SR-TX3

The handle

Free-spinning bearings. Extremely low friction, so the cable keeps turning long after your wrists stop pushing it. No grabbing, no stutter at the top of the rotation, no winding-up feeling halfway through a set. Spin one handle with your finger and it will still be going while you read the rest of this page.

A rubber grip section. The upper half of the handle is rubber, exactly where your hand sits and exactly where sweat shows up first. Plastic gets slippery in a metcon. Rubber doesn’t, so you can hold on lightly instead of squeezing, and that is what keeps your wrists loose and your forearms fresh.

An improved 3D steel head. The cable doesn’t leave the handle at one fixed angle. The redesigned steel head lets it pivot, so the cable finds its own plane instead of being forced into yours. Your wrists don’t have to be perfect. Turn your hands slightly differently on the left and the right, drift out of position halfway through a set, jump a bit crooked when you’re tired: the head absorbs it and the rope keeps turning in a clean circle. That freedom also means the cable isn’t fighting the handle at every rotation, which is exactly where ropes normally fray.

At a glance:

• Super light at 32 grams per handle
• 16cm long perfect from small to large hands
• Tapered 15 mm at the tip to 25 mm at the base
• Rubber grip section for additional grip
• Free-spinning, extremely low friction bearings
• Improved 3D steel cable head for forgiving technique

The cable

2.5 mm is the sweet spot. Thin, light cables move fast but tell you nothing, so you never quite know where the rope is. Heavy cables tell you exactly where they are but won’t turn quickly. At 2.5 mm you get both: enough feedback for a beginner to feel the rope come round and time the jump, and enough speed for an experienced athlete to string double unders together without the rope holding them back. That is why this one thickness works from your first rep to your hundredth unbroken.

Stiffer than the SR-TX2. A soft cable goes slack at the bottom of the rotation, collapses inward and clips your feet. The stiffer SR-TX3 cable stays open, tracks a clean parabola around your body and arrives under your feet at the same moment every rep.

One size, cut to fit you. Every rope ships at 330 cm, long enough for athletes up to about 210 cm. You set it to your own height:

1. Stand on the middle of the cable with one foot, handles pulled up beside you.
2. Adjust until the handle tops sit between your armpits and your shoulders. Longer while you’re learning, shorter as you get faster.
3. Lock it at that length with the screw.
4. Jump 30 or 40 reps. Still happy? Cut the excess with a wire cutter and slide the end cap back on.

Cut long the first time. You can always take another centimetre off, you can’t put one back. And if you do overshoot, a replacement cable is 8 euro, not a new rope.

Built for indoor floors. Rubber gym flooring, wood, vinyl, a mat. Concrete, asphalt and gravel are what kill cables: every rep drags PVC-coated steel across an abrasive surface until the coating wears through and the steel frays. Want to train outdoors anyway? Put a jump rope mat under your feet and the cable lands on a smooth surface wherever you are.

At a glance:

• 2.5 mm, PVC coated, 330 cm
• Stiffer core for a cleaner arc
• One size, cut to your own length
• Best on smooth indoor surfaces
• Replacement cables 8 euro, in every colour, forever available

Who it’s for

One rope covers the whole range, and for a different reason at each stage.

Learning your first double under. You need to know where the rope is without looking, and you need it to arrive in the same place every time. The 2.5 mm cable is heavy enough to feel coming round, and the stiffer core keeps it from collapsing into your shins on the way down. Most failed reps at this stage are timing, not fitness, so a rope that behaves predictably is what gets you there faster.

Stringing them together. Sets fall apart when your hands get tired or wet and your rhythm dies. The rubber grip lets you hold on lightly instead of squeezing, and the free-spinning bearings keep the cable turning at a constant speed instead of dragging as the set goes on.

Going fast, including triple unders. Speed needs two things: a rotation that doesn’t slow down and a cable that holds its shape at high revs. Extremely low friction bearings handle the first, the stiffer 2.5 mm cable the second. Fast, without giving up the feedback that keeps your form honest.