[gme]

250 problems since launch 25 days ago. Pretty good I would have thought. Equivalent of the big commercial walls replacing 2  30 problem circuits each week.

And whilst the texture of the white and blacks isn't the best the shapes are good and climb well ( other than the pockets but how many pockets are not painful) I train on them 1-2 times a week in the sweatiest hottest wall in the world. You get used to them and they get more comfy with use.
The yellow set are great, hard and fingery but great.

[Moo]

Sorry is everyone on smack. This board is shit, the holds are shit the angle is shit the lights are a daft gimmick.

I do really like the concept of a board which can be configured to a universal specification though.

That's just my opinion however don't get your fucking knickers in a twist.

[gme]

An enlightening critique. You should get a job with the daily mail.

[dave]

Why wont plywood work. I presume its just a general feeling. Engineered timbers have been pretty much proven to offer the same, if not better, structural capabilities than solid timbers. The only thing they dont perform as well in are when wet or with large temperature changes. We are seeing more and more use of engineered timber in the construction industry replacing steel.

I don't doubt that ply has come on a long way. But, if you've got different pieces/types of wood sandwiched together in different orientations of grain then inevitably there's a chance that the different layers will wear at different rates over time.

[Johnny Brown]

We're not talking about macro-engineering properties though are we? I doubt anyone is designing ply to be kind on fingertips. Having said that, many of the holds on my old board were made from marine ply, an old mirror dinghy centreboard in fact. And they were fine.

[tim palmer]

250 problems since launch 25 days ago. Pretty good I would have thought. Equivalent of the big commercial walls replacing 2  30 problem circuits each week.

And whilst the texture of the white and blacks isn't the best the shapes are good and climb well ( other than the pockets but how many pockets are not painful) I train on them 1-2 times a week in the sweatiest hottest wall in the world. You get used to them and they get more comfy with use.
The yellow set are great, hard and fingery but great.

I don't think that holds are great, it might just be my fat fingers but i find that the positive holds are far too low volume (ala Holdz) and crush my finger tips.  I suppose I just see it as a rather cynical effort to sell some rather sub-par holds which don't fit the bill (because of the shape and because they are resin).

The vast majority of those 250 problems are not new, about 170 were available for this hold set up before the lights and whistles were added. 

I agree there is a burst of enthusiasm for the board at the moment but time will tell if it is sustained or just gets forgotten.

I suppose I just see it as a method to sell some rather sub-par holds which don't fit the bill (because of the shape and because they are resin) and hook people into using that brand.

[dave]

We're not talking about macro-engineering properties though are we? I doubt anyone is designing ply to be kind on fingertips.

Exactly.

Having said that, many of the holds on my old board were made from marine ply, an old mirror dinghy centreboard in fact. And they were fine.

So good they fostered a lifelong love of board climbing.

I'm hearing great arguments for ply having advantages for the manufacturer - greater consistency, cheaper, ease of manufacture etc. Not seeing that many advantages for the user unless you happen to like the texture and happy to gamble that the layers won't wear unevenly.  E.g. I've not felt a plywood campus rung that I would take over the equivalent solid wooded one, unless they were like 1/5th of the cost, which they aren't.

Having said all this, the new Moon ply holds are the best ply hold I've felt (wouldn't be difficult), assuming longterm they don't wear badly. We're into uncharted territory here.

[a dense loner]

Fuck me Tim are you upset with Ben because he did High Fidelity quicker than you?

I could have posted that twice for effect

[36chambers]

Fuck me Tim are you upset with Ben because he did High Fidelity quicker than you?

It took Ben 68 seconds to climb High Fidelity. I'm pretty sure Tim's ascent was sub 1 minute. So I don't know what you're on about Dense? Furthermore, who actually cares about speed climbing anyway??

[tim palmer]

Fuck me Tim are you upset with Ben because he did High Fidelity quicker than you?

I could have posted that twice for effect

Ha ha I spotted my repetition but couldn't be bothered tweaking it.

I just think the LED thing is a stupid gimmick and the moon holds are not good for training on.  Plus I think it was advertised in a rather misleading way.

plus I am not sure he did……  

[a dense loner]

So do I but people love gimmicks. I had visions of you repeatedly stabbing cadavers after your little outburst!

[gme]

It is a gimmick but unlike a lot of gimmicks it's actually a good one and makes finding problems on the board so much easier. I wish the works motherboard had one installed. You should have a go as I have not heard anyone who hasn't used it say it's shit.

The holds are not the best but not as bad as people on here make out. I think the shapes are reasonable but the texture is to rough.

[Three Nine]

It is a gimmick but unlike a lot of gimmicks it's actually a good one and makes finding problems on the board so much easier. I wish the works motherboard had one installed. You should have a go as I have not heard anyone who hasn't used it say it's shit.

The holds are not the best but not as bad as people on here make out. I think the shapes are reasonable but the texture is to rough.

My real problem with the lights is that before I could have the board to myself (when it was just made of boring wood), but now every cunt down the wall has to come and have a go like fuckin moths, in the same way that every cunt has to have a go on the circuit board at least once per session for novelty value (no training value, but enough to fuck up my intervals).

[petejh]

You need a problem on the new LED Moonboard that lights up the words Fuck Off Cunts I'm Training. Actually it'd probably be more of a circuit

[mr chaz]

It is a gimmick but unlike a lot of gimmicks it's actually a good one and makes finding problems on the board so much easier. I wish the works motherboard had one installed. You should have a go as I have not heard anyone who hasn't used it say it's shit.

The holds are not the best but not as bad as people on here make out. I think the shapes are reasonable but the texture is to rough.

My real problem with the lights is that before I could have the board to myself (when it was just made of boring wood), but now every cunt down the wall has to come and have a go like fuckin moths, in the same way that every cunt has to have a go on the circuit board at least once per session for novelty value (no training value, but enough to fuck up my intervals).

  I fucking hate other people

[Lund]

You need a problem on the new LED Moonboard that lights up the words Fuck Off Cunts I'm Training. Actually it'd probably be more of a circuit

Just cover up all the LEDs with tape?  Or resin?  Or glue?  Or human faeces?

Until I checked out the blog I wondered if this was some kind of ongoing April fool.  Next thing you know I'll be able to wear a headset to see an avatar guiding me through my yoga positions.

[petejh]

When I was doing the n.Wales limestone App version I toyed around with the idea of having the option to click a 'beta' tab which would open up footage of a local wad doing the route and perhaps talking through the beta.  It would have to be optional, to preserve the onsight.

Still think there's legs in the idea for app guides, surprised cockfax haven't done it yet. Especially bouldering app guides - it would save trawling around the web for beta if it was in one place as part of a downloadable app guide. You could have different wads demoing different routes/blocs. Pay them minimum wag to film it  Actually some would do it for free just to raise their profile 

[tim palmer]

It is a gimmick but unlike a lot of gimmicks it's actually a good one and makes finding problems on the board so much easier. I wish the works motherboard had one installed. You should have a go as I have not heard anyone who hasn't used it say it's shit.

The holds are not the best but not as bad as people on here make out. I think the shapes are reasonable but the texture is to rough.

I have used a moon board without lights and it is shit and as the old saying goes "you can't polish a turd", but Mr moon has put LED lights on it.

[cha1n]

Had a quick play on the TCA moon board today. I quite liked it but as mentioned, there are issues with the texture, hopefully this will improve with time. I was certainly more psyched to have a go then on the woody and I personally quite liked the handholds for feet setup.

Some negatives, the app doesn't work with my version of Android, argh. Am due a new phone though. Not sure what the situation is if multiple people are trying different problems on it, the group who were there first today were changing the light configuration every try so hard to work anything, maybe there's some way that each individual could change it before that pull on but as I couldn't get the app I'm not sure? Thought they might have a LED panel as in the schoolroom for changing the lights when you don't have your phone with you? Will ask TCA the deal.

[Sasquatch]

I have used a moon board without lights and it is shit and as the old saying goes "you can't polish a turd", but Mr moon has put LED lights on it.

shit is relative.  If you live in a place with a minimal number of alternatives, then the moonboard could very likely be the "least shit" option.  While I agree that there is some potential for improvement to the moonboard, for those without something better, it can be a really amazing training option. 

[dave]

If you live in a place with a minimal number of alternatives, then the moonboard could very likely be the "least shit" option. 

I would love to see this quote used as marketing/promo copy on official literature.

[Three Nine]

I have used a moon board without lights and it is shit and as the old saying goes "you can't polish a turd", but Mr moon has put LED lights on it.

shit is relative.  If you live in a place with a minimal number of alternatives, then the moonboard could very likely be the "least shit" option.  While I agree that there is some potential for improvement to the moonboard, for those without something better, it can be a really amazing training option.

at TCA we already had something better, then they ripped it out and installed some fairy lights

[cha1n]

at TCA we already had something better, then they ripped it out and installed some fairy lights

I have to agree that the woody was a better board than the new moonboard is and I do feel sorry for the old woody users as the new configuration is nothing like the original - I think I saw someone doing circuits on it, it's that easy in comparison. Shame.

That said, excluding the crappy holds, I do quite like the moonboard.

[Duma]

So, had another play on TCAs last night, the stupidly rough black and white sets seem to be bedding in ok, might end up being ok on a commercial wall that will see a lot of traffic. Most of the pockets are still horrible though.

The woody has acquired a bunch of poor pink footholds, sash has circled most of the poor grey/brown ones too, I'll try and get them to let me switch some of these to pink too, then we should hopefully end up with something that'll be worthwhile for the keen (pink feet only), but management also get to tell themselves that it's "accessible" (any screw on feet)

[Nibile]

many of the holds on my old board

Jesuschrist!
JB was a cellar dweller! I'm trying to picture him downstairs, under a 55 degree board full of crimps and pinches, with a replica of Hubble and The Fly, psyching himself up with pouding techno and yelling "FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOGAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" in a simil-roid-rage just before yet another go on a three move stamina fest, but my mind... just... can't... Nooooooooooo aaaaaaaaargghhhhhh imgettingmaaaaaaaaaaddddddddddddd!