Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes

[jumpuphigh]

I thought I'd open up a post for people to talk about their shoes.  What are you wearing to climb?  Why?  What do you like about them? What do you hate about them?  Would you buy them again if you were buying new shoes?

I'll start.  I wear Saltic Falco shoes. 



I love them.  They have a wide toe box and a very narrow heel and they fit my feet like they were designed just for me.  Most shoes out there are just too big in the heel for me. 

This model is very technical.  The arch on them is insane. When I first tried them on, I believe my exact words were "They hurt so good!"  I actually love everything about them.  If I ever had a bad resoling experience, these would be the shoes that I would buy to replace mine. 

They are made by a Czech company and extremely hard to find in the US.  I would love to be able to try on all of the Saltic styles to find a more casual shoe because sometimes, I just don't want or need something this technical. 

Comments

[zennish]

Absolute terrible Mad Rock Phoenixes. The sizing isn't bad and to-the-toe lacing lets me adjust for a wider toebox, but the rubber is ridiculous for smearing: I have to sand off the top layer on the sole to get some amount of stickiness, and the arch is only a little better than useless. I think they used to use Stealth C4 on the older models, so those were okay, but these new ones are crap. Sadly, I can't afford new shoes until these ones fall apart completely... I'd use my five y/o Phoenixes, except I've worn holes through the leather.

[jumpuphigh]

Mad Rocks seem to be the most complained about shoe in my gym. The level of complaining about them is part of the reason I took so much time when buying my first pair of shoes.

[zennish]

I actually wish I had heard more bitching about them pre-purchase - if you grit your teeth and smash your feet against the wall they're okay, but sometimes a girl just doesn't want bleeding toenails post-climb and everything, yanno?

[rydra_wong]

Seconding. Their rubber seems to be widely derided.