Having been curious about some of the funny looking gates on sculling boats in our boathouse, I felt duty bound (by virtue of my sticky beak) to contact Rowperfect and request a trial of Magik Gates. I wondered if it was all a load of “rowlocks” that a standard gate on one side and a Magik Gate on the other would have me going round in circles, so I was very excited when the box landed on my desk at work. Needless to say, I didn’t get round to trying that particular circus trick, but I did compare how they felt with different breeds of blade.
In a completely non-scientific experiment, I first tried my Concept 2 Vortex blades and was immediately struck at how much smoother the roll up was, how much grip I got at the catch and how little movement there was in the gate. My biggest gripe was the audible click - even from the bank - every time I squared up, something that I have never had with a standard Concept 2 gate. I then borrowed a set of Crokers, and experienced the same smoothness and catch timing without the click or clunk every time the blade turns. However, with both types of blade the biggest change was how the Magik Gate enabled – and encouraged – an earlier and more positive square-up. Traditionally I have been a bit lackadaisical in that department and now I am more able to make use of the better grip at the catch as I am ready and square in good time. Now I just need to get the damn blades in quicker, but that’s another, quite depressing story.
My main criticism – and it is only a small one – is that I find it quite difficult to undo the little slide on the gate and then get the gate open while pressing the button down, especially on the gate that is on the river side. On a windy day or when the stream is fast, this gets a bit hairy, not to mention the havoc it wreaks on my fingernails (I know, pathetic). Once the opening and closing of the gate arm is easier, I would say that these babies are the way forward!Rating:
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I have been using the pre-evolution Magik sculling gates for over a year now and I have to say that they are definatly worth the extra cost over "conventional" gates!
I find that the tension bar keeps a firm, but not overly tight grip on my sculls which makes it feel a lot more stable when changing direction of the blades (i.e. at the catch and finish), I was actually amazed when I switched back to conventional gates for an outing how much of a difference it made because suddenly (especially off the start) the blades were clattering around in the gates at the finish and catch and it just didn't "feel" as solid or connected so I immediately went back to the Magik gates. Racing starts especially feel faster/smoother and more positive at the catches and finishes.
I do have two criticisms tho, as good as they are I have found as they have aged the yellow "gripper" has got more difficult to open after I have closed it, I'm not sure why this is and I realise it's much better than the alternative where it opens at the drop of a hat, but it still is a bit of a pain after a race or outing where i'm struggling to remove my blade from the gate. My other criticism is that I do think I've got a bit lazy with the feather and squaring of my blades when using these gates, basically you start to turn the blades and the tension bar finishes the square/feather for you! But then I don't think there's much Rowperfect can do about that... :-)
Basically, despite these criticms I can say this, I could cope rowing in a different boat to the one I own, I could cope using different blades, I could even cope with rowing and racing without my NK strokecoach but I would be very unhappy if I was racing in a scull WITHOUT a set of Magik gates! All in all, I would recommend these gates to everyone, except my opposition :-)Rating:
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This product was added to our catalog on Friday 12 October, 2007.
