Climb X- Rock It
MSRP: $99
Let me start off by saying, I'm by no means a professional climber, I'm simply a man who loves climbing. What little free time I have I spend either in the climbing gym or out at the abundant climbing areas we have here in beautiful Colorado. When I recently received a brand new pair of ClimbX Rock-It climbing shoes, I got pretty excited. I had been in the market for a pair of climbing shoes that were aggressive enough for more advanced sport climbing and inexpensive enough to not feel bad about wearing them a lot in the gym. The Rock-It seemed to fit the bill perfectly. After Climbing about 75 routes and a couple dozen problems (mostly indoor) I feel the shoes are performing consistently enough to write a review on. I chose to focus my review on three categories: Performance, Durability and Comfort.
Performance:
The soles have a somewhat aggressive down-turn making for nice placement and making those hard to grab edges easier to get a toe on. The “3-D” heel is fairly well designed. I don't throw heel hooks too often but when I do the shoes stick well enough. A thick sole is good for cracks as well as faces, but the actual rubber was where I found a problem with performance. The rubber on the soles sliped off of smoother rock and holds if I didn't have the most precise placements and attention to foot work.
Durability:
Hard to judge this early in, but so far they are holding up great. The lining still doesn’t stink after several hot days and a time or two getting caught out in the rain. They are pretty breathable, and don't cause my feet to sweat. With a thick sole and good toe, I have yet to see any signs of early wear or holes near the toe of the sole.
Comfort:
They are pretty breathable and not over aggressive to the point where I want to pull them off before I'm even back on the ground. I got the same size as my street shoes so your results may be different depending on how you size them on your feet. The only major comfort issue I've found so far is the stitching on the inside of the heel tends to rub quite a bit against the back of my ankle causing some rawness after climbing.
All in all, I would recommend them to anyone looking for a decent shoe at a decent price. Will they push your climbing to the next level? Probably not. But they are a reliable shoe that you won't feel bad about tearing up at a price below most similar styled climbing shoes. Climb safe. Climb hard. Climb on!
Guest Post by climber and all around good (but grumpy) dude, T.J.
