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Topic Date User

Climbing Shoes - Boreal Spiders, any thoughts? 25-Mar-2004 At 1:01:11 PM Ben

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I have been using the Madrock Mugens for a while now and I jus love them. I also got some of my old shoes resoled (Dr Phil/Nati) recently - my old dominator Vs and Scarpa Infernos. Having tried all on and climbed with them at the gym I have to say I just like my mugens even more even though the old shoes are now just as sticky (resoled with 5-10 rubber).

Mini Review: Madrock Mugens
Price: ~$150 -> down to around $135 with VCC discount at Altona
Where: Cliffhanger @ Altona
Last Saturday they had a fair few madrocks in, lots of sizes across entire range - get in fast if you want some though, they seem to be selling quickly. Hard Rock are allegedly getting some in, but I''m not sure when their stock will arrive and the staff there seem unsure of how much if any VCC discount they give on shoes (or anything other than entry).

Shoes are white (stupid colour, but you can draw all over them if you want), have a nifty/gimmicky double sole, and are slippers with two velcro closures and two pull loops to get the shoes on your feet. Shoe is lined - mine haven't given too much, don't buy these tight and expect them to give much.

The heel of the shoe is also ribbed, allegedly to help heel hooks - I don't have enough experience heel hooking outdoors to know if this is gimmicky or not.

Fit is very good for my feet - definately the most comfortable shoe I've worn for a while that also feels like high performance. The feel is very snug and fairly supportive - heel hooks feel much more bomber than in previous shoes like my dominator V. My feet are large and wider for their length than most climbing shoes seem to cater for.

Rubber is very sticky - more so than scarpa rubber. Once worn in slightly the dual rubber bit on the bottom smooths out a little and makes smearing nicer. The sole is fairly flat (not hooked like more agressive slippers (dom v, hookers etc) but still feels fine for overhanging stuff. The soles do feel very supportive on the edges for edging - definately not a 2mm rounded sock feeling.

Build quality is holding up really nicely so far (although it's still to early to really tell) - no delamination, or undue wear, tear or distortion.

Neats: I haven't climbed in 'real' slabs in them yet, however I would feel pretty comfortable doing so - they are sticky and comfortable and due to their snugness I get less/none of that sweatyfeet sliding around in shoe slightly feeling that can be so offputting on crap footholds.