UKC

The best place I have been to for getting new climbing shoes. Patient service (took me over an hour to get the right size), really knowledgeable staff and best of all, got to use the wall to try each pair. Settled for a pair of their intermediate level Scarpa's. Forgotten exact name but it doesn't matter anyway.

Highly rec'd. Pretty psyched to get climbing again properly.

 Good to hear more positive things about them. Really great bunch of staff down there. 

The same can be said for the foundry. They take a lot of time out to help you find the right shoes (and helmets, for that matter) and getting to test them out properly is a real bonus. 

Nice to hear them being supported too 

I have to say I was looking to buy a pair of solutions from there and was not allowed to try them on the wall, even after specifically asking if I could. Your experience might be person specific rather than a wall policy! It all felt a bit pointless just sat there in the shop with them on my feet trying to imagine how they would feel if I was actually climbing in them. 

I've bought shoes from there before and was allowed to try them out on the wall. I've also seen other people trying shoes out on the wall. Perhaps you were just unlucky. 

I can understand them not wanting people tarnishing their brand new out of the box shoes on the wall. Last time I tried some shoes on they let me go have a play in the bouldering room (talking about a different shop/wall btw) and after 10 mins I came back to the shop area with them, he seemed a bit shocked that they were now caked in chalk from the mats and looked clearly "used" now. I got the impression he'd realised that he hadn't really thought it though. As it happened I bought the shoes so it paid off for him that time, but if I hadn't the effort of cleaning those shoes up again to pass off as new maybe wouldn't have been worth it. 

That said though it's usual for shops to have some sort of board with little edges to stand on in order to test the feel and performance of rock boots before you buy them. 

btw, if the solutions fit your feet okay buy them, they are some of the best all-round performance shoes you can have, although the heal isn't suited to every situation. 

Different people have different ideas about what testing a pair of shoes out on the wall involves. Clearly if you want to do a full climbing session, or try out a few routes and push the shoes to their limit you need to go to one of the many boot demos.

But a few minutes standing on real climbing holds and smears will cause minimal wear to the shoe and give a feel of what they will be like to climb in. Having worked in a different wall shop who offered a similar service to what the op had, a damp cloth will quickly remove chalk from the soles.

????

When I last bought some shoes from the Pudsey Depot (also Solutions as it happens), they were happy to let me try them out - do a couple of problems on the comp wall.

Pretty much the same can be said for BF dudes at the Bloc in Bristol, although my try on range is more limited to the non leathers.... It probably took me more like 3hrs...