Laces on crack shoes

So I just had the lace at the toe of my Mythos break while climbing a rattle finger crack. You can see marks on the shoe right where the laces were at is were i was getting friction while jamming, so understand why the broke, just never had that happen before. Thinking back, I remember watching some older climbers doing laps on a short crack last summer, and they had tape wrapped around this same area of their shoes. Being curious, and wanting to learn from obvious experience (they were really good jammers), I tried to spark a conversation and ask about the tape, but unfortunately they were very standoffish and kind of rude. Kind of forgot about it until now, and I think that is why the tape was on the shoes, but my wonder is will that affect the grip of the rubber soul of the shoe in that area? Appreciate any advice that can be given.

:-(

One bad ass off width climber I used to climb with would not only tape his laces/midsoles of his shoes but continue that tape all the way up around his pant legs half way up to his knees. He said it helped keep his pants tight and kept his ankles from getting ripped up. The tape on the midsole never seemed to bother him much.

I love Mythos, but my current pair is suffering from jamming as well. The part of the leather that the laces run through broke on one shoe, and the lace itself on the other.

Got some new laces from sportiva, but that won't help the one that's broken. The mythos laces don't run through eyelets on the shoe, just sewn leather (which is busted in a couple spots). Hey resolers, is that something you can fix?

I'd return the shoes to REI but I already did that when they stretched out and became like sleeve of wizard

On their site are steps to lace up a pair of mythos:
sportiva.com/products/footw…

Go to the "additional info" tab on the right to see the steps. I did this for my gf shoes after she broke her laces at the very bottom of the shoe after a trip to Indian Creek. It was a total pain in the ass to do but got it done on a long car ride.

I will recommend to her taping next time so I never have to do it again.

Broken laces:
I have been replacing my broken climbing shoe laces with Kevlar ones, which I order online from companies catering to work boots. They hold up better to crack climbing.

Broken eyelets:
You could try to glue on another piece of leather/heavy fabric with a new eyelet hole over the top of the old leather to reinforce it.

Anasazi mocs problem solved...

I also prefer mocs for desert cracks.

I do wear mythos, well I used to, and I would wrap the laces with tape near my toes.

To easily lace mythos use a sturdy paper clip to push the end of the lace through the shoe.

usually after a person has a pair of mythos he/she will come to the inevitable conclusion that laces don't belong on crack shoes.

I have a pair of offwidth shoes that have laces. I keep breaking them over and over. I finally got Kevlar accessory cord and used my knife to bore out the holes big enough to get it through. Now not only do the laces not break but I also have a slight cheating advantage because the top of my shoe has much more knobby surface area for when I'm in a really wide/ rattely sized crack.

I have a cobbler sew on another piece of leather over the side where the laces go.
Easy fix, they really last, he charges me $20

I replaced the laces in my mythos twice, the last time was after an Indian creek trip. Currently I have some really strong thin accessory cord as the laces. I climbed some granite cracks this last weekend. The accessory cord has a few week spots, but overall seems to be holding up well. The other plus side to accessory cord is the fun colors. My laces are red, white, and blue, so I represent Merica every time I climb. These colors don't run, people.

Laces die in cracks.

So do uppers though.

A lot of "crack" climbing is with your feet on the face and edging. It won't matter there. If you're climbing splitters where both feet are in the crack, yep, slippers are your best bet.

Of course you'll be laced up for offwidths. Every high top shoe I've seen is lace up.

It is worth noting though that the Mythos has laces that extend really far down the foot. Many other lace ups end about an inch or more above the toe. You can wreck Mythos laces on an off-fingers crack, most other shoes it takes cupped hands.

Look for basic lacing designs. When shopping you should think about how easy the lace will be to fix with cold and scabbed hands. If I had Mythos, I would need to employ a medium size Indonesian family to relace them after my sends.

5.10 copperheads are somewhat better for your laces, with their asymmetry of lacing.

I hear you WK. The good news is that you are using your feet in the crack which is generally considered good technique! I even have the problem with La Sportive Katnas (old style) with Velcro strap closures — the straps get abraded and even the loops attaching the rectangular metal rings/eyelets get cut.

Another improvement is to glue a piece of thin rubber (bike inner tube) across the top similar to sewing a leather patch as suggested above. This will also have a limited life though. A major problem with a rubber or leather patch is that it thickens the toes of your shoe which is definitely not good for fat finger/thin hand cracks, but is OK for hand and fist cracks.

fossana wrote:Broken laces: I have been replacing my broken climbing shoe laces with Kevlar ones, which I order online from companies catering to work boots. They hold up better to crack climbing. .

slim wrote:usually after a person has a pair of mythos he/she will come to the inevitable conclusion that laces don't belong on crack shoes.

I started carrying a small pair of needle-nose pliers with me and I use them to tie an overhand knot into the cuts in my laces. Trying to do it without pliers is a nightmare.

Tying the knot is faster, easier and cheaper than replacing the laces. The laces get a little shorter every time you tie a knot but Mythos laces are so long it doesn't really matter.

Kent Pease wrote: I’ve always considered this but never located a source. Can you give more specifics?