Sounds good for a fixup job mate, that stuff holds riviera boats togetgher! All for re-using and recycling. You should let the gyms know, god only knows how many shoes they turn into landfill…

I buy it from Coventrys or Supercheap Auto (or similar places). It costs about $15-20 for a 300g tube, but you’ll never use that much on shoes. This is obviously twice the price of most other tubes of silicon, but you know you are on to a good thing when the tube is covered in warnings but has no instructions.

You won’t use 10g on a single pair of shoes.

The rest of my tubes tend to go into radiator holes, canoes etc.

Another thing to buy is some rubber gloves or no girl will ever hold your hand again.

No debate there. I’m sure that a proper resole would be better. For me though, putting 50 cents worth of sikaflex over the toe to make a sacrificial layer every few months, is well worth it.

You could also use sikaflex 227 or 221 (may be cheaper)because they have the elasticity to allow some flex. I’ve used these with some success on my underwater hockey fins (now there’s a sport that makes climbing seem relatively sane). It’s always a good idea to clean the area with acetone first to stave off de-lamination. Pure urethane such as ‘freesole’ (available at good outdoor shops) can work wonders where the sole is just peeling back a little and can also be used to build a new sole on approach shoes.

A mate of mine uses sections of old mountain bike nobby tyres to breath new life into mtn bike shoes. It’s surprising how long you can keep things from going to land fill.

Tried my Boreal Aces with Sikaflex 252 on Sunday at Stathams – took them off after about 30 seconds.

I found the 252 is way too soft. The friction is ok-ish, but they were pretty useless as they just roll off edges.

It is probably OK for gyms or Blackwall Reach or maybe somewhere like Gilbraltar Rock, but were absolutly useless on Carrot Master (17) and The Oubliette (20 – some would say 22…)

Anyone know of any stiffer rubber?