I'm willing to swap out my pulleys. The 40 lb difference is really concerning since I'd like to honestly track my progress and this makes me think I'm getting uncontrolled workouts.
I tend to stay "honest" in the first reps of a set, but as I start to fatigue, sagging is inevitable and I can feel myself getting the advantage of friction. I'd much rather have a system that let's me know how my body is truly performing.
I have some 10 year old DMM pulleys. They don't list efficiency on their site, and it doesn't look like they still make the exact same pulley. I imagine that any ball bearing pulley would be fine, but not everyone lists their efficiencies. Petzl does, and they have some 91% and 95% pulleys. Those should treat you well but aren't cheap.
I haven't noticed this problem yet. I bought the least expensive pulleys at the climbing store (https://www.mec.ca/en/product/4013-590/Pulley), and they have a nylon sheave. Nylon is quite a bit more slippery than aluminum. So the nylon is more likely to spin on the axle, and might even let the cord slip over. Low coefficients of friction are great! Even though the total pulley strength is pretty marginal, it's plenty for a hangboard setup.
The coefficient of friction of dry nylon is ~0.2, and for dry aluminum it's ~1.0. Maybe try buying some cheap pulleys with nylon?
Last Edit: Nov 10, 2017 11:07:34 GMT -7 by jeremie
I noticed that, under higher loads (say 100lb counterweight, meaning a total of 200lbs on two pulleys), the rope was running statically over the pulleys: they weren't even rolling. Of course this defeats the purpose of even having pulleys (biners would be about the same).
As I posted above, I get get a +/- 40lb variance on high loads, meaning that my performance measurements are pretty inaccurate. This of course goes away once you get to added weight, rather than subtracted weight, but I'm not there yet.
I just ordered 2 Petzl rescue pulleys, ball-bearing pulleys rated to 95% efficiency We shall see...
The Petzl Rescue pulleys just arrived. From Amazon. They were $55 ea instead of the lame-ass stupid Fixe pulleys which were about half that price.
With Fixe pulleys I could put 50 lbs on two pulleys and take off anywhere from 75 lbs (when sagging into the rig) to 30 lbs (when rising up into the rig). As an OCD type, this was driving me bonkers. (See my post above.)
The new pulleys are ball-bearing pulleys with 95% efficiency (compared to the Fixe sheave pulleys at 71% efficiency).
Rescue pulleys are noticeably heavier and larger. They don't "groan" under a load like the Fixe pulleys did. And my experiment with them yielded removing 51 lbs to 48 lbs with a 50 lb counterweight. It was VERY hard to cheat with them, because they roll immediately as you sag or rise.
To summarize:
Fixe pulleys with 50 lbs counterweight: 45 lbs variation
Rescue pulleys with 50 lbs counterweight: 3 lbs variation
This has me psyched to reestablish my baseline now with honest pulleys! Pretty sure my pinches are going to need a lot more help now that I can't cheat.
Anyway, I hope this helps future hangboard monkeys... especially beginners like me who need to take a lot of weight off and want to do it in an honest and repeatable manner.
Last Edit: Nov 13, 2017 17:58:15 GMT -7 by jrblack
I have been using my micro traxions with the teeth disengaged and since the cord wore a grove into the cheap SMC plastic ones I was using. I find the micro traxion pulleys to be efficient enough.
I have been using my micro traxions with the teeth disengaged and since the cord wore a grove into the cheap SMC plastic ones I was using. I find the micro traxion pulleys to be efficient enough.
I have micro traxions, but I neutered them long ago so they can't be used as pure pulleys. In other words, you can't lock the teeth open.... because I had that happen twice when soloing on them and I don't feel like dying...
You still have yours unmodified? And you use them for rope soloing?!
I have been using my micro traxions with the teeth disengaged and since the cord wore a grove into the cheap SMC plastic ones I was using. I find the micro traxion pulleys to be efficient enough.
You still have yours unmodified? And you use them for rope soloing?!
I have been using my micro traxions with the teeth disengaged and since the cord wore a grove into the cheap SMC plastic ones I was using. I find the micro traxion pulleys to be efficient enough.
I have micro traxions, but I neutered them long ago so they can't be used as pure pulleys. In other words, you can't lock the teeth open.... because I had that happen twice when soloing on them and I don't feel like dying...
You still have yours unmodified? And you use them for rope soloing?!
I use a micro for soloing a ton and am always afraid of this happening!! It hasn't happened yet, and I was thinking/ hoping that thought was unjustified when it came into my mind while cruxing. Is it easy to modify? Have a link or quick explanation?
I have micro traxions, but I neutered them long ago so they can't be used as pure pulleys. In other words, you can't lock the teeth open.... because I had that happen twice when soloing on them and I don't feel like dying...
You still have yours unmodified? And you use them for rope soloing?!
I use a micro for soloing a ton and am always afraid of this happening!! It hasn't happened yet, and I was thinking/ hoping that thought was unjustified when it came into my mind while cruxing. Is it easy to modify? Have a link or quick explanation?
Let’s not discuss such things here. You can find plenty of info on this type of thing on other climbing forums.
Post by climber511 on Nov 30, 2018 12:31:40 GMT -7
WD 40 is not really a lube and will itself gum up over time. Try a Teflon lube - they seem to work better. I think the term here is static hysteresis - which in english means "break out friction" and should pretty much go away after the first rep.
The Petzl Rescue pulleys just arrived. From Amazon. They were $55 ea instead of the lame-ass stupid Fixe pulleys which were about half that price.
With Fixe pulleys I could put 50 lbs on two pulleys and take off anywhere from 75 lbs (when sagging into the rig) to 30 lbs (when rising up into the rig). As an OCD type, this was driving me bonkers. (See my post above.)
The new pulleys are ball-bearing pulleys with 95% efficiency (compared to the Fixe sheave pulleys at 71% efficiency).
Rescue pulleys are noticeably heavier and larger. They don't "groan" under a load like the Fixe pulleys did. And my experiment with them yielded removing 51 lbs to 48 lbs with a 50 lb counterweight. It was VERY hard to cheat with them, because they roll immediately as you sag or rise.
To summarize:
Fixe pulleys with 50 lbs counterweight: 45 lbs variation
Rescue pulleys with 50 lbs counterweight: 3 lbs variation
This has me psyched to reestablish my baseline now with honest pulleys! Pretty sure my pinches are going to need a lot more help now that I can't cheat.
Anyway, I hope this helps future hangboard monkeys... especially beginners like me who need to take a lot of weight off and want to do it in an honest and repeatable manner.
I have done this same experiment. I found a big difference between using cord or using coated wire (the wire was significantly better).
Post by trainingjames on Feb 19, 2019 8:07:17 GMT -7
I just use 1 pulley to reduce any friction impact. There is also no “swinging” up or down of the pulleys as you sag into place. Haven’t done any scale tests though. Need to do that.