Shoe post!
Jun. 17th, 2011 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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disobey_gravityAfter getting a whole bunch of great shoe advice here a couple of weeks ago, and now that I've actually used my new shiny shoes a couple of times, I thought I'd post about how it went.
I went to MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op - I have too much love for MEC to go into here. Great staff, great ethics, v. Canadian, great products.) and found their climbing shoes and with the help of a very awesome salesguy (I can't remember his name, let's call him Tim), tried on maybe ten pairs. I started with the La Sportiva Nago Rock Shoes in a 39.5, and wow, they were comfortable. Too comfortable!
I also tried on some velcro Evolvs, Five Tens, and Scarpas, some of which I could get my feet into, some of which I couldn't. I found the things that bothered me were either in how the velcro pulled across my arches, or in how high the heel box rose up (some of them - the Five Tens especially, just cut too high on my ankle). So I kept coming 'round to the Nagos. I tried on the mens version 36.5s (too big), and the women's 36.5 (too small - I could get my feet into them, but... yeah, too small), and ended up with the women's 37.5s. Juuuuust right. They crunched my toes enough to make them stronger, but not so much that they hurt constantly. The laces mean they take a bit longer to get in and out of, but also that I can tighten them as they stretch, and adjust the pull on the pressure points on my feet.
The other excellent thing about MEC is they have a climbing wall in the middle of the store, so I would just bring the shoes there, try them on, then boulder around and test out the edges and toes to see if they were too loose. This was great because I think I didn't realize the effects of shoes that are too big until really comparing them on the wall and feeling how much easier it was to step onto small holds with tighter shoes.
After using them a couple of times, I think they're going to work out great. I can feel how much easier climbing is with shoes that fit right (and no socks). They hurt a bit the first time, especially on the outer side of one of my arches, but I found if I arched my foot a little more there wasn't a problem, and the second time out they didn't pinch anywhere in particular. All in all, I'm pretty thrilled with them - we'll see how long until I wear them out!
I went to MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op - I have too much love for MEC to go into here. Great staff, great ethics, v. Canadian, great products.) and found their climbing shoes and with the help of a very awesome salesguy (I can't remember his name, let's call him Tim), tried on maybe ten pairs. I started with the La Sportiva Nago Rock Shoes in a 39.5, and wow, they were comfortable. Too comfortable!
I also tried on some velcro Evolvs, Five Tens, and Scarpas, some of which I could get my feet into, some of which I couldn't. I found the things that bothered me were either in how the velcro pulled across my arches, or in how high the heel box rose up (some of them - the Five Tens especially, just cut too high on my ankle). So I kept coming 'round to the Nagos. I tried on the mens version 36.5s (too big), and the women's 36.5 (too small - I could get my feet into them, but... yeah, too small), and ended up with the women's 37.5s. Juuuuust right. They crunched my toes enough to make them stronger, but not so much that they hurt constantly. The laces mean they take a bit longer to get in and out of, but also that I can tighten them as they stretch, and adjust the pull on the pressure points on my feet.
The other excellent thing about MEC is they have a climbing wall in the middle of the store, so I would just bring the shoes there, try them on, then boulder around and test out the edges and toes to see if they were too loose. This was great because I think I didn't realize the effects of shoes that are too big until really comparing them on the wall and feeling how much easier it was to step onto small holds with tighter shoes.
After using them a couple of times, I think they're going to work out great. I can feel how much easier climbing is with shoes that fit right (and no socks). They hurt a bit the first time, especially on the outer side of one of my arches, but I found if I arched my foot a little more there wasn't a problem, and the second time out they didn't pinch anywhere in particular. All in all, I'm pretty thrilled with them - we'll see how long until I wear them out!
SHOOOOOOOOEEEEES
Date: 2011-06-17 07:16 pm (UTC)(FWIW, one of the SRS BSNS women climbers at the wall where I climb wears Nagos, and they certainly don't seem to be holding her back.)
The laces mean they take a bit longer to get in and out of, but also that I can tighten them as they stretch, and adjust the pull on the pressure points on my feet.
*nods a lot* It's a big advantage of lace-ups.
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