Climbing Shoe Buyers Guide

in Buyers Guide Climbing Featured by CJ — October 23, 2009 at 6:58 am | 0 comments

Maybe it’s your first pair of rock shoes.  Maybe you are looking for a second pair of shoes to increase your performance.  Or maybe your current shoes kill your feet or you want some specialty shoes for a specific type of climbing.  There are many different reasons for purchasing a new pair of rock shoes but knowing what you need is the only sure way to get exactly what you want.

Types of Shoes

There are a few main types of climbing shoes and they are all designed for a specific purpose.  There are shoes for comfort while climbing all day, shoes for cracks, shoes for edging, and shoes for extremely steep and overhanging rock.  Keeping in mind many shoes overlap categories, let’s take a look at each.

Comfort Shoes

Although not a very technical term, it does sum up the purpose of these shoes.  These shoes are designed to be able to be worn all day with minimal discomfort and are generally low-cut and mid-stiffness.  They do, however sacrifice edging ability and sensitivity.  Most climbers start with shoes in the comfort category for three reasons. First, they’re inexpensive.  This is generally a concern for someone just starting a new sport, especially one that can be as expensive as climbing.  Second, although there is no such thing as a real “all-around” shoe, the comfort shoe is as close as it gets.  And third, frankly it doesn’t matter.  This is just the shoe you use until you want to increase your performance or determine you need a shoe for a specific purpose.

Examples:

• 5.10 Spire ($99.95, Buy)
• La Sportiva Cliff ($90, Buy)
• Scarpa Freestyle ($79.95, Buy)
• Evolv Royale ($79, Buy)

Sport Shoes

Sport shoes are not as comfortable, but many climbers find the trade off worth the added performance.  Sport shoes have chiseled toes and a relatively larger arch than shoes designed strictly for comfort.  Within this category shoes range from relatively stiff to extremely sensitive.  Stiff shoes are designed to hold small edges all day long and are very beneficial to climbers lacking strong foot muscles.  The drawback is the loss of sensitivity.  Over time you adapt to this and have no problem telling what is underfoot, but for climbers switching from a sensitive shoe to a stiff shoe there can be a learning curve.  Extremely sensitive shoes provide tremendous smearing ability and feel.  The downside to this type of shoe is it can become fatiguing on long face climbs with a lot of thin edging especially for people lacking strong foot muscles.

Examples:

• 5.10 Anasazi ($139.95, Buy)
• 5.10 Galileo ($134.95, Buy)
• Evolv Pontas ($115, Buy)
• Evolv Defy ($85, Buy)
• Scarpa Mago ($140, Buy)
• Scarpa Booster ($130, Buy)
• La Sportiva Miura ($140, Buy)
• La Sportiva Katana ($135, Buy)

Crack/Trad Shoes

Crack/trad climbing shoes are used for just that, crack and traditional climbing.  They differ from sport shoes in that they are designed to be more comfortable for use during long trad routes as opposed to shorter (generally one pitch) sport routes.  These shoes are designed to give the climber a toe box designed for foot jams and extra rubber and material around the front of the shoe to help it hold up to the demands of crack climbing.  Some shoes feature a higher cut to protect your ankles while climbing cracks.  These shoes are also designed with some comfort in mind as they tend to be used on longer routes and most climbers will typically not size these shoes quite as small.  Some climbers routinely size and wear them with socks as they spend a lot of time climbing in cold alpine climates.

Examples:

• La Sportiva TC Pro ($170, Buy)
• La Sportiva Tradmaster ($110, Buy)
• 5.10 Piton ($129.95, Buy)
• Scarpa Techno ($129, Buy)
• Evolv Quest-AF ($96, Buy)

Bouldering/Steep Face Shoes

There are also shoes made specifically for bouldering or steep and overhanging rock.  They are characterized by a significant down turned toe designed to help the climber get more of the shoes rubber on the rock and put more power into the big toe.  These shoes can be very uncomfortable if not sized correctly  but beneficial for those exclusively climbing very steep rock.

Examples:

• 5.10 Dragon ($139.95, Buy)
• 5.10 Jet7 ($144.95, Buy)
• La Sportiva Testarossa ($160, Buy)
• La Sportiva Solution ($155, Buy)
• Scarpa Stix ($129, Buy)

Sizing

The most important thing to remember when looking for climbing shoes is the fit of the shoe.  No matter what promises they make to improve you climbing ability, it won’t work if it doesn’t fit.  Make sure the heel doesn’t slip; and obviously you won’t get much rock climbed if you dread even putting them on.  As many manufactures have different cuts, the best place to buy your new shoes is a local retailer.  No, they’re not as inexpensive as online, but they will make sure you have the right size. If you already know what size you need or prefer to live on the edge, you can use the links to purchase your shoes and support us at the same time.

Men’s vs. Women’s

Many shoes are made with a men’s and women’s version.  Men that have a low volume may find it benificial to buy a women’s shoe while women with high volume feet may find a men’s shoe provides a better fit.  The best bet is to try them on.

Linings

One last thing to consider is the shoe made of.  You can expect an unlined leather shoe to stretch about a full size.  Lined leather shoes will stretch a half size.  While lined synthetic shoes are said not to stretch, however some models will stretch a tiny bit.

Slippers vs. Velcro vs. Lace-up

Climbing shoes are offered in a few different styles.  Slippers just slip on and off making getting in and out of them easy but lacks any way to fine tune the fit.  Velcro shoes generally have two velcro straps that still makes it simple to put on and take off but allows some fine tuning of the fit.  Finally, lace up shoes allow you to fine tune the fir the most but you sacrifice the ease of getting them on and off.  Which you decide on will be strictly a matter of personal preference.

Now that you know what you need it’s time to go out and try some different shoes on.  We have given recommendations for each type of shoe to help you get started with the manufacturer suggested retail price and a link to buy them on Amazon if you prefer.  Finally, it’s time to get out on the rock and take your new shoes for a spin.

Recommended shoes manufacturer websites:

• La Sportiva (http://www.sportiva.com/)
• 5.10 (http://www.fiveten.com/)
• Scarpa (http://www.scarpa.com/)
• Evolv (http://www.evolvesports.com/)

Tags: Buyers Guide Rock Climbing Rock Shoes