Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes

[jumpuphigh]

I thought I'd open up a post for people to talk about their shoes.  What are you wearing to climb?  Why?  What do you like about them? What do you hate about them?  Would you buy them again if you were buying new shoes?

I'll start.  I wear Saltic Falco shoes. 



I love them.  They have a wide toe box and a very narrow heel and they fit my feet like they were designed just for me.  Most shoes out there are just too big in the heel for me. 

This model is very technical.  The arch on them is insane. When I first tried them on, I believe my exact words were "They hurt so good!"  I actually love everything about them.  If I ever had a bad resoling experience, these would be the shoes that I would buy to replace mine. 

They are made by a Czech company and extremely hard to find in the US.  I would love to be able to try on all of the Saltic styles to find a more casual shoe because sometimes, I just don't want or need something this technical. 

Comments

[rydra_wong]

*gazes at the hole in the left toe of my La Sportiva Barracudas and weeps softly*

I found my perfect shoes.

Just in time for them to be discontinued.

They're very narrow, the heel fits me, and the laces mean I can tighten them round the arch in particular, and lock them in place tightly enough that they don't come off when I heel-hook (which almost all other shoes seem to do). And they hit a nearly perfect balance between sensitive/smeary and edgy for me.

I'm going to try and get them resoled, but if that doesn't work I'm hoping that the lace-up Katanas might be a substitute (the Barracudas were built on a modified Katana last).

[jumpuphigh]

The attachment a climber has to her shoes just cannot be explained to a non-climber. I weep with you.

[pellucid]

Oh, are Katanas with laces new? I haven't seen those, though possibly it's just a matter of my local MEC not carrying them (their selection is good but not exhaustive). I'm not sure I'd switch from the velcro--at least for gym climbing I like the easy-on, easy-off of the velcro--but it's good to know.

I'm a dedicated Katana fan, though I wouldn't have recommended them to someone looking for a narrow shoe. I've got wider toes and a narrow heel, and for that I find them perfect: the toe box doesn't smush my feet too badly, and the heels don't slip. So I imagine the heels of a Katana would work well for you, but perhaps the toes might be too wide. Though that's probably where a lace-up would help a lot. Some of my more narrow-footed friends are fans of the Miuras, so you might give those a whirl; they're too narrow for me, for instance.

[rydra_wong]

Yup, the Katana laces hit the market about a month ago over here.

The Miuras are also on my list to try, but I suspect they might be a bit too technical for me right now.

And "narrow heel but toes not too smushed" sounds pretty good; I tend to size shoes with my toes pretty down-curled anyway, so I need to have some circulation left *g*.

The question will be how the toebox compares to the one on the Barracudas. They're all on roughly the same last, but La Sportiva have a tendency to make little tweaks between models, so the Katana laces have some features that the velcros don't.

We shall see. Of course, if the resoling goes well, I may be able to postpone the whole decision completely.

[ilanarama]

Oh, man. My favorite shoes are almost 20-year-old Five Ten Classics. I have lost count of how many times they have been resoled. They are old style trad boots, with nearly flat soles and high uppers, and they are not too desperately uncomfortable for the long hike down off the top and back around to the base of a climb to pick up your gear.

[jumpuphigh]

I've seen a few people still climbing in those. They are beloved and obviously last forever.

[zennish]

Absolute terrible Mad Rock Phoenixes. The sizing isn't bad and to-the-toe lacing lets me adjust for a wider toebox, but the rubber is ridiculous for smearing: I have to sand off the top layer on the sole to get some amount of stickiness, and the arch is only a little better than useless. I think they used to use Stealth C4 on the older models, so those were okay, but these new ones are crap. Sadly, I can't afford new shoes until these ones fall apart completely... I'd use my five y/o Phoenixes, except I've worn holes through the leather.

[jumpuphigh]

Mad Rocks seem to be the most complained about shoe in my gym. The level of complaining about them is part of the reason I took so much time when buying my first pair of shoes.

[zennish]

I actually wish I had heard more bitching about them pre-purchase - if you grit your teeth and smash your feet against the wall they're okay, but sometimes a girl just doesn't want bleeding toenails post-climb and everything, yanno?

[rydra_wong]

Seconding. Their rubber seems to be widely derided.