Sun Mountain Or Clicgear?

[Sean_A]

I am thinking of breaking down and buying a zimmer frame for golfers.  What are the pros and cons of each brand?

Ciao

[Brent Hutto]

A few guys I play with have the Clicgear and they look pretty cool. But the other day I picked one up (empty, no bag on it) and it seemed way heavier than my Sun Mountain. Both types are pretty bulky even when folded up although supposedly the Clicgear folds easier.

Given that I've owned two Sun Mountain speedcarts and liked them fine for my part I'd stick with that brand unless there's a compelling reason to change.

The one thing I purely hated about my original Sun Mountain one was the pump-air pneumatic tires (tyres?). There is no way I want to be held hostage to a flat when I'm a mile from the clubhouse out on the golf course somewhere. So I got rid of it after a few hundred rounds of good service and bought a BagBoy brand. It literally broke in two one day while I was pushing it up a hill, the handle part broke off right where it attaches to the frame and the cart only had maybe 150 rounds on it. Stay away from the BagBoy one.

So now I'm about 100 rounds into a Speedcart V2 with the solid foam rubber tires. It does have a bit more rolling resistance than bicycle type tires but I can't abide having to pump air into them when they go flat.

[Sam Morrow]

I played with a guy recently who had the Clicgear and loved it. I am very down on Sun Mountain though, my GCA bag (I've had for just a few months) is falling apart and when I contacted Sun Mountain they didn't seem to care.

[Kirk Moon]

I have owned both a Sun Mountain Speed Cart V2 and a Clicgear 3.

They are both excellent carts.  You would be happy with either one.

Differentiators:

Sun Mountain is easier to fold and unfold.  The price you pay for this is that it is larger when folded.  If you have small car with a small trunk, this might be important.  If you have a large vehicle (SUV, for instance) the difference is unimportant.  

The Sun Mountain holds the bag at a more reclined angle than the Clicgear.  It does this because it doesn't employ straps to hold the bag on the cart.  It uses adjustable arms that cradle the bag and that rely on gravity to keep it in place.  As a result, the clubs are hanging at a slighly less inclined angle to the ground (closer to horizontal) than on the Clicgear, making it very slightly harder to get at them.  Not a big deal, but something that bothered me a bit.

Neither use pneumatic tires, but the Sun Mountain tire is an otherwise standard looking tire - relatively narrow.  I believe that it is made of foam.  The Clicgear tire is a broad (perhaps 2" wide) surface covered with a thin layer of rubber.  I would imagine that the Clicgear has a larger surface area on the ground, which would tend to produce less weight per area in contact with the ground.  Difference would not be great, however.  I didn't find much difference between them when traversing boggy areas.

The Sun Mountain had a nice sling for putting a sweater or other item under the handle the the Clicgear doesn't have (because of the way it folds up.)  

Beyond that, its a draw.  Both have enough storage for whatever you might want to take.  Both have a decent brake.  Both steer true.  The Clicgear has a few more options than the Sun Mountain (things to hang off the cart, like a container for your laser, an insulated drink holder, etc.  The Sun Mountain has an option for a footstool attached to a leg if you want to sit (I have no idea if this works well or not.)
Both have nice umbrella holders that attach to the handle for rainy days and they work quite well.

I ended up giving my Sun Mountain to a friend and am using the Clicgear, mostly because of the "angle of the dangle" mentioned above, but every time I unfold and fold up the Clicgear I am muttering to myself about how nice the Sun Mountain was.  

Hope this helps.

[Mike Benham]

I suggest the Sun Mountain Micro Cart. 

Stable,4 wide wheels, rolls effortlessly, is very compact in the folded position.



http://www.sunmountain.com/default.php?cPath=3471_3551_3385

[A.G._Crockett]

Sean,
I've owned both; Clic Gear, hands down.  No contest.

1. The Clic folds down to approx. 2' square and stays in my trunk all the time.  The SM is huge by comparison, like adding a staff bag to your trunk.

2. The Clic is much, much more stable, and never falls over backward onto the handle; the SM does that routinely.

3. The Clic's handle seems to adjust more readily to different heights; helpful when you use the umbrella attachment.

The only advantage of the SM is that it is faster, and that only becomes interesting if you let it go on its own downhill.  Unfortunately, that is also when #2 above becomes an issue.

[J Sadowsky]

Just to add into the praise for clicgear, I received one as a gift a few years ago, and I love it.  Because of the way it folds into a little robotic-looking box, it has been given the nickname WallE.

[Garland Bayley]

It is my understanding that the new Sun Mountain folds smaller than the Clicgear.

[Mike Benham]

Speed Cart V2:  15.75" x 16" x 37"     20 lbs.

Clic Gear:  13" x 15" x 24"   17 lbs.

Sun Mountain Micro Cart:  12" x 16" x 24.5"     12.5 lbs. 

[Mark Provenzano]

I own both a Clicgear 2.0 and 3.0, no issues. Couldn't be happier.

With a new-in-box 2.0 going for $129 + shipping on ebay, it's money well spent. 

[Keith Doleshel]

Take from someone who has worked in a golf shop for nearly 5 years now, Clicgear is the way to go.  I know many people who have had issues with Sun Mountain and wished that they had purchased a Clicgear.  Most of my co-workers who have purchased a cart have gone with Clicgear with no regrets. 

[Mark Johnson]

If u have a light bag, then clicgear by far.  Sn mountain will have a tipping problem.  For heavier bags, its a toss up

[A.G._Crockett]

It is my understanding that the new Sun Mountain folds smaller than the Clicgear.

The Micro does.  The V2 Speed Cart does not.  If there is a newer version of the Speed Cart that folds smaller, I can't find it on the SM website, and haven't seen it in the PGA Superstore.

I'll say it again: Having owned both, there is NO comparison.  That is NOT a knock on the Speed Cart, which is a very good product.  But the Clic Gear is cheaper, more stable, sturdier, folds up smaller, etc.  It is in every way superior to the SM.  It is as well-engineered as any product I have ever owned, golf or otherwise.

[Ken Kearney]

Clicgear...
I bought one last Christmas for my wife and it is absolutely brilliant. I purchased online and delivered in a few day. She moved from a battery powered cart to the clicgear.
Highly recommended by an "astute" golfer...


KK

[Mark Pearce]

Sean,

have you dismissed Powakaddy?  Their pull product is a fair bit vheaper and strikes me as reasonably bell made (Disclaimer:  I don't own one, nor have I used one)

[Jerry Kluger]

My club compromised about pushcarts and decided to have Sun Mountain Speed Carts available for members - we've had them for 3 years and they are used daily by members and have held up really well.  Our concern was ease of use and durability and we were not concerned about how they folded. 

[Brent Hutto]

What was the nature of the compromise, Jerry? If it's not too nosy for me to ask. Was there previously a policy against push carts?

[Brian Finn]

Take from someone who has worked in a golf shop for nearly 5 years now, Clicgear is the way to go.  I know many people who have had issues with Sun Mountain and wished that they had purchased a Clicgear.  Most of my co-workers who have purchased a cart have gone with Clicgear with no regrets. 

I received similar advice from someone at a local golf shop, and as a result I purchased a Clicgear 2.0 about 2 years ago.  I have since recommended it to many friends, all of whom are very happy with it.  I have not heard many negative comments from anyone on the Clicgear. 

[Jerry Kluger]

Brent: There were some members who did not want pushcarts while others didn't care so it was agreed that pushcarts would be okay but they wanted them to be uniform so the club purchased the carts and rents them to the members for $5 per round.

[Kirk Moon]

What was the nature of the compromise, Jerry? If it's not too nosy for me to ask. Was there previously a policy against push carts?

Speaking of which, can anyone enlighten me as to why so many private clubs still do not allow the use of push carts? 

They strike me as the perfect tool to encourage a player who is perhaps just a bit too old and/or out of shape to carry their clubs and who does not wish to employ a caddie (for various reasons) to walk the course.  IMHO, anything that encourages walking the course should be embraced as a good thing.

[David_Tepper]

"Speaking of which, can anyone enlighten me as to why so many private clubs still do not allow the use of push carts?"

Kirk Moon -

Your comments have touched a nerve! Over the past few years, a number of the "better" private clubs in Northern California have purchased fleets of push carts for the members and guests to use, which I think is great. Unfortunately, there are still a few hold outs and one of them is where I play some of my golf.

I wish I had a definitive answer for you. I think push carts are still viewed in some quarters as being a little too "down market" and smacking of muni golf. It really is a shame.

DT    

[Adam Lawrence]

"Speaking of which, can anyone enlighten me as to why so many private clubs still do not allow the use of push carts?"

Kirk Moon -

You comments have touched a nerve! Over the past few years, a number of the "better" private clubs in Northern California have purchased fleets of push carts for the members and guests to use, which I think is great. Unfortunately, there are still a few hold outs and one of them is where I play some of my golf.

I wish I had a definitive answer for you. I think push carts are still viewed in some quarters as being a little too "down market" and smacking of muni golf. It really is a shame.

DT   

I know that's the case, but can someone explain to me why it is so? I know I'm looking at this through UK eyes, but it seems barking. Because gentlemen take caddies?

[David_Tepper]

Adam Lawrence  -

I think private club golf culture in the U.S. (especially at the higher status private clubs) evolved where one either took a caddie, carried their own bag or rode in a cart (buggy). Somehow, push carts (trolleys) became identified with "down market" golf and that stigma still exists. I wish it were not the case.

DT

[Lou_Duran]

At Great Southwest Golf Club, a "proleteriat", low-cost private, non-equity golf club where I was a member for 23+ years until the mid-2000s, push carts were prohibited allegedly because they conveyed a "muni" look.  I once posted pictures of the Rikshaw carts being pulled across the greens at Bandon Dunes and a list of world-class golf courses allowing the use of pullcarts on the bulletin board in the men's lockerroom and they were promptly pulled off by course management.  The primary reason that clubs don't allow pushcarts is the bottom line, profit, not the image they project.  A secondary reason is speed of play, an argument that has been rehashed here numerous times and not worthy of further discussion.

I'd like to get an inexpensive ClipGear, but so few people I play with anymore locally walk that I just carry my bag most of the time on the few occasions when I get to do it.

[Brent Hutto]

I am not saying this is true because I wasn't around back when riding carts were taking over the scene a few decades back. But purely as a disinterested observer here's what I can reconstruct of the history based on hand-me-down accounts...

At private clubs mid-20th-century the norm was to use caddies. A riding cart was viewed as a low-class, cheaper replacement for the caddie. Eventually the riding carts became so popular that most clubs could not keep their members from demanding to use them. So at some point the clubs bought fleets of carts and rented them to the members as a (considerable) income stream that also satisfied the demand for carts from the members.

Now along come the popular three-wheel trolleys. They are viewed as a low-class, cheaper replacement for the riding cart as well as for caddies at the clubs which still offer them. Some clubs insist that trolleys not be used but eventually the demand from their members becomes so great that they buy fleets of trolleys and rent them to the members as a (small) income stream that also satisfies the demand for them from the membership.

Is this anywhere close to the reality? Or just what it looks like from a distance?