First Impressions: Mad Rock Shark 2.0

 

Mad Rock Shark 2.0 right out of the box

Climbing shoes are absurdly expensive and it seems like their prices just keep going up.  I'm aware that I could just have my shoes resoled for much cheaper and I actually have had many pairs resoled in the past.  However, after a resole, the shoes just don't feel the same to me anymore.  Maybe I don't give them enough time to break in, maybe it's a mental thing, or maybe the shoes really are a little different?  Well, these days I'm usually too late to have them resoled since I always seem to bust through my shoes mid-season when I don't want to send them in.  Plus, resoling shoes doesn't remove the terrible stink.  So, when the time comes I usually just grab a new pair and give up $150.  Unfortunately, that time has come.  Or maybe it's fortunate since I can try something new?

My first pair of climbing shoes were from Evolv, which were a birthday gift from my cousin who pretty much got me hooked on climbing (thanks Nikko!).  Ever since then I have mainly stuck with Evolv since they seemed to fit my feet pretty well.   I tried a couple pairs of Five Ten's in the past (Anasazis and Dragons) and loved the sticky rubber.  However, the fit in the heel was just terrible for me.  So much air in there and I couldn't heel hook in them for the life of me (although the Jet 7's seem to fit me very well and I actually use them in the gym right now and love 'em, but sadly, their rubber is wearing thin).  Then I got a couple pairs of Mad Rock Super Locos a couple years ago because they were being discontinued and were super cheap.  I loved 'em!  They fit really well, and their rubber wasn't too bad either.  So I alternated back and forth between the Evolvs and Mad Rocks until I put holes in all of them.  Then back to Evolv it was since I knew they fit and I couldn't find a store to try on any of the new Mad Rocks. 

The Talons are my favorite Evolv shoe since they fit pretty well in both the toe and the heel, although I do wish the heel was a little more secure.  In order for the Evolv Shamans to fit, I had to size them down a half size (I believe most size them similarly).  The heel is much more secure with the Shamans, but my toes feel too scrunched and I find that I am unable to toe in as well as I can with the Talons.  Unfortunately I am now starting to bust holes through both of them and I guess it's time for some replacements.  I love my Evolv Talons so I will definitely replace those.  As for the Shamans, I thought about it and almost ordered a pair when for some reason I remembered about my Mad Rock Super Locos.  I browsed the Mad Rock website to see if there was anything that looked interesting and that was when I stumbled upon the Shark 2.0.  I read through all the specs and they looked like a pretty nice shoe, but what hit me was the price tag.  They weren't dirt cheap or anything, but at $120 they were very reasonably priced and I was willing to give them a shot if there was a chance that they would fit my feet as well as the Super Locos did.  I emailed customer service to see how they fit compared to the Super Locos and they said they were very similar.  Sold. 



I received my Mad Rock Shark 2.0's yesterday and so far I have only put them through one gym session warm-up.  My first impressions so far are positive.  They fit really well, almost like a glove.  My toes are comfortably uncomfortable (I don't know if that makes sense?) and the heel is very secure with very little to no dead space.  They are like a cross between the toes of the Talons and the heel of the Super Locos/Shamans.  And that flexible arch thing is really nifty too.  My only concern is with the stretch.  Right now the fit is just about perfect and I am hoping they do not stretch much, if at all.  As for the rubber, I'm not yet sure what to think since they still need some breaking in (and I am not used to wearing a shoe with some actual rubber on the toes...).  I really want to like these shoes but only time will tell.  I'll update this post as I use the shoes more and more and put them through some abuse.  Some more photos of the shoes are below.  Enjoy!
   

*Update (5/21/2013): So it has been a few months since I first posted about the Sharks and since then I have been able to give them some decent mileage in the gym and on some real rock.  I was originally worried about stretch since the fit was just about perfect when I received them.  I am happy to say that the fit of these shoes is still just as good as they were when I took them out of the box and they are still some of the best fitting shoes I've owned.  Although they fit really well, I did notice that my arches had a tendency to ache after wearing them a lot or on very long climbs, which is probably due to the flexible arch and lack of support.  However, I didn't find this to be that big of an issue since I mainly climb single pitch routes and boulder.  

Now the rubber is a little bit of a different story.  To me the rubber seems pretty darn hard compared to my Evolvs and I definitely have not yet broken the rubber in after a season at the Red.  I still don't trust my feet on tiny footholds and for smearing and they just don't stick to the rock as well as my Evolvs do.  The sole is pretty thick and it will probably just need a little more time for me to wear it down to where I like it.  I think I've read of other climbers actually sanding the soles down to solve this problem, but I don't have a sander.  So I'll just have to wear them down naturally.  

The Mad Rock Shark 2.0 is an excellent fitting shoe with so-so rubber.  So far I've only been to warm up and train in these shoes and I have yet to use them on my projects.  I'm hoping that I will be able to wear the rubber down enough that I'll be able to trust my feet and start projecting with them.  Once I do I will post another update.