Black Diamond Cyborg

Last winter I lost a crampons while leading ice and had to buy a new pair for this season. I was looking at what is easily available to us here in Canada and the selection is rather simple if not limited.

Wanting something that could go from mono-point to dual-point and could fit on my size 13 boots whithout having to buy a longer flex bar reduce the choice I had. It came down to three classic pieces of gear. The G-14 from Grivel, The M-10 from Petzl and the Cyber tooth. Now it's obvious I choice the latter but here's why.

Price: Although not the cheapest, (props to Grivel) the price for a set with anti-bott was just right. I mean at this point I don't think 15$ makes a huge difference.

Make: Stainless steel is not lighter but it takes less to make the same strength. So they say. In any case I couldn't feel any relevant difference from the three of em once in my feet.

One con is the fact that you have less latitude for mono point configuration. Meaning, you cant place the front point in the middle. You have to put em asymetrical, always. I guess it could be placed in the middle with a home made mod. Your call.

As for the rest of the make, it's flawless. The antibott works well and have been revamped (I think) to make em more flexible in the cold. If so good call, as I heard of old ones breaking. The M-10 dont come with anti bott and the ones from Petzl cost 45$. Expensive. The front points are regular chromoly steel to be easier to sharpen and their cheap. Also good, my frontpoints see a lot of abuse.

Performance: I had the chance to try all three. All were well worn and pretty banged up rentals. The night before I sharpened all the points to make em as good as possible. Why try old ones? Simple. In my opinion everything works fine when it's new, the real challenge come in performance after prolonged use/abuse in this case. (Think of it as your marriage, hopefully without use/abuse;-)

To be frank, I couldn't tell much of a difference. They sticked in ice when they should'ved and blowed whenever I didn't watch out. The only problem came from the grivel G-14 the heel couldn't stay in place because of the lever's fit with my boot. And this on both of em.

On the upside, the stainless seel ones looked a lot better since they had no rust and old paint that's fading away. And Again no antibott on the Petzls made snow gathering somewhat dangerous.  

Fit: All three crampons fit real good with my Kayland Revolution boot. But the Cyborg didn't need a new flex bar so case closed.  

So in the end I went with the ones I had before. Good fit, simple, no toxic paint, no more rust. In doubt take the one that marry to your boot the best.

Good climbing.

BD Cyborg Pro—Light enough, versatile, easy to use, strong and functional.

I've never had a problem with these and I use them every year on 14'ers...on soft mash potato snow to alpine ice and thin ice, they do the job. The new stainless steel version works well with shedding sticky snow and dirt. They are easy to clean off during and after a trip.

I used the newer Black Diamond Cyborg Pro in stainless steel on spring and winter routes on Mt. Shasta and really enjoy using them. I bought the step-in version as I prefer step-ins over strap-on or hybrid crampons. I like the solid feel and security of having front and rear levers, instead of plastic straps.

From older '90's single leather climbing boots to the latest multi-material technical climbing boots that have front rear welts, the Cyborgs do the job and do it well. Although they are designed for mainly technical ice climbing and higher grades over general mountaineering slopes..I've found them to be useful on just about every type of route and in any season.

Single point or double point...your choice as they are interchangeable - [-: