What shoes to buy?

Been climbing 2-4x a week mixed gym and outdoor. 

Consider the Sportiva Katana Lace. Great all around shoe!

Lace trumps Velcro IMO

Scarpa Force ($129) or Vapor V ($149)... For the inexpensive shoe go for Red Chili Corona($120). Sportiva's are excellent but over priced..... I can say that cause I still use them..

Do yourself a favor and do not purchase a shoe with low quality rubber. Get Stealth or Vibram. Red Chili Rubber is good too.

I love LS craftsmanship and the Vibram rubber (especially xsgrip2) and have turned a few of my friends onto them. Muiras are terrific but I know some avid users of the katanas and women's katanas who say that they'll never buy any other shoe. I love the testarossas as well. Just as above said, expect to pay a pretty penny... if you take care of the shoe you can always get them resoled - the route I take.

5.10 also makes a great shoe and I find myself always going back to my hornets depending on the climb. Just make sure you try both on because the fit is miles apart in similarity.

Scarpas are supposedly top notch, I've only heard great things but haven't used the brand, and their shoe designer was the former designer at LS.

I like Evolvs but find myself desiring more out of their shoes... the rubber does not seem to be as durable as other and I always desire sliding on a pair of muiras when I climb in my shamans..

Whichever route you decide to take, I strongly suggest you try on all your shoe possibilities and consider whether they are leather or synthetic. The break in period (from sizing down) sucks and can be quite painful with the leather shoe but the power doesn't compare after the shoe has molded to your foot. Synthetics very seldom stretch more than a half size so beware and so some research.

Good luck and happy crushin

So if price is no option

LS Testarossa
LS Muira - I've always had and witnessed broken velcro straps plus laces give you a custom fit

5.10 dragon, team, hornet (been discontinued but are still available on campsaver for 80bucksssss!)

Scarpa Vapors felt fantastic, also the instinct slipper looks like a pretty powerful edge machine

why dont you just rent what your gym has to try out different shoes to see what fits and works best for you. Really the Nagos/Coyotes are great all-around shoes and should be adequate for the level you are climbing. Til you know what works best for you I would save your cash. That way you can resole what works best instead of wasting the cash trying to find out.

Eric Coffman wrote:why dont you just rent what your gym has to try out different shoes to see what fits and works best for you. Really the Nagos/Coyotes are great all-around shoes and should be adequate for the level you are climbing. Til you know what works best for you I would save your cash. That way you can resole what works best instead of wasting the cash trying to find out.

Gyms don't ordinarily rent out Miuras, Pontas, or other high end shoes. Don't waste your money renting entry level shoes.

Buy some decent shoes, your footwork will benefit.

Keep using the Nagos inside. You do not need nice shoes for the gym, every foothold sticks out off the wall, it's never that hard. It's better for your foot muscles to use soft, shitty shoes in the gym.

Buy some nice shoes for real climbing, I love the Miura lace

Buying nice shoes WILL NOT benefit your footwork as posted above

FreeRangeHuman wrote:Buying nice shoes WILL NOT benefit your footwork as posted above

I guess I should say that better shoes allow you to improve your footwork. I'm not familiar with Nagos, they may be super precise for all I know. Most intro level shoes aren't. And it still takes effort to improve on the part of the climber, the shoes don't do it themselves. Or do you think the shoe doesn't matter at all?

Sent you a PM if you want to try some shoes before you buy.

1. buy what fits yr foot ... not what other people say fits their foot on the intraweb

2. if what fits yr foot is fairly cheap then even better ... dont go off wasting $$$$ on shoes that youll destroy indoors if you can help it ... save the $$$$ shoes for outdoors when you need to send on real rock

i personally use miuras and katanas outdoors, but i dont use them indoors as they have durability issues in terms of wear ... for indoors i use el cheapo evolve defies that cost 80$ and while some MPers claim are shiet, there are people who can climb v14 in ... and they last forever

Be sure to try on some 5.10 Quantums before you decide. I am Uber happy with mine.

Mythos, Mythos, Mythos, MYTHOS!!! Great shoe for slabs, face, thin cracks, and reasonable edging. I have four pairs and have resoled some a couple of times. You can find them for $85 on sale.

Mike McKinnon wrote: Thats a given. And goes without saying. The poster asked a question and it is being answered. Stop tryiing to sound wise. I use Mad Rock sharks for all my indoor climbing. $35 - discontinued but you can still find em.

and in the end all the recommendations are utterly useless if the climbing shoes dont fit the persons feet ...

everyone has different preferences in shoes ... in terms of aggressiveness, fit, downturn, etc ... the only way to find out is to go to a store and try on as many pairs as possible on the wall ... preferably to REI where you can still return them after a few pitches if they dont work out

ive seen recommendations for mythos, vapors, instincts, quamtums, testarosas, teams, dragons,hornets, force, katanas ... every which of the one fit quite differently ... yr feet will tell you what works and what doesnt .... not some random MPer on the intraweb

there was a time when everyone bought moccasins because someone told em sharma uses em ... i lost count of how many of those people complained that the moccasins didnt fit their feet and they tried to make em fit ...

OldManRiver wrote:Obvious choices are LS Miura & Vs

Miura laces and VS are two different shoes. If I were you and spent a lot of time in the gym, I'd get velcros or some type of bouldering slippers (something that gives you an ability to heel and toe hook). I saw La Sportiva came out with a gym version of their Solutions that looked like rubber would last longer, maybe look into those?

Benjamin Chapman wrote:Mythos, Mythos, Mythos, MYTHOS!!! Great shoe for slabs, face, thin cracks, and reasonable edging. I have four pairs and have resoled some a couple of times. You can find them for $85 on sale.

Ummm no? Mythos are not at all what he is looking for. I know Mythos has a bunch of fan bois out there, but lets be honest, they are great slab, crack, smearing shoe. They are miserable edging(sure they work but not their specialty) face again is ok but not the best, the toe is way too rounded for precise tight cracks.

Or maybe I just am too used to my Chili Peppers and have not used my Mythos enough.

OldManRiver wrote:good advice, ty all probably should have included that my feet are fairly wide.. low volume styles will likely be deformed after some use.

I'd suggest you look at the 5.10 galileo's for an edging shoe that is, IMO, wide.

outdoorgearlab.com/Climbing…

Scarpa Instict is the best shoe I have worn and used in my 25+ years of climbing hands down. Definitely worth a look. They run smaller than sportivas so youdefinitely want to try a pair on before purchasing.

5.10 whatever all other rubber sucks.