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).

[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.

[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.