Is this a first? Are you feeling OK, Mike?Originally Posted by Mike T
Is this a first? Are you feeling OK, Mike?
......I must be coming down with something .....
Polio? :w00t:
Excellent!
Whats more important in a pole weight or anti shock?
In my experience, the lightest Leki poles feel really springy and responsive, I have never felt jarred by them even on the longest days out. However, I wouldn't usually use them on tarmac, and if I did do so I would fit the rubber bungs beforehand. Anti-shock adds, as you say, weight, but also there is more to go wrong. The joints in poles are already the weak place where problems arise, rendering the pole useless. I would never want to add to that vulnerability. A friend was once outdoors taking his pole apart at the joint, when there was a sudden PING and the anti-shock gizmo flew of into the heather, never to be seen again. I don't want that to be able to happen to me. I also suspect I would find the anti-shock irritating.
Appalling as the price of the best poles is, if you think you might use them regularly it is truly worth paying up for the best. I have the impression that some members of the Forums think of poles as a sort of crutches, and using them as acknowledging oneself as decrepit or disabled. On the contrary, holding my poles I feel as if I have extra bionic limbs, strong, athletic, precise and armed with feline claws.
depends what you arre using them for.
for me its weight.
I use them on long climbs, so shock absorbtion is not an isssue.
On descents I am running.
Avoid the poles at all costs: Exped Quad Poles (four section telescopic).
I got a pair for the OMM last October and have used them less than 10 times. After only a few used they started to corrode (even though I dried them carefully) and have now locked solid. Exped have refused to accept this is their fault. So I am left with a pair of £50 poles that are only of use to a 3 foot high dwarf! Better off with some cheap and nasty ones that you can replace every 6 months than some expensive ones that break!
Yes, either buy ultra cheap and chuck when they break down or buy from a reputable stockist like Cotswold and a reliable maker like Leki. My expensive Leki poles, which I have used a lot and not really looked after, eventually (long after the guarantee period) developed a fault in the strap adjustment mechanism. I was able to take the faulty pole in to my local Cotswold, even though I had bought it from another branch, and it was sent back to Leki and fixed at no cost to myself. The downside was that it all took a while, but I would have hated to have to pack and post it off myself - and then perhaps get a dusty answer from the maker/stockist. Cotswold and Leki are not the cheapest by a long way, but no hassle after-care is worth a lot IMO.
I use CAMP XENON, they're as light as Raidlight ones, and cost nearly half.
In long races (50 miles +) with significant climbing, they're a big help.
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