Metolius TCU in 2023 - Do they still serve any purpose?

The ULMCs are great, and I tend to prefer them as a single rack over C4s for anything <= 5.5ish, depending on the nature of the climb. My love for them keeps me wondering whether I'm missing anything by skipping the TCU's (or the offset TCUs or power cams, for that matter). 

Do they still serve even a niche purpose on a modern rack, or are they obsolete? How does their head width compare to similarly sized ULMCs, C4s/Z4s? Does the dual-stem and "direct-axle technology" enable a more shallow placement somehow?

To anyone who owns any UL TCUs: what do you all think?

They are even advertised as the "lightest cams in the world" but that isn't even reflected in their reported weights. The #2, #3, and #4 TCUs are all reported by Metolius as being heavier than the equivalently sized ULMCs.

sold mine a good while ago, still rack my ULMC’s often… just a better-designed cam IMO

They are a reliable cam from a company with excellent resling/inspection/relube/repair service. Great for aid climbing as well.
i find myself going for them first, but it’s likely just familiarity, and the fact that they have caught me on big falls in marginal placements and shown little wear.

Similar to C3's, they are fairly rigid laterally, which helps in some placements. 

On TCU’s, I find the distance between thumb press and lobes to be too short. They are difficult to get into placements which are deep because my fingers on the trigger are blocking it.

I do like ULMC’s though for sure.

Alex Fletcher wrote:

On TCU’s, I find the distance between thumb press and lobes to be too short. They are difficult to get into placements which are deep because my fingers on the trigger are blocking it.

I do like ULMC’s though for sure.

My exact experience. 

Michael Abend wrote:

My exact experience. 

The original design had good spacing. And no polymer o-ring. 

They are still the most durable small cam and very stuffable. A good budget cam as well. I still have purple to yellow but havent ussed them for s bit.

ryan climbs sometimes wrote:

Iv only really found blue purple grey to be handy but otherwise master cams all the way. 

How does the head width compare to that of the ULMC?

I like that the fingers and smaller sizes  take years of abuse without a problem.  Most gear placements aren’t so complicated to necessitate new technology. They work in anything roughly parallel sided.

Zachary Henry wrote:

The ULMCs are great, and I tend to prefer them as a single rack over C4s for anything <= 5.5ish, depending on the nature of the climb. My love for them keeps me wondering whether I'm missing anything by skipping the TCU's (or the offset TCUs or power cams, for that matter). 

Do they still serve even a niche purpose on a modern rack, or are they obsolete? How does their head width compare to similarly sized ULMCs, C4s/Z4s? Does the dual-stem and "direct-axle technology" enable a more shallow placement somehow?

To anyone who owns any UL TCUs: what do you all think?

There’s better stuff out there nowadays but TCUs still get the job done.

Have ULMC blue to big purple (1-8), love the smaller sized ones, the big blue and purple are alright. A lot lighter than C4/Friends no doubt.

I have 00-3 (gray to orange) TCU's of the 90's style (smaller thumb loop is the biggest difference). 

I love both of them, but I honestly think in the same size pieces I often reach for TCU's first. They feel great to plug and feel super solid.

Also metolius's reslinging and customer service if you didn't know is amazing.

The small blue ULMC (just above a .2?) is one of my favorite pieces to place. Feels just as good as a totem. ULMC’s made up my original rack, but I tend to use them to supplement doubles now in the smaller sizes. 

My only complaint is that they ‘gum up,’ even with proper maintenance/lube, but it’s often fixed by a simple retraction of the cam. I feel like most smaller sized cams do this anyways for whatever reason. At least they can fix themselves. Can’t say the same for .3 WC Zero I recently had to retire.

TCUs rock. I don't own any, but whenever I rack one of my friends' purple or blue I'm psyched and ready to whip.

Light, cheap, dependable and durable. Do their wider heads fit in as many weird spots as my Totems? No, but Totems are almost twice as expensive. TCUs satisfy 95% of all the cases where a cam is needed while being cheaper and lighter than the alternatives. 

Also Metolius has a great resling and rewire service - they tumble and reoil the cams free of charge and your cams come back looking almost like new. 

I have a set from blue to red, plus a grey. I still rack some of them, but most have been reserved to when I need more pieces of a specific size. They're fine, but are more or less obsolete. One problem I've had is the trigger wires getting tweaked, causing the cam head to sit off it's usual axis. They still retract fine, and I've been able to funk the wires more or less back to normal. As others have said metolius' service is top-notch so one could easily send it in for repair. I would prefer a cam that doesn't have this issue if I was buying a new one. 

They’re cheap, they’re strong, and you could throw them out of a truck and they’ll still work. Great cams.

Alex Fletcher wrote:

On TCU’s, I find the distance between thumb press and lobes to be too short. They are difficult to get into placements which are deep because my fingers on the trigger are blocking it.

I do like ULMC’s though for sure.

Once considered useful, these antiquities of a bygone era have all but been replaced by herds of wild black totem cams.

Michael Abend wrote:

That’s not a TCU! That’s a Powercam. Get outta here with your 4CU’s

Alex Fletcher wrote:

That’s not a TCU! That’s a Powercam. Get outta here with your 4CU’s

Oh well that’s embarrassing. I didn’t even look that closely.
I was just referring to the shape of the cam and how I feel like I can never get them placed deeply. 

good enough for the k man, good enough for me