Assymetric trad shoe for bunions?

Hi. I have bunions. And I'm not alone. It sucks. They hurt a lot, and I'm trying to find shoes that will work.

What's the solution? From everything I've read, the ideal shoe would feature:

• very stiff sole, to keep the big toe from having to flex
• very assymetric sole that does not push the big toe toward the other toes
• flat-toed fit, as opposed to knuckled 
• As wide as possible, to limit inward pressure on the toes

So, with those features in mind, I think I'm describing... an asymmetric trad shoe? It seems like a paradox, as most trad shoes are more symmetrical, and most asymmetric shoes lean more toward softness and sensitivity.

I have tried:

• Scarpa techno x: too narrow, and too symmetrical
• Five ten verdon: super duper stiff (that's good!) but too narrow and too pointy at the toes
• katana lace: toes too pointy, pushes big toe toward others. VERY painful

I'm curious to try: 

• TC pro
• anasazi pink, though I suspect they'll be too narrow
• Evolv General
• Something super assymetric, like a scarpa instinct or boostic, but I'm concerned this would be too downturned and cause the toes to curl too much

Does anyone have any suggestions? I know I can't be alone here. Thank you for any thoughts!

Bump?

Not sure it meets your criteria, but I know one climber who found relief using mythos. Just loosen the laces ALL the way down to fit.

Wife has bunions and small heels, her feet look like a pizza slice. Low tops always fall off, she either uses old school 80s/90s high tops with resoles or Acopa JB hightops (discontinued).  If your problem is like hers, best bet is prob the TC Pro - breaknthem in for a year or so and enjoy ;)

The Butura Altura checks every one of your boxes. It has a thermoplastic insole for stiffness, is highly assymetric and is the widest shoe I’ve ever worn or tried one. 

I'd also have a look at the Scarpa Maestros

+1 on the Alturas, would probably be the easiest, and will not flex.
TC Pro + some custom stretching and grinding on the rand since the big toe does swing towards the centerline of your foot.
Also the Mythos is possibility if you can find a cobbler to do some custom stretching and maybe even glue in a thermoplastic midsole and 5mm XS Edge outsole since you'll have to take the old one off to do the midsole.

Pinks are narrow, and once they break in aren't that stiff. They don't feel that way to most people because the toebox has so much room to deform upwards and fill the last.

I have some Generals around somewhere where I could compare the toe box shape, but from what I remember they are closer to TC pro than Alturas. The toe box width is only part of the equation since that inward swing of your toe is really what helps cause the pain so if you have to also look at the shape of the toebox (kinda like how the verdon's are wide but have that toe swing)

Alex McInturff wrote: What's the solution?

Well, maybe surgery. I climbed for years with bunions (I got pretty adept at backsteps to avoid weighting my inside edge) but in the end it got so painful that surgery was the best option. Took a few months to recover, but that was some years ago and it's been fine ever since.

FWIW TC Pros worked well for me once broken in.

Thanks all for the great suggestions - I'm going to keep my eyes out for some used TC Pros and Alturas!

Alex McInturff wrote: Thanks all for the great suggestions - I'm going to keep my eyes out for some used TC Pros and Alturas!

I like TC Pro for mild bunion condition. A friend of mine with bad bunion went and got surgery to finally solve the problem. Before the surgery, she wore Mytho (well broken in), then she made two customization:

1. She resoled the shoes with XS Edge (I think 5/7mm or whatever TC Pro has). She resoles her shoes very aggressive because that's the only way to maintain stiffness and performance.

2. She got a stiff after-market insole (very thin) and cut the front part and glue into her shoes.

Green Alturas from Butora, or possibly the Mantra's. I have both and love them. Butora has been a savior for my wide foot and narrow heel. 

I'd agree you need to just try stuff on because it all comes down to your own weird foot.  

For what it's worth, I've got Alturas and Generals, and the Generals are the ones that don't hurt.  They climb great for a shoe aimed at trad climbing.  The slight downturn seems to take some of the load off my toes when I actually weight them and the shoe flattens out and they're really precise feeling on small face holds.

If you can find them, LaSportiva Tradmasters might be worth a try.  I have two pairs and wear them in my street shoe size -- with the stupid rubber bumpers removed.  They're discontinued now for a few years and much maligned, but my bunions like them.

Thanks all again. I totally agree with those saying to just try stuff on, and I have done a lot of that. The problem for me is, when it comes to bunion pain, sometimes it doesn't materialize until a few pitches in, so hearing people's experiences helps a lot. And before these suggestions, I was also wondering if I was looking for a shoe that didn't exist! So this input has helped a lot for ideas of what to try on. I once again thank everyone for these helpful pieces of advice!