glide bridge wear and tear

[treegeek]

anybody else have this trouble with the glide bridge? i've been using this saddle pretty much full time since february - not very long if you ask me, to have to replace a major component. most of that time i didn't use a micro-pulley because i didn't like the biner-to-biner connection. i just clipped two biners to it, which it is obviously not built to withstand. anyone else have major time in on a glide w/different results?
just curious...
thanks,
k.

 

[treegeek]

oops, lost the photo..

here's the photo (i hope..)

 

[jkrueger]

Hummm, I've used the glide since March?, and mine is still OK. I climb almost every day.

I started out by putting 2 biners on the bridge and changed to a captive eye out of the pulley. I'll get the new pulley soon which will trun everything 90deg. Perfect in my system.

Your wear looks like more than any sliding friction wear. Looks like something 'bit' it.

Best,
Jack

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

This is the problem with a splice in this application. The two tails crossover in the middle and create a point where it's not as thick as the rest of the cord. As you hang your weight on the belt, the binner tends to stick in this notch and wear in one spot. It even looks like the tail is popping out a bit there.
Replace it with a section of rope and tie knots on each end, it'll work much more better.

 

[NickfromWI]

I don't know how Buckingham means to do it, but when I do it, I have the tails fade into eachother so that there is no thin spot that Mike mentioned.

Treegeek, I agree, that wear looks really drastic! Granted, the cover is just polyester and the core is the strength bearing Dyneema, but still...I'd be concerned if that kept happening!

On my bridge I use straight polyester hollow braid (yalex) It holds up very well.

love
nick

 

[treegeek]

hey jack, what's this new pulley you're talking about that turns everything 90 degrees? i haven't heard of that one. i just make sure i have the line exiting my distel to the left and the biner w/my climbing line on it to the right and it works well for me. as for something biting it - not. it's more like the "low spot" when my weight is resting on it pushed the fibers aside or wore them out in that one place. now the cover threads are starting to fray a bit. i've ordered a replacement for competition purposes, but after pittsburgh i'm going to mess around with different bridge materials. the other problem i've had with this saddle/bridge is that the whipping on the ends of the bridge is so stiff and fat that my biner sticks on the outside of it and when i turn back to working in front of myself they stay off to the side. kind of makes the "glide" part pointless. all in all i find the bridge of this otherwise cool and comfy saddle a disappointment. nothing's perfect i guess.

what it really needs is a new pulley, or maybe double pulley fixed onto the bridge that can accomodate two biners. hopefully someone's working on that at buckingham.

thanks for the feedback guys.

 

[jkrueger]

Originally posted by treegeek
hey jack, what's this new pulley you're talking about that turns everything 90 degrees?
[deletion]

In the Sherrill catalog page 44, item G. It is made for the Glide. For me using the VT set up with Kunt knot and captive eye biner it would do that, i.e., 90deg.

Jack

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by NickfromWI
I don't know how Buckingham means to do it, but when I do it, I have the tails fade into eachother so that there is no thin spot that Mike mentioned.

Treegeek, I agree, that wear looks really drastic!

love
nick

I would say it's normal wear if your climbing a lot.

As for the thin spot where the two tails meet, you may not have one when the splice is new, but some modern ropes are very slippery and move around inside the core.

I would be interested to know what keeps the end of Nick's splice tails in place while every other tail buried in lose hollow braids move when compressed repeatedly.

Again, I recomend you tie in a piece of Ultra tech or similar rope as your bridge for day to day work, then replace it with a factory bridge for competitions.

The tied rope eliminates the snagel fook at the crossover and stops the hangups at the whipping, that you suffer from with a spilced rope where there shouldn't otta be any spices. Not only will a tied rope be much cheaper and work better, it'll last longer.

Splices are not always better.