Our range of rockshoes has been chosen from the myriad of designs available from manufacturers worldwide. We've attempted to select a wide choice of boots from the comfortable beginner's all-day shoe to the most foot-contorting technical choice for working near-impossible sport projects.

Our rock boot range is one of the largest in Britain (and we sell over the internet to climbers as far away as New Zealand). The whole range has been extensively and enthusiastically tested by staff outside and on our little shop wall.

Most entry level and improver rock shoes are lace-up. You get a more taylored fit that way, and they should be comfortable enough that you don't have to take them off between routes. The fit is by far the most important factor: the best rockshoes in the world are useless to you if they don't fit right, and what's best for you may not be your mate's favourite best ever shoe. Buying rockshoes is definitely a hands-on experience- some boots stretch more than others, for example, and we know our range intimately so drop us a line for fitting advice if you need it. Good first shoes are the Red Chili Spirit and La Sportiva Cliff, or the Scarpa Vantage for men and Thunder Lady for women. The Cliff (a timeless classic, very comfortable for long multipitch days) is well padded and fairly adaptable in fit, and along with the Thunder, are built with a very hard-wearing rubber. The Spirit and Vantage are excellent all-rounders, and two of the most commonly seen rock shoes on UK crags.

We have two offerings with a trainer-like grippy heel. The La Sportiva Rock Jock and Mad Rock Frenzy EZ are both ideal for long days on the rock, and good for descents too. They're both popular with instructors in particular, and lovers of massive multipitch mountain days.

For the very wide of foot and the generally giant, the best option is the Red Chili Sausalito, which comes in sizes up to 14 in a very tough rubber. Narrow footed men and ladies will find the Mad Rock Pheonix and Banshee a better fit. The lacing on these goes right down to the toe for a firm fit where you need it most- in the toe box. Mad Rock also give us the very cool Mad Monkey for kids (at least one member of staff has tried them on and secretly wants a pair). Both these and the Boreal Ninja Junior allow for growth and are easy on young feet.

Fit in the toe box is important for solid footwork, but the other place trouble might arise is the heel. Most rock shoes, especially towards the performance end, have a 'slingshot' heel that pulls in hard on the Achilles to push the foot forward in the shoe.  Those with flatter heel backs can experience discomfort and even blisters. The problem is rarer in men, but if it sounds like you, look no further than the Evolv Defy. This soft rubber improver/intermediate shoe is the last word in easy, comfy fit on a semi-technical shoe. They are also black. Completely black!

The unquestionable queen of the mid-level choices for women is the Evolv Elektra. For our female climbing staff, used to years of too-wide, slingshot-heeled uncomfortable rock boots, the arrival of the Elektra was greeted with joy (and naked greed). Like all Evolv rockshoes, they are contructed with vegan-friendly materials that won't stretch with use. Men at this level should look at the Red Chili Spirit Velcro, which has a discreet anti-shock pad in the bottom of the heel to reduce the chance of damage to the foot and ankle if you pop off suddenly or dismount from a boulder with less than your usual grace and style.

Boreal offer two excellent choices in the semi-technical range. The Spider has a firmer shape and cleverly shapped sole, while the softer, more sensitive Joker is a bit more adaptable, and offers superb comfort with an slight anti-shock heel as well. In the bigger sizes, they are both fairly wide in the forefoot, but the Joker in particular narrows down in the small sizes to cater to women's feet. The rubber on both is pleasingly sticky.

Rock shoes for advanced climbers are built with some very specific ideas in mind. They will be a lot less comfortable than calmer shoes, and some climbers working hard sport routes and boulder problems will take their shoes off between routes, or even pitches. Toes will be downturned (curled) for maximum performance, and heels more likely to be heavily slingshot. Sizing is likely to be smaller on most models as well. Red Chili fans will go straight to the Red Chili Corona VCR, a high-end bouldering shoe. If you fit Red Chili shoes in other models, it's more likely that this will be the performance shoe for you, because the Chili last caters to a very specific foot shape. The Corona uses relatively hard Vibram rubber, and the shape is radically assymetric. Those who like a more sensitive shoe should look at the much-loved Boreal Stingma. The rubber is softer, and the toe box wide. The Stingma is a technical classic, one of our most popular performace shoes.

Mad Rock provide us with the actually quite well thought-out Frenzy Lace, which is a surprisingly padded performance shoe in a fairly hard-wearing rubber. These are great for all day performance, or those who want a serious shoe without serious pain. If you have bunions or foot problems but want to climb hard, the Frenzy Lace is going to be the first place to look. At the other end sanity scale is the Mad Rock Hooker, which is sensitive, highly slingshot to get your toes down, and has a grippy heel and a patch on top of the toe for hooking, as the name suggests. Not for the faint of heart, but the Hooker has a devoted following who turn their noses up at anything less. The sizing on these is very small, so you might want to go up a half size.

The staff favourite performance shoes is the Evolv Pontas Lace. Super-hard climbing guru Chris Sharma had a hand in this series, and they're named after his route 'Las Pontas'. The heels are less aggressive than the Corona and Hooker, but superb design means all-over performance when smearing, edging and beasting up horrific overhangs. The Lace version is a hit with women looking to play with the hardest of the hard men- they're narrow and girly-shaped in the smaller sizes, and the lacing system provides an excellent taylored fit all over. Sensitive, yet firm and edgy! One of our staff growls in a menacing fashion when anyone touches hers.

The new version of the colossal classic Five Ten Anasazi has arrived, and found immediate loving friends on our staff. The Anasazi White (or Lace-Up V2, or Anasazi Blanco) is an all-round workshorse high performance shoe, with a heavily slingshot heel to push the toe into the end of the shoe. Five Ten produce some of the stickiest climbing shoe rubber around, and the new model does not disappoint. We also sell the well proven Anasazi Velcro in superbly sticky Stealth Onyx rubber.

For serious projects, we also stock the incredibly sensitive Boreal Falcon. The radical and innovative design means the toes can 'grab' the rock even when aggresively downturned for power. The rubber is super sticky, making this the shoe of choice for the tiniest of tiny edges and most tenuous of smears.

Boreal also make a brush for squeaking and maintaining your rock shoes in top condition.