Review: CrossRope Bolt Speed Rope

Speed ropes nowadays seem to be a dime a dozen. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and the market shows it with just a ton of clones. When I see new designs, it’s very intriguing to me since most of the palate swaps pretty much just all feel the same. For me, finding the perfect jump rope is going to be a never ending journey. I carry different jump ropes around that I like to swap between depending on how I feel that day because I just haven’t found “the one” yet.

CrossRope has always stressed their modular jump rope systems; practice heavy, compete fast. The ability to change ropes on the fly is always good because if I’m not quite feeling up to par with my double unders that day, I can always just switch to a heavier rope. While that’s all great for someone that is already proficient with double-unders, it could be invaluable for someone that is still struggling to learn them.  Many beginners all too often make the mistake of getting suckered into buying a fast rope that doesn’t offer enough feel, leaving them struggling with their double-unders. The new CrossRope Bolt handles not only come with a nice super fast 1 oz. sprint cable, but also a 3 oz. speed cable to help fine tune your doubles. Now 2 oz. might not sound like a huge difference, but in the world of jump ropes, it feels like a 10 lbs.

Unlike the previous CrossRope iterations, the Bolt cables also aren’t fixed to a single length so you can custom fit them to the users needs. Performance wise, the sprint cable is just as light and as fast as the best speed ropes on the market, and might be even too light for the handles that it’s on. So much so that sometimes it doesn’t have enough weight to carry around the ball that it inserts into around the bearing, causing a clicking noise. I wasn’t able to recreate this with the heavier rope, but thankfully, the rope still spins around you as fast as you can turn it due to the overall design of the handle. Speaking of which, these actually might be the smoothest and free spinning handles by themselves I’ve ever tried out (see video).  The handles themselves are made from a slick billet CNC’d aluminum that only weigh 2 oz. each, the difference  in weight between the two included cables! Each handle provides sure grip with knurled areas as well as cut areas making sure you even the sweatiest hands won’t have an issue holding on.

Adapting to the Bolt system was easy as could be for me, but that’s not saying they’re without any issues. Like I mentioned before, the sprint cable has trouble carrying the ball it inserts into around the handle creating a clicking noise from it catching. While this never slowed me down, it is kind of annoying because  you not only hear the click, you feel it. If they could figure out a better way to secure the rope to the bearing, maybe even directly, this set would be just about perfect.

Still, at the listed price point of $59, the Bolt set comes in at a tremendous value because not only does it appeal to veteran jump ropers, it will work for people struggling to learn their rhythm as well. If you’re looking for an end all be all setup, or one that you can progress on, the CrossRope Bolt set might just be what you’re looking for. It provides excellent performance and user flexibility for a very strong price point.

Get your Bolt speed rope here!