This is a nice all-around crampon - works well on mixed snow/ice terrain, and light enough for glacier work. In particular, I like the shape of the frontpoints, especially for vertical snow conditions (they get nice and wide near the back of the fps).

That said, you can't replace them. You have to replace the whole front piece, which is obnoxious.

Finally, I can find no discernible advantage to the Sidelock. In fact, it's kind of a pain in the ass.

This is a nice all-around crampon - works well on mixed snow/ice terrain, and light enough for glacier work. In particular, I like the shape of the frontpoints, especially for vertical snow conditions (they get nice and wide near the back of the fps).

That said, you can't replace them. You have to replace the whole front piece, which is obnoxious.

Finally, I can find no discernible advantage to the Sidelock. In fact, it's kind of a pain in the ass.

Ignore the 'recall' comment. These crampons were recalled two years ago because a few climbers were breaking the extremely long front points. I climbed on the crampons and loved the performance. I grudgingly turned in my crampons when the 'recall' notice came in. Now that the crampons have been redesinged- I can't wait to buy a set. They are amazing at holding in anything- this is the ultimate mixed mountaineering crampon... the front points are long enough to puncture through aerated ice/frozen moss or anything else and give you reliable purchase. The twin tips also provide a very stable platform for placing equipment. Love em.

Well I did tons of research after going up Mw in a rental pair last April, that was a horror show . This year looking to get my own to use up this winter.
I decIded on the Sidelock version of these crampons. They really are super light very well constructed , I have not field tested them and I am very glad I tried them before going up a mountain in severe weather . In my home with tons of time and nice warm temps they are impossible to lock on the boots. The lock is made of very weak soft rubber! If you needed to get these on in cold temps you would loose your fingers . I have ordered the lever wire so I hope these work better. I do not think you will see the sidelock around very long. They are dangerous in extreme conditions and do not work a flash in the pan that could get a climber hurt.

I love these crampons. They're not overly heavy, the expel snow extremely well, they are very easy to put on as well as take off. The anti-balling plates work amzingly well. I've used them about 2 dozen times and never had even the slightest problem.

Though I prefer mono points for true vertical waterfall ice, these things are great for just about all else. I have used the prior iteration of these things in the cascades, colorado, ecuador and peru and they have served well on everything from glacier jaunts to serious alpine routes. Ignore the foolish recall review...these are the updated version (and, from everyone I've talked to, even the recalled version was pretty much bomber - petzl was just being extremely cautious in recalling the originals).

I trully loved these crampons! Climbed from long snow plods to extremely tecnical mixed ice and rock routes to steep 60-75 degrees nevé and ice, from Patagonia to the Alps. Always felt extremely safe. With the automatic system I could put them on and off with only one hand and gloves on. And once they were in they would not budge. These are a lot lighter and with a lot less fuss than the more technical ones which don't really perform on snow. One of the most versalite crampons I had ever come upon. When these babies got recalled I just could not believe, I ended up waiting almost 2 years for the new version to be released before trading mine in. Still waiting for the new pair to arrive (I live in Brazil, not the #1 ice climbing country...), which should take another month, but very excited to see some brand new Sarkens on my boots.