Hi guys and gals.Can somebody give me some info to wich the best shoe is for sport and trad.Comfort on long trad routes,ability to stick on a 24+.And yes Robert,I buy my shoes locally,just for your sake brother.If somebody can give me pointers to makes&models,would really appreciate it.cheers

ooh-la-la the holy grail of climbing shoes: comfort and power

me thinks mad rock flashes are about the best value for money you can buy in SA. correctly sized you should have enough comfort and the ability to climb hard. you can look at la sportiva mythos at double the price. and i recall seeing sharma climb something ridiculously hard in evolv defy's which is their more comfort orientated shoe; but then it is sharma.... (so good value for money imho).

If you've got a budget, I'd go for Evolve Pontas lace ups.

My advice to you is to go for the Evolv Quest lace up shoe, as its really comfortable and has a rigid sole. Excellent trad shoe. Go and try them on.

a good source for reviews:

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/boots/climbing/

diff question to answer. Here's my take:

Best downturned shoe: evolv predator - no question. close 2nd- 5.10 dragons
best friction wizard: old style la sportiva muira lace ups - unbeatable
best beginner - evolv quest and defy
best alrounder - evolv pontas lace, velcro a close second, saltic bongos third
unless you're douw steyn(who'll climb 30 in gumboots if u ask me),the flashes aren't that hot... very well priced though for beginner to intermediate climbing(grade 16-25)

j

I'm a big fan of the Mad rock Mugan. It is my shoe of choice for all my trad. I was in Brazil climbing huge slabs. 5-hour days in the shoes was not an issue. I have also climbed sport up to grade 29 in them all over the country.

I think the mugan has now been rebranded as the Jester and they now do sup'd up version of the mugan called the mugan tech. cant wait to get my hands on those.

Fit is the most important thing thou. a comfortable tight fit and you'll do it all.

I say Get the shoe that fits the best and that you think and that you feel the most comfortable with.
In the end of the day the gear that works the best for you is not necesarily the best on the market or the most fashionable brand out there. It is the gear that just feels right when you hold use and touch look at it and sometimes lick it.
Just my 2 Cents

I Suspect climbing shoes-especially the brands- are the most fashionable item in climbing, so yes, choose Evolv as it is the most fashionable, followed by Mad Rock. Must be honest I enjoyed when the fashion was good European made shoes- La Sportiva, Saltic etc, as I didn't have to skulk around wearing them, but then that’s me!

The decisions you make affect the decisions you can make.

_________________
If you aren't willing to solve your own problems, how can you expect others to?

Even though I hate them, I find I wear my mad rock Phoenix shoes more often than not. They are not technical at all, they smell foul and when things get a little sweaty there is plenty shoe farts going around. They are not covered in rubber like some others shoes and won't stick that much in cracks, but that is generally a good thing 'cause you can get get them out again. They also last forever, I've tried to wear them out, but they just stick it out - unlike pontas, cool shoes maybe, but they (evolv in general I think) can't take much punishment. The original rubber (back to the phoenix) was nothing short of downright useless, but I put some stealth rubber on them, and now they are all right. I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think you need the best shoes on the market to climb well. How often does it really make or break your attempts? Is it really worth the pain (for feet and wallet) to have the best shoes, when you probably could have made up for it with, lets say better technique. For trad, especially bigger walls in the wild, I think your best bet is to go for something that won't disintegrate halfway up the route, or make your feet cramp for that matter.

euw!

Wearing shoes for fashion reasons is the same as revving your super bike outside a restaurant in Hartebeespoort. I call it "prosthetics"

yeah shorti the older range mad rubber sucked.....uh.... slipped. especially after you have worn of the first half a millimeter. my flashes also got new life after i had it resoled with c4. my evolvs for that matter too..... but i think mad rock upped their rubber quality recently?

anyways, seems like aggressive shoes are getting punted heavily here - but i go with the gorilla-icon dude: go fit 'em.

and warren g, methinks the european brands (esp la sportiva) started losing out on the price issue. if i could pick up a pair of mythos or muiras at the same price i would show mad rock / evolv / whatever the door. if its good enough for alex honnold its good enough for me
not too revive an old debate, but in the US evolvs / 5.10 and la sportiva are priced similarly - why the big diff here??

Agreed, i am not going though it again either.

The choices you make affect the choices you can make

_________________
If you aren't willing to solve your own problems, how can you expect others to?

I decided to invest in a pair of Mythos.I heard they stretch alot.I wear a 43,should I go with a 42 Mythos?