MadRock Con-Cept

When I first started climbing, there was only one shoe I had my eyes on. The 5.10 Mocc. It was the cheapest shoe out there ($100) and many of the climbers around were sporting it. Somehow Ryan convinced me later that I needed some lace-ups, so I paid the EXTREME price of $150 for the Boreal Stingers. After that, I stuck to two simple rules: Cheap and Lazy. The rest of my shoe selections came from being on sale (check out MadRock's OUTLET!) or a hook-up, and slippers with velcro or zipper closures.

• 5.10 Moccasym (multiple)
• Boreal Stingers
• 5.10 Zlipper (multiple)
• MadRock Flash (multiple)
• MadRock Hooker Zip
• MadRock Hooker EZ

I definitely didn't think I'd go back to lace-ups... "I boulder. I need to be able to take off my shoes off and on without worrying about the hassle of laces." But I started seeing some of my friends with them, and noted their confidence. I ordered some new Demons from the gracious and generous folks at MadRock and they had them on backorder - so in the light that I've been having problems with velcro not lasting as long as the rubber - I decided to try out the Con-Cept lace-ups.

I tried them out today at Ute Valley and I swear I had a few double-take moments where my foot stuck when I totally didn't expect it to. I felt like I was 20 pounds lighter since I was able to put so much more of my weight on my feet instead of my hands. The laces allowed me to really crank down the tightness where I needed it and weren't a hassle at all to take on and off. No worrying about if my velcro is going to pop off in the middle of the crux? I'm sold. Thanks MadRock!