Interesting shoes, cheap (UK)
Dec. 14th, 2010 05:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Rockworks have some interesting shoes in their clearance section at the moment.
This is one of the few places in the UK that I've seen Acopa shoes (which I've heard very interesting things about -- this is the company that was run by the late John Bachar). I would be snapping up a pair of B3s in a heartbeat if they had them in a size that might work for me.
This is one of the few places in the UK that I've seen Acopa shoes (which I've heard very interesting things about -- this is the company that was run by the late John Bachar). I would be snapping up a pair of B3s in a heartbeat if they had them in a size that might work for me.
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Date: 2010-12-14 08:47 pm (UTC)Mind, I'm off exercise till mid-January at the earliest, due to an operation :(
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Date: 2010-12-14 08:59 pm (UTC)(Having checked your DW, I am now torn between "emergency surgery, horrific" and "dermoid cyst, cool.")
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Date: 2010-12-14 09:41 pm (UTC)Anything that involves my stomach muscles at all is incredibly painful.
Having said all that, my main issue with the surgery was that they sent it away for testing without letting me see it after. Apparently it was all bones and teeth.
* sick geekery *
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Date: 2010-12-15 08:17 am (UTC)That does seem extremely unfair. The least they could do is let you keep it in a jar.
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Date: 2010-12-15 11:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 04:42 pm (UTC)ETA: The Hunterian is also just across the square from the Sir John Soane Museum, another very strange place (the last time I visited it, I actually got a migraine from the spatial weirdness in there).
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Date: 2010-12-16 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-16 08:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 04:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 05:51 pm (UTC)It depends on what sort of climbing you want to do, and what level you're climbing at.
For multi-pitch routes which are not very technical in terms of footwork, you're going to want shoes which you can comfortably wear for a few hours. That probably means fitting them with your toes flat, rather than knuckled down, among other things. And you might choose a (relatively) stiffer shoe, so the support is coming from the structure of the shoe, as opposed to a soft shoe which relies on holding your foot rigidly in a certain position.
(That's especially true if you have wonky feet in any way; shoes that are constricting can be very rough on the toes.)
If you're doing types of climbing where you need very precise footwork -- e.g. standing on tiny edges -- over a shorter span of time, the emphasis changes. Fitting a shoe with your toes knuckled down (and having the shoe tight enough to lock your foot in that position) makes it easier to stand all your weight on the tip or edge of your toe. You might want the shoe to be softer (so you can feel exactly where your weight is on a small hold), but that means (again) fitting it tighter so the softness doesn't mean it flexes. And you don't want to have any slippage at all between your foot and the shoe.
So all that means that you might pick a different shoe and fit it much tighter, but wear it for only 15 minutes at a time before taking a break.
Anyway, those would be the two ends of a spectrum, with lots of shoes intermediate between them. If you check out the Five Ten website, you'll see they divide their shoes into "Mileage", "Meters", and "Microns", giving you an idea of what sort of shoe might fall into what category -- and how much they vary within the categories. There are shoes which are pretty technical but which are also stiff and supportive, for example.
But basically, if your current shoes are comfy and suit your foot shape, and you're not feeling that they're sloppy or not letting you stand on things you want to stand on, stick with them.
When they wear out, you can re-assess what your climbing focus is and decide whether you want to upgrade to something a notch more technical, and if so in what direction.
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Date: 2010-12-15 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-16 09:15 am (UTC)