La Sportiva Tradmaster shoe, good or bad?

I'm looking to replace my eleven year old 5.10 Newtons. I've tried several sizes of the Scarpa Techo with bad results. I own La Sportiva Miuras and love them. However, I'm looking for a stiffer sole, and, I'm hesitant to spend over $150 on shoes. Perhaps that's what's happening these days...

Your thoughts, good or bad, regarding the Tradmaster is appreciated. I enjoy edging at Eldo to cracks/slabs in the Platte, to the high peaks in RMNP.

-Thank you

I bought some Tradmasters a while back and had two issues with them.

1. The lacing over the toes can be a bit weird and uncomfortable, especially if you are going to be climbing thin hands cracks in them. Just make sure the toe-box feels okay for your foot when you try them on because they are quite different from other LS shoes I've owned.

2. They are lined with a soft fleecy material that gets pretty hot and slippery in the summer. I am prone to hot feet and mine would slide around making edging a less than precise affair.

My recommendation is to try them on and see what you think. If I didn't have these two issues - which may only relate to the shape and stankiness of my feet - then they probably would have been great shoes.

Also, if you are ordering them online to try them on, then my recommendation would be to try a half-size larger than your miuras. I wear a 45 Miura and the 45 tradmaster was just too small.

Hope that helps,
Doug.

What's the price difference between a tradmaster and the shoe you really want on sale? I know everyone balks at high priced shoes but I've seen muiras for $100 and TC Pros for under $120 if you shop sales. It's just not that outrageous to me if you bargain hunt or buy shoes off MP where someone got the wrong size and they're not even broken in yet.

Tradmasters are a very comfy crack shoe. I replaced the rubber after 4 days of climbing because I was slipping on footholds I could stick easily with my Muiras. **I know, I know, it could have just been crappy technique**

I asked the guy at Rock and Resole about the rubber and he said the TM's are made in China and the rubber could possibly contain contaminants or sub par ingredients whereas the Muiras are made in Italy.

With new rubber, the shoe was fine.

Got them several years ago and they are a comfortable shoe for my wide feet. The only issue is the one mentioned above - not so sticky rubber. I could smear better with my 5.10 approach shoes! But being a beginning climber I wore them down fairly quickly and got them resoled (Rock and Resole). The guy there said any of the rubbers they used was going to stick better, and he was right.

what size are you looking for. I have a resoled fairly new pair of trad bastards that I would part with?

not directly relevant to your question, but my TC pros did a pretty excellent job as an “do anything” trad climbing shoe, and didn't have the funky lining that the tradmasters do. I think the only time they disappointed me was on the Vertigo roof, where I could've used some downturn, but that isn't really the shoe's fault.

Cindy Mitchell wrote:Tradmasters are a very comfy crack shoe. I replaced the rubber after 4 days of climbing because I was slipping on footholds I could stick easily with my Muiras. **I know, I know, it could have just been crappy technique** I asked the guy at Rock and Resole about the rubber and he said the TM's are made in China and the rubber could possibly contain contaminants or sub par ingredients whereas the Muiras are made in Italy. With new rubber, the shoe was fine.

FYI, the Tradmaster comes with a different rubber than the Miura.

Tradmaster

Miura

I personally believe the Vibram rubber is vastly superior to the Frixion compounds. YMMV.

Cindy Mitchell wrote:Tradmasters are a very comfy crack shoe. I replaced the rubber after 4 days of climbing because I was slipping on footholds I could stick easily with my Muiras.

I like mine in cracks too, but the rubber is horrible, never got around to resoling them, but I'm sure that makes a huge difference. Really nice to have that fleece lining on alpine climbs.

I had two pairs, and, blew through the sides of both of them. Not very durable. Kind of a sloppy fit for me. They seemed "cheap".

TC pro's are worth the extra coin, IMHO. I probably have twice the routes as either of the pairs of Tradmasters and they still show very little wear. Great fit.

Thanks for the responses everyone. How is the sizing for the TC Pro? Is it comparable to the regular sizing fit for La Sportiva in general?

buy a half size to size larger in tc pros. i wear 42.5 in miura vs (really tight) and a 44 in tc pros (all day comfort).

Shane Zentner wrote:Thanks for the responses everyone. How is the sizing for the TC Pro? Is it comparable to the regular sizing fit for La Sportiva in general?

I wear a 43 Muira VS (too tight for cracks but not killing me) and I'm 43.5 TC Pro based on the ones I tried on though I don't own them yet.

TC Pro sizing thread

There are a few others ..

Brian in SLC wrote:I had two pairs, and, blew through the sides of both of them. Not very durable.

My tradmasters blew through the sides too! The first day I used them!

Shane Zentner wrote:I'm looking to replace my eleven year old 5.10 Newtons. I've tried several sizes of the Scarpa Techo with bad results. I own La Sportiva Miuras and love them. However, I'm looking for a stiffer sole, and, I'm hesitant to spend over $150 on shoes. Perhaps that's what's happening these days... Your thoughts, good or bad, regarding the Tradmaster is appreciated. I enjoy edging at Eldo to cracks/slabs in the Platte, to the high peaks in RMNP. -Thank you

I've had a pair for a few years. I found them to be super comfortable, and durable. If you want a shoe for long easy routes they are great, and last year they were popping up on sale pretty regularly. But if you really love your Miura's I'm not sure the Tradmasters will be technical enough.

I bought a pair of TC Pro's this season and I haven't looked back.

I wouldn't recommend them. Seems like everyone has had issues with them. There are much better shoes out there.

+1 for the TC's

TC Pro's for sure! If I could only own one pair of climbing shoes, it would be these.

Alright, all you TC Pro lovers out there. What is the deal with the tongue of the shoe? That's all I can feel grinding into the top of my toes when I wear these. Does this eventually break in? Anyone else have this problem?

I like the tradmasters. I bought them for around 50$ on Sierra Trading Post, and at first was skeptical about how good they would be. Since, and due to being a poor college student and not being able to afford another pair of shoes right now, I've used them for up to 5.12 sport, 5.11 trad, numerous desert towers, and bouldering, which i majorly suck at, up to v5. While not as sensitive as other shoes they are half the cost of similar shoes. I wouldn't pay full price for them, but for what they are going for on sale they are a steal. Finally they are mega comfortable, a few weekends ago I spent about an hour hiking in them on a descent, and they felt like an awesome approach shoe. If you are strapped for cash I highly recommend them. If not, of course, the TC pro will be a superior shoe.

I have a pair of tradmasters, I'll never buy another pair. Terrible rubber (very slick, no friction at all) and not very comfortable. Seeing as I rate shoes on only 2 criteria, performance and comfort, the Tradmasters have been a major fail for me.

Also, I've had 2 very disappointing experiences with Sportiva customer service in the recent past and don't think I'll be buying any more LS shoes in the future (after owning 2 pairs of Mantras, 2 Miuras, 3 Vipers, Tradmaster, Nepal EVO, and Trango Prime). Oh well La Sportiva, it was nice while it lasted. Your shoes do fit my foot real nice.

I sent out 6 pairs of shoes to be resoled (all the dead shoes from my past 4-5 years of climbing) and the next pair I buy new will probably be 5.10 galileos once the tradmasters die.