Your favorite "all around" shoe

Towering tindall wrote: . . .My prerogative is that it would be nicer to have a great performing all around shoe or maybe two than need a pair for cracks, & slab & bouldering & long multi pitch... I feel like the companies should strive harder for that, then again I imagine patents get in the way of that a bit.

Hmmm, as a patent attorney, I've heard plenty of critiques of the patent system and the legal system in general--often justified.
But for the failure of shoe companies to introduce a "great performing all around shoe"?
I'm not a great climber so maybe I wouldn't know a great performing shoe if it kicked me, but I'd throw out some old school shoes such as Boreal Aces and La Sportiva Synchros. It's not totally self evident that there have been significant improvements in shoes (at least for non-super-overhanging stuff) since I got my first pair in the early 90s. Go back much before then, and the shoes were pretty clunky.

slim wrote:i think it is pretty hard to just go with one pair of shoes without gravitating towards mediocrity.

Yes, its pretty much impossible to have a single pair of shoes (i.e. one model, one size) that would perform well at everything. If I did have to choose, I would go with a moderately tight (but comfortable) Miura; these I could still climb a steep sport route in, but my feet wouldn't die on a long granite route with slabs and cracks. In fact, this was my shoe choice for a long while...just one all around pair of Miuras. Since then, I've diversified the shoe quiver substantially to seek higher performance. While that one moderately tight Miura did OK at most things, in any given discipline you get much better perfromance by choosing a shoe specifically designed for that type of climbing.

slim wrote: it's funny that nicelegs mentioned the miuras in different sizes.

You could, as nicelegs said, have a pretty diverse shoe quiver just from the Miura (or a similar shoe like the Anasazis, Katana Lace, etc..any performance edging shoe with a flat last to slight downturn). I've got two different sizes in the quiver currently: 40.5 Miuras for comfy jamming and easy long routes, and 39.5 Miuras for sort-of comfortable but sort-of performance for 5.11-ish climbing. My tight performance shoes are generally 38.5 (currently Testarossas), and I've thought about getting Miuras in that size too, as a super-tight-performance-edging Miura.

Miura's are funny that way. Most shoes will only work for me in one size. For instance, I only like the fit of the Testarossa when stupidly tight; the geometry just gets wierd if it is too much bigger. Other shoes seem to only work well when sized flat footed and comfortable. Miuras are different; I could wear them at any size from 38 to 41, and get totally different performance charactersitics at each size. Really an amazing shoe.

pfwein wrote: Hmmm, as a patent attorney, I've heard plenty of critiques of the patent system and the legal system in general--often justified. But for the failure of shoe companies to introduce a "great performing all around shoe"?

Haha, I didn't mean as an excuse for companies failing to produce a jack of all trades shoe. Just idk I guess more so regarding inovations that get patented, like the sportiva p3 system, if such things werent patented it could result in one companies inovation making another companies design just that much more amazing...

5.10 Vmile was an amazing shoe..I loved the ascent and hated to see that go..then the Vmile was discontinued. I can't get into the new movement for tighter more aggressive shoes.

Moccasyms

Mythos. Only shoes I need for anything. I find them comfortable on all day routes and the lacing system allows me to dial them in for harder short stuff.

No one who says mythos is right. If you want to climb to about 5.11 then sure they are fine but if you would like to be better than mediocre get other shoes

Hi shotgun, I don't believe we've ever met. Are you saying that I don't climb 12+ in Mythos?

It can't be me, it's gotta be the shoes!

If you just want ONE shoe, one shoe that'll do it's best to be everything, then I'll also cast my ballot for La Sportiva's Muria lace. Got a snug (but NOT red point tight) pair and love 'em for most everything. Great at vertical, edging sport and they seem to do that painful, toe jam, twist-in-the-crack thing (think Scarface at the Creek) better than most anything I've worn.

That being said, I'm actually gonna second what Ralph said, above. Buy no fewer than two shoes for the best all-around performance. Grab some tight Solutions for hard sport/bouldering, and pick up a pair of comfy TC Pros for best all-around trad madness.

THEN, If'n yer feeling frisky, you can bridge between these with the snug Murias.

Again, I know you're asking for the best ONE shoe. So start with the Murias. (And yah, get the lace. The velcro's edge like a mutha', but they're not the most comfortable shoe to smear on, and don't even think about crack...) Get Murias comfortably snug and lace 'em tight. Then do think about getting some Solutions and TC Pros--which, if'n you size 'em comfortable, will work better than the Murias for all day trad excursions and for those steep, fist cracks where you've got to wedge your whole ankle in.

Is sizing TC Pros the same size as your street shoe unheard of? I have a flat wide foot with narrow heel and have a hard time finding a good comfy all day shoe.

Joshua, you could try sizing your TCs that way. Or you can effectively fatten up your heel like so: take a thin pair of socks and chop off everything forward of the arch. Presto, wider heels.

More generically: the best climbing shoes are the ones that fit your feet best. That means they're built on a last (think pattern, or foot mannikin) that looks more like your hoof than other lasts do. Even within a given brand, though, they'll make different types of shoes on different lasts to accommodate different job descriptions (slab vs. crack, or steep pockets, for example). Add to that the fact that most of those shoes are made by hand, and guess what: you're gonna be trying on a lot of shoes.

Of course, there are as many different definitions of "all around" as there are climbers. My choice is something I can tie looser or tighter as the occasion requires. I have two pair of Kaukulators that just don't fail me. Edge, smear, jam, they do everything I need. f I have trouble, I'm not gonna blame the shoes.

A quick story: Layton Kor was on the fringes of a discussion about climbing footwear once; this during the era prior even to EBs. His comment? "A good climber can climb in galoshes."

I had a pair of 5.10 Huecos from around 1997 or so that fit perfect at my street shoe size. It seems as though climbing companies are making shoes smaller. Or maybe my feet are getting wider?;)

The longer you live, the bigger your feet get. Damned gravity.

That seems to be the case for me

That seems to be the case for me