Switching from Scarpa to Sportiva

Used Scarpas for a while, but the heel is slightly too big and I get deadspace in every model. The following are what I currently use/why and what I was thinking of replacing them with:

-Instinct VS to Skama or ?. Use for granite bouldering, technical bouldering/sport, stuff where I need an edge or foot tension. Probably have 35% of my hard sends in them. Seems that the Skwama edge well enough and are like the VSR, which is slightly softer. But, I know the Otaki Edge better and Solutions edge well. Tried on Solutions once and they felt like a clunkier Instinct, but very precise.

-Drago to Skwama. Use these for most gym climbing, sandstone bouldering, anything where you smear, pull, or need to focus toe power. Also have sport climbed and climbed trad once in them. Probably have 50% of my hard sends in them. The Drago is super soft, but Skwama might be soft enough. I tried Futuras briefly, but they were not the right size. The no edge felt weird on the Tension board.

-Furia S/Chimera to Testarossa. Both of these shoes were awesome for overhung sport/boulders. Probably have 15% of my hard sends in them.  Lots of big toe power, soft but can edge well. Over time the blue tension band gets weird and they pull the heel cup off of my heel. Testarossa won't toe hook as well, but seems like it would climb the same.

I wouldn't mind only having 2 pairs- one soft and one edgy or at most 3 pairs with one being more specialized. I have a wide low volume forefoot and narrow heel with narrow instep.

I think the instinct vs would be more similar to a solution than skwama in regards to support/stiffness

​I personally love the no edge. Does take a little time to get used to as you should toe down everything. Doesn't handle really thin edges (like really thin) well but can smear like a boss. If edges are really really thin, I'll just wear a stiffer edged shoe. I find no edge is good for RRG sandstone and overhung climbing. Absolutely the most comfortable shoe I've had were there futuras. 

if you are considering the skwama/otaki...
I would suggest trying the Evolv Oracle, it's like the skwama and otaki combined into one.   soft-ish, but with a precise edge.   also has the advantage of a totally solid heel with it's lacing system (which is basically as fast as velcro).

I owned the otaki, the oracle has a near identical last to it..

The skwama is an incredible shoe. My last pair of shoes were the vsr and I like the fit toe and heel of the skwamas more. They edge very well for a slipper. I would not be scared climbing some serious edging routes with an appropriately sized skwama. The heel is a little deeper than the vsr and doesn’t fit me quite as well but it’s pretty negligible imo,  I would say both heels are equal in terms of performance. The instinct to skwama comparison is very very accurate. I personally like the skwamas more; I think their toe is better and the durability seems better. I think a good alternative to the drago might be the futura in terms of softness but I have no experience with either shoe. 

Thanks for the replies! I tried a Futura that I think was too small and the heel kept slipping off, but the rest felt comfy. I’m still figuring out sizing and coming from 41.5 Scarpa as being a half size up from the smallest I can possibly climb in, went with a 40 Skwama at first and it’s pretty gnarly. Same with the Testarossas.

What I’m trying to figure out is if the Testarossa become redundant with the Futura or Solution in the mix? Sometimes I like only having 2 main choices and potentially one 3rd niche choice. Since I’m mostly doing bouldering and sport is a distant second I’m not sure what makes the most sense as a 3rd place.

I like the precision of the Instinct and don’t feel I need any more aggressiveness. I used some insanely small/slippery micro edges to do Green Wall Center and felt pretty secure as I also have on thin Sierra granite. I don’t know what a Solution would provide vs Otaki especially since they don’t smear well and I’d switch for anything super smeary or cave like.

I’ll try the Oracle as well although I’ve only heard bad things about Evolv and I honestly am not sure if any of it is based on current truths.

I don’t think any of the Sportiva shoes you’ve listed have significantly lower-volume heels than any of the corresponding Scarpa models. I’m saying this as a fellow wide-forefoot-narrow-heel climber, and I’ve owned or tried on every pair you’ve mentioned.  I’m pretty certain that Evolv is currently making the best-fitting, best-performing low-volume heel, especially with the “dark spine” insert in the Oracle and Agro.  The X1 is good too.  I do almost all my performance climbing in Boostics or Furias, but have a pair of Oracles for routes or problems with essential heel hooks (often only using one shoe)—their ability to hook is so much better (for my foot shape) it’s crazy.

Ya that’s what I thought but then I tried on the Sportiva and I can climb in the Testarossa with laces extremely loose and the heel still sucks my foot perfectly. I will still take a look at Evolv though.

If I were to pick 2 sportiva shoes to cover all my bases for sport and bouldering it would probably be the skwama and the Miura VS in the women’s version. A well broken in pair of Miura VS’s fit like a second pair of skin, can edge on dimes and they have just enough sensitivity to feel the edge you’re standing on. Also the heel in the vs is incredible. Oh and both of the mentioned shoes can take a couple resoles! 

Adam Oliver wrote: If I were to pick 2 sportiva shoes to cover all my bases for sport and bouldering it would probably be the skwama and the Miura VS in the women’s version. A well broken in pair of Miura VS’s fit like a second pair of skin, can edge on dimes and they have just enough sensitivity to feel the edge you’re standing on. Also the heel in the vs is incredible. Oh and both of the mentioned shoes can take a couple resoles! 

Bare in mind I climb at Smith mostly and 90% of the things I do revolve around edging. I’ve never felt like I needed a shoe softer than the instinct or skwama for bouldering of sport climbing. 

Karl Walters wrote: Ya that’s what I thought but then I tried on the Sportiva and I can climb in the Testarossa with laces extremely loose and the heel still sucks my foot perfectly. I will still take a look at Evolv though.

well for what it's worth...
i've worn about 10 different pairs of shoes from all the major brands... 5.10, scarpa, sportiva, butora...   then when I finally discovered the Evolv Oracle this year... it was like stepping into a luxury car compared to every other shoe i'd tried.  the Trax rubber feels to me like the perfect balance between stiffness and softness.  the construction of the upper and special randing they do, meant it was the most pleasant break-in i've ever had for an agressive shoe.  The plushness of the liner on the inside is sublime...

I could go on... but I think the hearsay about Evolv being bad... should be taken with a large grain of salt ;)

previously... the shoe I thought fit me the best was the Otaki... so if the Otaki fits your foot... the Oracle is likely to be glove-like  (though, the sizing was completely different for me.  Otaki in 43, Oracle in 45.(same amount of toe curl in each fit))

Karl Walters wrote: Ya that’s what I thought but then I tried on the Sportiva and I can climb in the Testarossa with laces extremely loose and the heel still sucks my foot perfectly. I will still take a look at Evolv though.

I have found the testarossa's heel to be really high volume and bulbous, if you like that heel try out the genius it's got the same heel.

I’ve had a couple pairs of skwamas, decent shoe but with unlined leather the toe box stretches to the point of not being precise by resole time.

I went back and forth between them and the drago for bouldering. The supple heel and soft toe of the drago win for cave toe/heel work imo. I thought the skwama heel was great until I got the dragos.
Smedging crystals on vertical terrain the stiffer skwama wins.

Testarossa is my go to sport shoe, they fit like a glove. They drive so much power out of the inside of the big toe. I even used them on a 5.11 slab route in Squamish that starts with ridiculous thin edging and then blanks smears up high. I found they perform best one half up from the “plastic bag” size, you need to be able to deform to smear. Go too tight and they can only edge (found that with a pair of 39.5).

I picked up the chimera this fall and have limited time on them. Definitely softer than the testes when I used them back to back. More precise than the drago or skwama. I think they’re going to be my granite bouldering shoe and steep sport.

Don’t get me wrong I love the Dragos and Instincts, but I recently realized that when I toe down/lift my heel I get some deadspace under the heel and on the inside. On my 41 you can see a crease mark from the rand rubber folding over and press in 1/4-1/2 inch of air under the heel. I can’t imagine that this is ideal long term even though I’ve climbed up to V8/12+ in them. I’m not sure the small differences matter as long as I end up with something for soft friction, something to edge with, and a precision shoe.

The Chimera are neat but TBH I don’t get the point of them if you have multiple shoes. They don’t edge a ton better than the Furia S and the laces are superfluous really. Not as comfortable as the Drago either. I loved the Drago for all but redpoint sport.

I got my Skwama pretty painfully tight in a 40 and I’m a 41-41.5 Scarpa. Same size Testarossa although I can smear in both by this point. Hoping that’s small enough.

Skwamas have loosened up and a 40 feels fine for 5min at a time. I was a 41-41.5 in Scarpa can anyone recommend how much more up/down I'd need to go in the following compared to the Skwama:

-Futura
-Otaki/Kataki
-Solution
-Python
-Testarossa