I’m a sucker for an underdog. In any situation I’ll always root for the guy who’s fighting the system, fighting the man.

Webster’s dictionary defines an underdog as 1: A loser or predicted loser in a struggle or contest, 2: A victim of injustice or persecution.

Rock Candy Holds is no loser and as far as I know has not been a victim of injustice or persecution, but I don’t know for sure.

However, my definition is a bit different: A person or company not expected to make it through the rough and tumble world of the climbing design industry.

Being an underdog implies that there is hope that they will overcome the Goliaths that rule this world. Rock Candy is one such underdog. Based In Akron Ohio, deep in the flat American Midwest and run by Nathan Yokum a 23 year former art student, six year climber and somebody you’ve never heard of.

I recently tested some of the Candy at the Circuit Bouldering gym here in Portland Oregon.

The Candy

At the time Rock Candy sent Routesetter.com the holds for testing they only had six sets consisting of 30 holds listed on their website. They sent me a generous sampling from each of these plus a few that I didn’t expect.

One of these unexpected was the Nail Biter (don’t call it the Camel Toe!). This wholly original hold is a large matching grip (I’d be hard pressed to call it a feature as R. Candy’s website does).

The “nail” of the hold is pretty much useless and is only good for the WTF-factor. But it doesn’t matter when you take hold of the comfortable sloping incut edge and yard. You can also flip it over for a skinnier, harder version of the match.

The Nail Biter is awesome as a pinch on the steeps, or as a cool side-pull-gaston match when set on 30 degree’s or less.

The only down side of the hold is the astro price of US$49 bucks retail.

Pimpin’ the Pebbles

If the Nail is the epitome of abstractness then the Conglomerites are the still-life beauty of pure nature. The most distinctive part of these black grips are the small crimp-pimpin’ pebbles that poke out of the holds. Don’t worry about breaking them off however, they’re built right into the tough urethane.

The holds are perfect for top-out slabs and slapping around arêtes. Great for forcing the mantle and making the climber slow down to find the sweet sloppy spot. Putting these on anything more than a vertical angle will undoubtedly bring you into the double digits.

One thing that is not so perfect and quiet disappointing is that with a couple of the Conglomerites a climber can simply pinch the outside of the hold and skip all the shallow coolness. I spent about 20 minutes trying to force the use of the inside seam, only to have every position cheated by using the easier to hold outside of the grip.

Only two of the five holds in the set are this way, however, so it’s still a good buy at US$38 retail.

Pedal pushers & Retox

These two shapes are good for comp setters with their simple incuts (pedals) and edges (retox). The pedal pushers are best on steeper walls and the Retox are perfect for vert walls.

The two sets, however, share an annoying trait. Though each set includes five holds, you will have to use calipers if you want to find any difference between the depths of the usable surfaces.

Each one feels about the same with only slight differences in whether or not there is a thumb catch, which might be good for sneaky sequences high up on a route.

I would like to see a greater variance within each of these sets, which would give them more value to a hold buyer. Nevertheless, the Retox are still one of my favorite sets this year and I’d pay the US$38 just to have them on my wall.

Thizzle & Cellulite

The Cellulite series are five original, varied feel-good shapes. From incut to sloppy pinch to rounded edge. One of the Cellulites was a little too weird however, and required a bit more creativity from the route setter to use the hold comfortably.

I usually don’t like turning holds upside down just to use the worst part of the hold. But the Cell’s are comfortable enough from both directions that they won’t make you look like a rookie. They will run you US $27.

The Thizzle is the shizzle! Unique pinches with little slippery crystal bead-like thumb catches. These crystals are not quiet slippery enough to piss you off when you grip the holds but just enough to make you think, “what the hell is that poking into my finger?”

Like the Cellulite you can flip most of the Thizzle over to use the flat edge, making these two sets very versatile.

McNasties & The Nancies

The only jug set Rock Candy offers so far are the McNasties which are pretty standard, comfortable jugs. What’s not standard is the ugliness of the hold. Think: A pile of barfed up fast food after a night of festive drinking.

If you work at one of those walls that sits in the lobby of an athletic club and is the centerpiece of the facility than the McNasties are probably not for you. These holds will scare sensitive administrators and squeamish customers.

The Nancies are large (not X-large) matching holds that are as one setter put it, “Slick all over.” Slick, that is, everywhere you want to grab. The tube down the middle has no texture and only a little bit of an incut.

The back must be slick too because we could not get the hold to stop spinning without set-screwing or blocking it. It also had a tendency to lever off the wall when pulled hard.

In my book US$60 is expensive for three holds that require added work and frustration by the setter.

Overall

Only time will tell if Rock Candy Holds can usurp any power from some of the reigning kings of the industry, but there is always hope.

But they’ll need more than hope if they want to make it on the mean streets. If they can keep creating original shapes and adding a few basic ones to their line they might have a good chance of pulling through today’s glutted hold market.

Once people get to know Nathan Yokum and his holds you will likely see them featured on high-profile comp routes and boulders.

Before purchasing be warned, the sizing descriptions listed on R. Candy’s website lean towards the large side. Objects on their site may be smaller than they appear.

Also large are the prices. Only a few of the shapes are a good value and not priced to meet struggling gyms budgets. Some holds cost as much as US$20 retail for one hold! Only the most upper crust of woody wall owners will be willing to dish out that kind of cash.

Overall, Rock Candy has been the surprise company of the year for me and I’m looking forward to what they can do in the coming years.

 |   Subscribe to post | Leave a comment