Thinking about buying a proclimb

[backcountryislife]

My 13 146 took a rock to the front cooler & I took a hit to the front end at the same time. Easy fix, but having good insurance I decided to make what I thought was going to be a simple claim.

Ended up being a 9k claim, as there was very minor damage to some rather pricey parts... in our world, it's called wear & tear, in insurance land, it's called EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!

They ended up totaling my 13... not real happy about it. Since I can't re-insure it without wasting tons of $$ fixing it to 100% first, I was in the market for another sled.

Went out on sat & had a killer day on a 14 cat. My local dealer is awesome & Power World gave me a demo (0 mile sled) that I could ride all day to get comfy with it 100%

Fit & finish on the 14... HUGE step up from the 12, I also got the non snopro, as it fixes what IMO is hugely lacking on that sled... post position. it's way too far back for me, the laydown, even set inline with post is further forward.

I took it to a few hits to get a feel for it, took a bit, but it actually jumps better than my doo imo, and DEFINITELY lands better, even with minimal suspension setup.


Straight hits, it flies level, feels like a darn JART... just goes where you point it. This drop went down hill a ways to a crappy landing, and on my doo I think I would have quit about 5 landings earlier. Even the bombhole hits felt better.

Whip/ hip type hits, it was similar to the doo, not as easy to bring back, but easier to land poorly (yeah... I do that a lot, it's good to have something you're good at )

(family photo, apparently I ride too slow as Abby had already landed)

At that point I was feeling VERY in tune with that sled, REALLY liked it. I was really thinking I was going to switch back to it.


Then we spent some time in the trees...



(yeah... this is how I usually ride...) Btw, I'm standing up in this shot, to give an idea how much snow there was.

You'll notice it's nothing too steep or technical... I tried easing my way up in my lines, but despite riding it all morning & feeling AWESOME on the sled... as soon as I was going across the hill or down the hill, it just didn't feel good. The XM has a very "round bottom" kind of feel that makes it feel smooth a a number of different angles... it slips a bit at steep sidehills compared to the M, but I've learned to under sidehill it a tad in those situations (leaning the opposite of normal, to back off sled angle to the hill a bit)

Sled would dive, and fight me in downhill turns... I just couldn't get it to feel good unless I was going uphill. (feels awesome uphill btw, very controllable side to side with foot pressure, fore & aft movement very predictable on uphill biased sidehills)

At the end of the day, my back hurts, my elbows are PISSSSSSED at me, my neck is sore as SH** (none of that the fault of the sled at all, I would have been in more pain on the doo!), the bars on the sled are bent, and I walked into Power World, gave them back the M... and walked out with another 146 XM. Had you asked me at noon, you would have got a totally different answer compared to the end of the day.

I had such a great day that I really expected to walk out riding a cat again, but there's something about this sled that just feels off to me when the skis are down. I know it sounds odd, but I'm really bummed, I was excited to get back on a sled I could play with modding some more.

 

[Sled208]

Think the 2.6" powerclaw would make a difference?

 

[backcountryislife]

Think the 2.6" powerclaw would make a difference?

Well, going UP is what I did like. It felt very nimble & flowing, with the 2.25 IMO it's similar to the 146 with the 2.5... add the 2.6 would definitely step that up a notch, but that's not where I didn't like it. I'm sure I would have liked it EVEN MORE though on the uphills

The spots where I wasn't a fan were pretty off power, crawling type things. Get in the power, the front end factor goes away, and it feels great.

 

[d1100t]

Prolite

I was thinking you were about to build your own prolite.
I bet you were thinking about doing it?

 

[Rinker]

Agree

BCIL,

I would agree with you that the 14 is way better than the 12. I have spent a few good days on the 14 and it is amazing what chassis changes will do. I even have the 2.6 and the relocation bracket on the 12 and I still think the 14 is better. However, I agree with the downhill stuff. The 12 and 14 still want to dive which pisses me off. Even with Powder Pros downhills suck on the PC.

 

[boondocker97]

Do you think the downhill manners would improve with a better set of skis? I still can't belive cat hasn't figured out how to make a good mountain ski.

 

[Ol* Geezer]

Cat needs to learn how to build a mtn ski.

 

[arctic2009]

some mtxs will fix the diving on the front end

 

[Bushpilot]

I understand you dont like the steering on the snow pro, But the snopro is so much better in the snow than the standard. There is also a 19lb difference between the std and snopro let alone snow weight. I would have gone with snowpro and changed out steering to lightweight like pro lite steering. I also agree the skis on AC are not the best but might want to try new SLP skis 2.6 in Powerclaw does make big difference!

 

[backcountryislife]

some mtxs will fix the diving on the front end

Smartazz.


I thought bout MTX's, but then decided to use some plywood with a 1x down the center & two pieces of angle metal on the sides.


I do think a good set of skis would help, but it's REALLY hard for me to buy a sled that I can't say "YES... this will do what I want it to do!"

This wasn't some horrible day of riding some POS... it was a really tough choice. For me to like the cat more in the air really impressed me, and how it CLIMBED in the trees was so precise, I loved it, but it struggled SOOO badly on downhills that I was really frustrated.

 

[CO 2.0]

Polaris grippers feel way better to me than the powder pros ever did. I have minimal nose diving going down steep pow turns. I've had PP's on almost every sled I've owned including a '12 PC, and they just don't feel right to me in certain situations. I have no problem throwing my narrowed '14 around in the trees. And that's coming from a guy who just came off a modded '12 Polaris Pro which I bought and rode for 2 years after getting rid of a '12 PC I disliked in every technical riding situation.

 

[backcountryislife]

I was thinking you were about to build your own prolite.
I bet you were thinking about doing it?

After riding that piece of insanity, yes... that's exactly what I was hoping for.

If I asked Jeff for the whole package I can get a deal off even my price, which makes it tempting, I was thinking that the sled with just the 800 would be stupid fun... but I had the same issues riding the prolite... it was notably better, which is hard to put on any one thing (lighter & better front suspension) but it still felt like it argued with me.

One thing I really did enjoy compared to other proclimbs, as I would never have rode a standard model otherwise, was the steering. I know I'm a doo riding douche now, but the post on the cat is in a stupid position... and you can fix it EASILY, and lose weight by doing the over the motor steering. I felt it was a little more angled than I wanted it (it was more like riding a 12 XP compared to an XM as far as steering geometry alone is concerned) that said though it handled VERY well steering wise when there wasn't a bunch of pressure on the skis... it's not really fair comparing it to an XP.


I would say if you have a chance, spend a day on a standard M8000 some time, keep in mind the post forward makes it VERY much similar to the M, but the bar position imo is hugely better.

 

[arctic2009]

Smartazz.


I thought bout MTX's, but then decided to use some plywood with a 1x down the center & two pieces of angle metal on the sides.


I do think a good set of skis would help, but it's REALLY hard for me to buy a sled that I can't say "YES... this will do what I want it to do!"

This wasn't some horrible day of riding some POS... it was a really tough choice. For me to like the cat more in the air really impressed me, and how it CLIMBED in the trees was so precise, I loved it, but it struggled SOOO badly on downhills that I was really frustrated.

haha! I just took the old sawzall and cut the outer edge narrower, made it a lot easier for side hilling and still kept the tips up. I also made the inside edge of the rearmost part angled a lot more. I rode the 14 a few weeks ago and was amazed by how well it handled EXCEPT going downhill. It was awesome compared to the 12. we swapped the skis from my old M (the hackjob mtxs) and it made a huge difference. If I were you, id see if I could get my hands on a sno pro and swap out the steering for a horizontal post, throw some wider skis on it and go. I agree this would make the sled feel a lot better. As is, going up hills this sled is an animal,my buddies with m8 turbos rode it and said if they bought one they werent sure they would even need a turbo. but hey what do I know, im a little brand loyal

 

[backcountryislife]

Polaris grippers feel way better to me than the powder pros ever did. I have minimal nose diving going down steep pow turns. I've had PP's on almost every sled I've owned including a '12 PC, and they just don't feel right to me in certain situations. I have no problem throwing my narrowed '14 around in the trees. And that's coming from a guy who just came off a modded '12 Polaris Pro which I bought and rode for 2 years after getting rid of a '12 PC I disliked in every technical riding situation.

I really wish I could have spent a few minutes on yours before having to make a decision. I know you do the same riding I do, and in the same snow, so it means something that one mod or another works for you.


btw, the skis are pretty crappy on the XM as well...and I just bought Phatty's set he pulled off his sled for my 14. Going to run grippers & hardwelds on the 14 right off the line. Hoping that the lack of carbide helps keep them from catching rocks as hard in a hit.

 

[backcountryislife]

haha! I just took the old sawzall and cut the outer edge narrower, made it a lot easier for side hilling and still kept the tips up. I also made the inside edge of the rearmost part angled a lot more. I rode the 14 a few weeks ago and was amazed by how well it handled EXCEPT going downhill. It was awesome compared to the 12. we swapped the skis from my old M (the hackjob mtxs) and it made a huge difference. If I were you, id see if I could get my hands on a sno pro and swap out the steering for a horizontal post, throw some wider skis on it and go. I agree this would make the sled feel a lot better. As is, going up hills this sled is an animal,my buddies with m8 turbos rode it and said if they bought one they werent sure they would even need a turbo. but hey what do I know, im a little brand loyal

Well... at this point the deal is done, bringing back a bent up BRAND new sled I figured I'd better pull the trigger that day

There's next year, and the year after, and the year after... the nice thing about sleds... they only last me a couple years, by the 3rd year they're junk, so I'm not married to anything for too long.

I think next time I try a PC I'll bring along my skis.

Kind of like bringing your shoes & pedals when you try out a mountain bike... it's sort of an interface with the snow that you're used to, I can see that making sense for a demo. (now if I could just bring my handlebars, my post, my boards.......)

 

[bradburck]

You should've let me know and come and taken the big bore for a spin as well man. I'm not a fan of the stock proclimb, but the weight loss, coupled with the other changes makes it very different

 

[arctic2009]

Well... at this point the deal is done, bringing back a bent up BRAND new sled I figured I'd better pull the trigger that day

There's next year, and the year after, and the year after... the nice thing about sleds... they only last me a couple years, by the 3rd year they're junk, so I'm not married to anything for too long.

I think next time I try a PC I'll bring along my skis.

Kind of like bringing your shoes & pedals when you try out a mountain bike... it's sort of an interface with the snow that you're used to, I can see that making sense for a demo. (now if I could just bring my handlebars, my post, my boards.......)

Haha yeahh I will say it is kind of ridiculous you need to bring skis to see how a sled really rides.. but its worth it IMO for how well that sled does in everything else! And to be fair I did ride a pro for the better part of the day, to give it a fair chance. (thanks to a stick ripping my track in half on my M!!!) And I switch my buddy for the 14, I liked the 14 pc a lot better.



AND seeing how your wife goes bigger than you anyway, you might need to make a claim on her sled this year too

 

[backcountryislife]

You should've let me know and come and taken the big bore for a spin as well man. I'm not a fan of the stock proclimb, but the weight loss, coupled with the other changes makes it very different

Well, riding the prolite I feel i got a pretty good idea of what the mod sled would have been like, but riding this sled answered my biggest issue which was bar position... I will NOT run these silly offset bar setups people are running... just can't stand them... might as well ride an XP I wanted to know how this steering would work for me, and it VERY much did. That was my biggest hangup on the prolite, and this one felt way better... but still had other issues, that again might have been fixable, but I KNOW the XM feels good for me pretty much as it sits (oh yeah and then skis, hood, riser, ) in reality though, I really like the doo out of the box.

My issues with the XM stem from durability... which is something I've been heard bichin about on the cat forum here, but I've got a bit of a theory on that one too:

The lower frame... the part that has bent for myself & a few other people I know just around here, this part was changed in 13, which was obvious by the fact that the oil delete became easier, but we didn't think about WHY.

IMO the fact that I know 3 guys with 12's that bent up the lower frame, which helps the panel assy bend up as well, just for fun... but yet in the next 2 years this hasn't become commonplace (I hear about it here & there, but not like guys bending S modules on doos) IMO the 13 frame must be stronger, which is why folks are finding the 13 & 14 so much more durable than what we saw with the 12.

 

[Speeedracer]

Interesting and informative review kaleb
, thanks.

 

[sledking120]

I have a 13 ltd proclimb 162 and I love it but rode a buddys 14 xm 163. this is what I thought the xm tips over so much easier but doent over tip as my proclimb is a little tougher and can also go a little bit to far and I didn't do any adjusting with ski pressures to see if that made a difference. other than that the xm is a very strong runner out of the box. didn't spend all day on it either and the snow wasn't epic. just my .02