Powder Claw - Awesome track

[hellclimber]

i'm running my basically stock 07 M1000 with a 156" challenger extreme track and felt happy with it and felt like it was a good upgrade from the stock challenger until yesterday..
cause yesterday i tested yet another stock 07 M1000 with a 153 Powder Claw and holy cow!

i could feel the track spinning up way faster and the whole sled felt lighter.
i had no idea the track could make such a difference..

so i guess i know now why they claim a 09 M is way better than <08's.
crap.. gotta get an 09 then

 

[Sparx]

Are you using stock skis? I hated my Challenger track until I got the Simmons skis, now I love my track in every condition. Rob Alford is running the PowerClaw on his turbo Nitro and told me he's going back to the regular Challenger track himself as he doesn't care much for the PowerClaw track himself either. Until I try a PowerClaw first hand, I see no need to swtich due to the hype. I believe suspension setup is also playing a big role. I haven't heard of half the complaints from people of the setup on the '09 M's as I have on the '08 and '07's. My M1000 couldn't work better, and I haven't done much if at all, and is only the 153" track as well. I found the stock skis caused the Challenger to trench horribly on the deep days and couldn't keep the front end afloat. After a bit of weight loss and new skis, it's a whole new ball game...

 

[cjfarm11]

hellclimber i couldn't agree more. I had the camo extreme on my m7 and switched to the power claw and i all i could say is WOW! Love the power-claw.

 

[buster888]

Yes P-O-W-E-R CLAW!

 

[Nubulin]

Just ran it on my 07 M1000 and I can't believe how much better it is than the camo 2.25. Hooks up way better and does not trench in the powder at all. Huge difference in all conditions I saw. Best $$ I have spent on the sled in a long tim.

 

[mgdjeepster]

considering buyin one, thanks for the input!!! you now have green rep!!!!

 

[hobbes]

I stuck a 15X162 PC on my T-Apex. I only have 150-200 miles on it but so far I love it. Hooks up hard in setup snow, and gets up on top of the good stuff really well too. It will trench if you keep it pinned, but on these turbo sleds I don't think there is a track out there that won't with 80+ MPH track speeds. All it takes is to let up on the flipper, slow the track down a little, and you can feel the rear of the sled lift up out of the snow. Then back in it and you're gone. Also, I did alot of blasting down the trails and wheelying up setup hills, I wasn't easy on it at all, and it looks like it's still new. The inside attack paddles are laying over like they were made to, and the fingers look like they did when I installed it. I'll know more when I get some more miles on it, but so far I LOVE it!

 

[hellclimber]

considering buyin one, thanks for the input!!! you now have green rep!!!!

definitely well worth the swap to a PC... from what i experienced with it..
i just rode deep pow with it but the whole sled felt lighter and it spun up waay quicker than my Extreme.
i got kinda mad when i got back to my own sled...


thanks for the green

 

[fraufarm]

just curious.... but has anyone tested the difference between the hcr powerclaw and the standard version??? does the stiffer durometer make much difference?

thanks

 

[Sparx]

I stuck a 15X162 PC on my T-Apex. I only have 150-200 miles on it but so far I love it. Hooks up hard in setup snow, and gets up on top of the good stuff really well too. It will trench if you keep it pinned, but on these turbo sleds I don't think there is a track out there that won't with 80+ MPH track speeds. All it takes is to let up on the flipper, slow the track down a little, and you can feel the rear of the sled lift up out of the snow. Then back in it and you're gone. Also, I did alot of blasting down the trails and wheelying up setup hills, I wasn't easy on it at all, and it looks like it's still new. The inside attack paddles are laying over like they were made to, and the fingers look like they did when I installed it. I'll know more when I get some more miles on it, but so far I LOVE it!

I took a good look at Rob Alford's sled with the 162X15" Powerclaw and it looked pretty worn! I was surprised and believe it's more from driving around on hard surfaces like pavement or late spring riding from last year. He commented on how he gets free tracks being sponsored from Camoplast and is choosing to go back to the regular Challenger 2.25 and said as well he didn't like the Challenger Extreme much. He said the Powerclaw is alright, just that he thinks he likes the Challenger 2.25 better for some reason? I think with the worn down fingers I saw, it might obviously not work very well when there isn't much left to them next to the paddles. You'd swear he rode down a gravel road and pavement for quite the distance the amount of wear I saw!!! All this was his opinion on a Turbo Nitro riding mostly around Revy/Sicamous from what he said. It comes down to trying it out for yourself, and if your happy with what works for you so be it. It's just one of those things I'm not going to bother changing it out on my '07 until I try it out. Most likely I won't even bother either way, I'm planning on building up an '09 next season anyhow, so I'll see how it works then. I believe most of the snow conditions I ride in the Challenger is best overall. It really did impress me in headlight deep snow a couple weeks ago compared to the first couple outings I had setup mostly stock....

 

[RockyMtn.Kris]

Many things about riding are subjective, and all of us have an opinion, but I have to call out anyone on the Pc vs the stock challenger. No way, ever, in any conditions would I go back to the challenger. I have ran damn near every track ever made. The PC has hands down been the best. That would be great if Rob Alford would endorse the challenger so I could get mine sold

 

[Sparx]

I honestly have been surprised by a few with this same view. Obviously I find it funny Rob can choose any track he wants from Camoplast and chooses to go back to a track I'm pretty content with. Ironicaly though, everyone that has thought this is after spending a weekend riding in Revelstoke, BC if that has anything to do with the conditions of the area? Either way, I have heard enough good about the Powerclaw that I look forward to seeing how it performs on the sled I'm riding next season. I would just like to try it first hand side by side one day to put my skepticism at ease a little more. Quite a few have agreed that the Challenger definitely has the stopping/slowing down advantage over the Powerclaw for one, maybe even spring riding conditions as well??? I haven't been dissapointed in my Challenger since I swapped skis to Simmons and lost some much needed weight on my sled as well as the BDX intake. It's a powder monster now, and seriously, I thought the sled was useless in anything deeper than 2' of fresh before. Just on the page of not messing with something that works right now for whatever reason it may be. Just be sure to let me try your sled if the opportunity arises, I'm all about change and being proven wrong....

 

[hellclimber]

the Challenger is a good powder track.. i felt my sled would trench more in powder with the Extreme but we got way more packed/hard snow than powder so for me the Extreme was a way better allround track for our conditionds..WAY better and i even got braking when going down from a climb

so i guess if i was Rob Alford and lived in Revy, i would like/use the challenger better cause they have the deep and steep, we only got the steep

I was happy with the Extreme until i tried the PC... like i said, it just felt like the whole sled were lighter.. weird i know..
it annoyed me too since i got the Extreme last season and can't afford a new track this season too...

 

[stonehands]

.........All hail the Powerclaw
....................

 

[markoo]

which challenger?

I think most people would agree that the power claw is better than the arctic cat challenger. I would like to know how it compares to the camoplast challenger extreme. That is a totally different track than the stock challenger.

Many things about riding are subjective, and all of us have an opinion, but I have to call out anyone on the Pc vs the stock challenger. No way, ever, in any conditions would I go back to the challenger. I have ran damn near every track ever made. The PC has hands down been the best. That would be great if Rob Alford would endorse the challenger so I could get mine sold

 

[WyoBoy1000]

07 m1000 slp pipe kit and 4" intake cone with bd box that was consistently beating 3 other 08 m1000's with slp pipe set and one with a x-treme none can do what my 09 m1000 does. In very few areas it might do a little better, because of the higher track speed. The power claw stops better than the stock challenger but I don't think it stops as good as the x-treme. I've never before ridin a stock sled that would dig a 2' trench without any thing dragging and the skis left the ground at the bottom of the hill. PC kicks a$$

 

[ItDoAble]

Another vote for powerclaw (and a BDX bumper kit). But then I ride in Colorado powder which is different than your northwestern snow.

 

[WyoBoy1000]

I ride a range of diff snow conditions Its still the best all around track out there. WY, Cooke city, MT and all over eastern WA and ID, in Wa the last time I rode it hooked up so hard I was hanging on a more than usual.

 

[Hill09]

the powerclaw floats like a boat. I tryed riding my buddy's M8T and it hooked up very well in Cooke City's big snowfall in the first part of January. I could notice the spinning weight of my 2.5 challeger when i hopped back on my 05' M7 and i want the PC now.

 

[alford]

i am very happy with my power claw 153 track. i am not going back to a challenger track. the challenger is a good all round track in all conditions probably a better track for a low snow year like this, but i am a powder rider and live for the deep days and the power claw really works good in those conditions. as for the wear comments about my track i just looked at it and it looks like new to me? for bottomless fluff this track rules for hard pack and thicker snow it works but a challenger works better. there is your answer.

cheers

rob