UKC

Looking to replace my Red Chilli Tornados. Thinking about buying Madrock Frenzy Velcros, but can't find a pair local so may have to buy on the web, but not too worried about that as I want a fairly loose fit for alpine route use so...
Does anyone have any advice on these shoes, foot fit, comfort, width, I'm a broadish shoe fit and normally take a size 43/44.
Any useful advice appreciated.

In reply to Jules King: i got my normal shoe size in frenzy ez. they don't stretch much. also have a fairly wide foot. did get some pressure on little toe@ foot end, but this eased. HTH

In reply to thin bob:
thanks, are they a reasonable shoe for the job advertised for?

In reply to Jules King:
yeah, i'd say so. not the most flexible, but you're not buying a slipper

In reply to Jules King:
I'd second what thin bob said, mad rock boots seem to fit quite close to normal size and because they are normally made of synthetic materials and /or heavily rubbered around the heels and toes etc they don't stretch much.

In reply to Jules King: I have the Frenzy lace and also have wide feet and they are very comfy. My review of them is here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=544 I got the first pair replaced and although I haven't used the second pair that much they don't seem to have the same quality problems.

In reply to gethin_allen: Hi,
We took a survey a few months back on here and got a pretty good set of responses for the mad rock shoes. People actually reported that the mad rock shoes were very prone to stretching. Over half of the responses said that their shoes had stretched half a size or more. They also reported that they usually size the shoes around one size below their everyday footwear.

You can see the results here: http://www.facewest.co.uk/facewestblog/2010/04/20/facewest-rock-shoe-survey...

In reply to Facewest.co.uk:
an eexcellent survey & well worth reading in it's entirity, thank you.
frenzy's actually 'don't' stretch much
The Frenzy EZ is a strange beast, a hybrid between technical rock boot and an approach shoe. Because of this versatility it is by far our least technical shoe and should be fitted more like a trainer than a climbing shoe. Because of this we’ve decided not to create a fit diagram for the Frenzy EZ. The shoe has a padded, fleece lined heel which makes it perform poorly for heel hooking but its wide, stiff forefoot is great for indoor climbing and long, easy routes though it struggles on more technical ground. This is perfect for long easy ridge climbs where you’re mixing climbing and scrambling but also need a shoe that will cope with tricky descents and short walk outs. The shoes will soften in use but shouldn’t stretch too much.

In reply to Jules King: Personally I'm not a massive fan of them, I'm not sure I see the advantage they offer over a reasonably relaxed fit shoe like a La Sportiva Cliff 5, a Mad Rock Phoenix, Evolv Defy etc. as I don't find them comfortable on walking or scrambling ground. The rubber isn't great on them and they don't have a great deal of sensitivity plus the fit isn't especially secure.

That said, some people obviously are fans of them. We've been told that the fit is quite wide and quite high volume with a couple of people reporting some discomfort around the heel on long climbs possibly as a result of heel lift.

In reply to thin bob: Cheers, glad you liked it.

My points before were more about Mad Rock shoes in general, probably due to misreading Gethin's post, you're quite correct that the Frenzy Velcros don't stretch much.

In reply to Facewest.co.uk:

I entered your survey, however I've worn the mugen lace and the mugen tech and found that there is no way on earth they are going to stretch on your feet (they'll probably squash your feet before they stretch) and also that the fit close to size. I have 9+8.5 feet (left + right respectively) and found a pair of 8s so painful and so unwilling to yield that i had to get rid of them. I think the newer ranges of mad rock boots are far less stretchy than the older designs; much more rubber pulling the heel towards the toe and they have recently started using they "dope liner" a hemp liner fabric that claims not to smell bad but is also very rough and non stretchy.