Rock Shoes: Montrail Magnet
1st Mar 2006
£70.00 | Lace Up | size reviewed 10 (foot size 10) | weight 475g | medium asymmetry
Montrail are relatively new to the rock UK shoe market. They are certainly making a big impression by introducing some innovative features that make a lot of sense. First and foremost is the CTX thermo mouldable material around the toes and heels. Pop the shoes in an oven for 2 minutes at 107C and then put them on your feet and let your lumps and bumps make permanent impressions in the gel like material. Next time you put them on they’ll fit like a glove, erm sock! If you don’t trust the thermostat in your oven don’t worry, just by wearing the shoes your feet will soon mould the material into the same shapes, it just takes a while longer. The extra material in the toe area results in a very snug fit at the front of your foot which can become uncomfortable if worn for too long, but gives a pretty solid feel to your edging. Despite the fact that they have this extra thick material the Magnet is extremely light weight, second only to the Wasabi the other Montrail model on test, something that is surely of interest to top end climbers looking to save a few grams wherever they can. The toe rand is very chunky and padded with CTX, suited very well to wedging your feet into jamming cracks. So far the rubber has proved itself to be pretty sticky. Time will tell as to how durable it is. The Magnet is a great all rounder, extremely lightweight, looks great, and is reasonably priced considering its features. The very lightweight synthetic uppers lead to sweating if worn for long.
This review was carried out as part of a massive comparative review of 25 pairs of Performance Rock Shoes. We think that this could be the biggest review of such shoes ever undertaken. You can read the whole review here.