a wind chime) and I'm not keen to have stainless steel again.

For my next pure water-ice crampon I'm looking at the G22 (and G20), however I think this time I would like dual points. I have thought about the Dartwin, but like the Dart they aren't so great on snow. I also like the idea of a couple of extra spikes in the mid-foot for climbing featured ice. The G20/22's also appear to have much more aggressive secondary points which is a big plus. They also have a greater range of adjustment in the front, something I think is useful for when the points inevitably get shorter...

So for anyone who has the G22 or 20 (as they are essentially the same construction) and has any feedback my main questions are:

How have you found the 'mono-rail' design on the Grivel crampons, has anyone broken one?

Point wear, how have the points stood up? Are these hot forged points noticeably more durable?

How well do the anti-bots work? They are one of the few lightweight crampons to come with them front and back as standard, any feedback on this would be great.

All other feedback welcome!

Thanks in advance

In reply to GarethSL: I prefer the Dart to the G20 purely because I felt the front point lasts longer. They both wear down of course but the profile of the Dart allows for a bit more sharpening. The mono-rail is a bit different to start with but you forget about it soon enough, some people don't seem to like though. It's better than bending your connecting bad when you stand on a bulk. I liked the look of the Stingers but have been put of by the breakages as well.

In reply to ColdWill:


That's really interesting, thanks for that! I was worried this might be the case as I found the hot forged picks for Grivel axes were very easy to sharpen and it felt like the metal wasn't so hard compared to others!


My other worry is that it doesn't offer much give with slightly bendier boots that seem to be more common now. I wonder if that's the main cause of the breakages.

In reply to GarethSL: The original bar was badly designed at the hinge but the new ones (three years now) are fine. Haven't heard of any breakages myself but someone who works in a shop might have. I found them better on my Nepals to my Phantom Ultras as they didn't support any lateral movement so I could rock my foot if that makes sense, stiffer boots work better, no problems in Techs. They were possibly softer as well.
Just looked at my sentence above , how embarrassing.
"your connecting bad (bar) when you stand on a bulk (bulge)."

In reply to GarethSL:

Like you I loved my Darts for mixed and pure ice.... but not so great on snow.

I do have a few friends that liked their G20/21/22s, but at least one also broke it in quite a spectacular way mid pitch... He was less than thrilled.

So when it was time to get a new crampon for ice (Dart to mixed) I shopped around for a bit, and ended up getting Austria Alpine SkySteeps, they're quite OK but one needs to be careful with tight bolts (I would assume the Edelrid are similar in this case). I also had one limiting factor, and that was that the 'poons need to work with my LaSpo Syborgs. Had this not been the case, I might have looked at the Grivels (prolly Rambo's though, for pure ice falls) or Lynx.


So in short, can't help... but if the main focus is on ice climbs, perhaps even think about the Rambos.... they work like a charm and I especially like the secundary points (which are like the ones on Grivels bolt on Racing 'poons, that I love).

In reply to GarethSL:

With the G22 make sure you buy the new design with the tuning fork style connecting bar. Old stock has the tab over style bar and is known to fracture.

The new stlye offers some flex with only a single bolt holding the front to the rear. With regards sharpening haven't had to sharpen mine yet having been used for two seasons on pure water Ice (no mixed). For Mixed I favour G14's which I can set up Dual or mono and buy spare points for.

Anti bot on the G22 works fine never had any problems. I had toyed with the idea of buying a spare set of mono fronts
but in the end decided that the dual points on the G22 were fine.

In reply to starbug:

Brilliant, thanks!

In reply to GarethSL:

Don't know it it helps but there is now the g20 + (or some other name) that has a replacable front point. Needle sports have them

In reply to climber34neil: Good Call, get these ones. Just make sure those bolts are tight.

In reply to climber34neil:

Those had been on my radar, but like the g20 they lack the anti-ball plates and I'm not so keen on mechano style crampons

In reply to GarethSL:

I've been using the G20s for pretty much all my recent steeper climbing and think they're great. They seem to wear reasonably well, if you don't go wantonly flailing your hooves, and are lovely and light. I've never used Darts, but I'm sure they'd be equally good - I plumped for the Grivels because they seemed to fit my boots better.
The lack of a replaceable point is a slight drawback, but if you're mostly climbing ice it probably won't wear down too quickly anyway, and if there's a new version that does have replaceable ones I'd certainly consider them when it comes time to replace them.
And I can't say that the lack of an anti-balling plate on the front section has caused any major problems. They do pick up some snow when it's damp, but the mono-rail middle and the plate at the back means there's still snow-free points to give you grip

In reply to GarethSL:
Good, caus I just bought the last pair at Needle Sport.

In reply to GarethSL: Must also add that grivel appear to have a new link bar for the G20/22/+ which should help with the wobbly feel when on bulges as pictured in the link below but not in the needle Sport photo.

https://www.ellis-brigham.com/products/grivel-g20-plus-cramp-o-matic-crampo...

In reply to GarethSL:

They have the plates on the back section, I used g20 in Scotland and didn't have any issues with them balling up , not sure if that helps but just my experience with them

In reply to GarethSL:

Pair of G22s going for a bargain price in the For Sale/Wanted forum

In reply to GarethSL:

I've got a pair of Rambo IV's and Darts, the rambo's are miles ahead of the darts. Literally dance circles around them feels like I'm stood on a ledge not vertical ice!

In reply to abcdef:

Nice, thanks for the tip, but already picked a pair up when I was back home in the UK

In reply to ColdWill:


Yeap!
Broke on my G20s last month (walking out thankfully) but free replacement of the new version from Grivel straight away

In reply to GarethSL:

G20s climb brilliantly but contrary to the other comments they can ball-up horrendously, dangerously so, if you are unlucky and get the wrong snow conditions. Most of the time they are fine, but one friend has abandoned them for this reason.

I currently have an unused pair of G22s (bought for pure ice routes) but they have a front plate so should be much better.

In reply to GarethSL: There are also these:
http://www.climbingtechnology.com/en/outdoor-en/ice-axes-and-crampons/cramp...
970g with dual point
and these:
http://www.singingrock.com/lucifer-2?cat=2720
1025g with dual/ 965g with mono.
to add to the mix. Pretty good weights considering anti bot plates are fitted.