Leki Corklite Aergon Speedlock Review

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Depending on the type of terrain and your personal preferences, trekking poles can significantly improve your day.  Although all trekking poles look similar when looking at an ad in the newspaper or looking at the wall of trekking poles at the store, but the truth is that not all trekking poles are created equal.  Leki, a long time maker of trekking poles has recently come out with a new locking system in there trekking poles called Speed lock that allows people to lock the trekking pole in position by using a latch instead of twisting it into place.

A common problem among trekking poles that I have run into over the years is that after a few years of use, many trekking poles seem to lose their holding strength. And although we haven’t tested the Corklite Aergon Speedlock for two years, we tested them out for 4-5 months and they were able to withstand our harassment.

Given this is the first year Leki has introduced the Speedlock mechanism, there are always some tweaks that can be made in future generations to improve on. Things that stuck out to our testers include Speedlock tightening system and the glide when you push and pull the poles from compact to trekking position.  The Speedlock mechanism was a little difficult for our testers to use, especially the females.  There is a place to use a screwdriver, but most of us don’t want to bring a screwdriver on our hikes.  There are screwdrivers on a lot of multi-tools and knives, but we don’t feel it should be necessary to use a screwdriver to operate a trekking pole.  Our other gripe was the glide on the pole.  It seemed that Leki torqued the poles a little too tight, so they did not slide in and out easily.  This was not a deal breaker for us, but we feel it is something they could improve on.

The Corklite Makalu shaft is made out of aluminum and it’s handle is made of cork and plastic to give you a smooth comfortable grip.  The poles also come with a strap near the handle that allows you to get a better, more secure fit which is nice for some people, but we typically did not use this feature.  Complaints aside, we found the poles to be sturdy and pleasant to use when we had them set up.

For more info on the Corklite Aergon Speedlock and other Leki poles, visit www.rei.com/leki.

MSRP $ 120

Weight- 16.6oz per pair