Cyborgs vs. G14's

[Greg]

Okay, Santa says I can have some new crampons and I've got 24 hours for free shipping at MEC. I have sort of narrowed my choices down to these two. Any thoughts or opinions on these crampons would be welcomed.

[chossmonkey]

Grivel has better steel. BD replacement points cost less. Assuming the toe bails on the G-14's and the Rambo IV's are the same, the toe bails on the Cyborgs will work slightly better with boots with wide toes. They also seem like they would be easier to bend to make them fit since they don't have the little curly-Q thing on them. If you have size 12 feet or double boots a little smaller the G-14s might not fit you boots for length either. If you have smaller feet I'd probably go with the Grivel since I think they are a little better quality. The BD aren't junky so you could save a little money and if you don't sharpen you points very often they should still last a long time.

[Matt Peck]

I'd go for the grivel. I've always found the bionic/cyborg crampons to be more imprecise, and more displacing than the G-14s. The tertiary points on the BD's are not as agressive, and I always found my calves pumping out quicker than in the G-14s. The Grivel crampons don't fit as many boots right out of the box as the BD's, but after some minor grunting and groaning, the bails can be reshaped. I found this minor matter somewhat easier to deal with when compaired to the rattle the Bionics always seemed to have when I wore/was near people who wore them. Probably not a big deal, but any vibration in a crampon is bad news in my book. The antibot in the grivel's is pretty sweet these days too. One look at the G-14's on your boot and you'll prolly agree that they are one Badarse looking set of frontpoints as well.

My .02$