Adventure is what we live for, and nothing should come between our quest of going that extra mile, especially poorly designed apparel.
When rock climbing, your shoes takes extra weight to keep your climbing activity unhindered, and hence, choosing the best rock climbing shoe becomes important. If you’re undecided on what shoe to buy, maybe the Mad Rock Men’s Flash 2.0 will help you decide.
Features
- Made of leather and synthetic material
- Rubber and leather sole
- Friction maximizing 3D molded heel
- Shock gel to reduce the impact force acting on the heel
- Leather upper has been mixed with Synflex, a synthetic material with stretch, that is robust and offers performance while maintaining steady fit
- Imported quality
- Available in two colors
- Available in 19 different sizes
- Midsole is made of polycarbonate, which gives the shoe consistent and predictable flex
Pros
- Extremely durable, can sustain any terrain and any force
- Looks great in both of its colors
- Very shock absorbent
- Maximum friction, so you never slip
- Consistent flex
- Can be used casually or for exercise at gym or on the road too
Cons
- Any rock climbing shoe will get smelly very quickly, though these are very easy to wash
- Sizes are a little off, so you might want to buy a larger size compared to your normal size.
Summary
While being a great rock climbing shoe, this pair easily doubles as both a gym shoe and a casual shoe. Available in yellow and orange, the style statement for this rock climbing shoe is over the charts.
The main feature of this shoe that takes the cake is its durability. With both leather and synthetic used in the body of the shoe, the shoe will last you for years to come. The material of the shoe is extremely high quality and is imported.
A new material has also been blended into the leather of this shoe in the leather upper. This allows you maintain maximum performance while stretching the limits of any other leather shoe. Allowing maximum bending to climb over narrower rocks, this shoe might just be the best rock climbing shoe out there.
The heel of the shoe is a triangle shaped that fits in the back with one edge resting on the ground. This heel has been carefully 3D molded by the manufacturers in order to provide maximum outer friction between the shoe and the surface. So even in the rain or on slippery surfaces, slipping is just not an option.
While the outer friction is great, inner friction between your foot and the sole is also commendable. The sole is made up of a combination of leather and rubber to maximize friction.
The midsole area is made up of polycarbonate to make good towards the completely bendable promise that the shoe delivers.
Last but not the least, the shock gel present in the heel helps the shoe to offset great impacts on the shoe. You may jump from any height, and the shoe will not give away.
One area where this shoe fails is in the smell department. Just like any other rock climbing shoe, these shoes get very smelly very quickly. The synthetic material used to build these shoes does good work in trying to offset the smell, but they inevitably get smelly. Some baking soda or anti-bacterial spray goes a long way in eliminating such smells from the shoe.
Comparison
This shoe can compete with shoes much costlier than this one. It is definitely an upgrade over the similar shoe from the same company, the Mad Rock Men’s Drifter Climbing Shoe. The Mad Rock Men’s Drifter is a pretty standard climbing shoe, having none of the amazing flex and durability features that this shoe has. Despite the major difference in quality, both shoes rest in the same price range.
Despite being a great shoe, it is not the ultimate in its category. Shoes by Reebok and Adidas, which are rather popular sports apparel companies, have shoes in the similar price bracket and of equally good or even better quality. The Adidas Outdoor chain of shoes is one example. With a dozen different models suited for different activities, people with niche interests might be better off buying shoes of popular brands like Reebok and Adidas.
Verdict
This shoe is a great purchase for experienced climbers and beginners alike, especially if you don’t have much time to research into other choices. You could close your eyes and pick it up, and Mad Rock Men’s Flash 2.0 Climbing Shoe will completely satisfactorily every demand your adventurous lifestyle has.
However, if you just want casual shoes, while these shoes are great, it would be better to look into shoes by other companies.
