Rock shoe with soft forgiving heel?

I spend a lot of days in rock shoes, and I'm starting to get irritating inflammation in the heel (probably Haglund's Deformity).
I'm looking for a rock shoe that has a soft forgiving heel that won't aggravate this is the way my Katana Laces and TC Pros (especially bad) do.

This is mostly an issue on multi-pitch routes, so I'm searching for something in that realm. Not especially fond of overly soft shoes like Mythos, Moccs, etc. for this purpose, unless you want to convince me that those are what I want for all day granite crack and edging routes :)

Any ideas? Also open to ideas for ways to soften the heel of shoes I already have. Thanks!

Anything Evolv. Also do some googling for modifying TC Pros

So, if the heel is too tight on a shoe you like you can loosen it by stuffing a coke can in it overnight to stretch out. Not sure that's 100% what you're looking (that's more making it bigger than softer).

I have pretty much the same problem and switched to tenayas. Mostly the oasi. They don’t aggravate my heel near the way sportive shoes do and are plenty comfy for multi pitch. I mostly climb granite and they’re great. 

Thanks for the suggestions, all! Forthright, I didn't explain well, but I think Evolv's very vertical heel shape would be helpful for achilles tension, but a more bulbous heel creating space at the heel bone is actually what I'm looking for. Just softer. I did find some other threads about modifying heels good thinking.
Todd, maybe I'll have to check out some Tenayas, good idea! They do seem overall pretty soft. I've had Masais in the past and they weren't my favorite but I'll have to look into other options.
In other threads I've found info on modifying, but mostly for slackening the rand tension which isn't the issue so much as the hardness of the back of the heel pocket. Any ideas for how to grind down the rubber to make it thinner there?

I struggle with this too.  Try the five ten gambits and scarpa helixes if they work for you.  I have an old thread on this that might be helpful.  https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/108121027/achilles-heel-bursitis-haglunds-deformity-and-climbing-shoes

The hard part I find is everything has gone really thin down turned toes with tight heels and high tension to give them edging ability.  I have some older shoes that are higher volume with the toes curled up that edge great with no heel tension.  Terrible for cracks though.

Very helpful link, Larry - thanks!

Evolv Nighthawks. Well made, comfy and very reasonably priced. 

The Scarpa Maestro (high top heel) are boats.. pretty stiff platform but i would size at least a size to a size and half smaller if you want that sensitive feel. They feel kinda clunky but theyre stiff, roomy and still edge/smear pretty well. 

Love the Tenayas— have Tarifa and Iati. Besides being insanely comfortable, Tenayas are great performance shoes that are in the same high performance league on granite as TC Pros (except for crack climbing). 

The Scarpa Force V has a nicely padded heel. Fit them a whole size bigger than your Sportiva size. If you can find a pair of the old Scarpa Techno X they have a pretty comfy heel as well.

The new Addidas Asym seems to have a nicely finished heel and ankle and might work as well. Be sure to try them on at a store. Their sizing is completely fucked up. Off by at least 3 whole sizes.

Mal

There are many threads already about heel bursitis and TC Pros. Look them up. There is plenty of good information there. This is due to slingshot rand tension on the base of the achilles.

i think everybody's haglund deformity is different.  some are fairly high on the heel, some are kind of low on the heel. some are pretty much on the back of the heel, some are more on the outside of the heel.  my right foot has a pretty bad one right now.  for the most part my katana velcros are working ok.  it would probably be best if you could get to a shop that has a lot of shoes and try a bunch on.  in general though, i think fitting them tight is tough - i definitely can't wear any of my race car shoes right now, just the ronald mcdonalds....

My bump is high on the outside of my heels. Too much time in the katana/kataki/tc kills my heels as well. Best shoe I've found for heel comfort is the drago, but that's lightyears in to the stupidly soft category. I haven't found any shoe stiff enough to really edge well that doesn't have a stiff heel cup. 

Only solution I've seen suggested that seems to work for many is to grind off the heel rand rubber directly over your bone spur to reduce pressure there. I've never had the guts to try it though. 

slim wrote:  - i definitely can't wear any of my race car shoes right now, just the ronald mcdonalds....

Funny that you like them as well, I picked up three pairs when I heard the new red/black change was "more even pressure across the whole heel". The originals definitely give me the least pressure on the bone spur for something with a real downturn. 

I had this issue and Five Ten solved it mainly the Team 5.10 and Hiangles. The heels start out with a lot of tension so I take a heat gun on a light setting and get the shoe wet with warm water in the heel. Put on the shoe and heat it up around the heel cup. Mark on the cup with pencil where I need to stretch it. I let it cool, then take it off and heat that same spot and stretch with the end of a screwdriver. Works great.

Thanks all. Apologies that I didn't realize how common this was and do a little more research before creating a new thread. But now that we're in it...
Mine is located on the outside of the heels, high-ish but still just below most of the rand tension. Seems to be from the harness of the heel cup just as much as - maybe more than - the rand tension.

Nick Drake wrote: I haven't found any shoe stiff enough to really edge well that doesn't have a stiff heel cup.

Right, that's exactly what I'm look for I guess... A TC Pro with a Testarossa heel seems like it'd be ideal

Thanks for the suggestions for the softer sport/boulder shoes (Team, Drago, etc), but it's not an issue sport climbing actually. My Testarossas and Instinct Slippers don't bother it much. Even though they're tight, they are softer and I take them off more. The issue is more for all day trad climbing where I want something I can still climb 5.11 edges with my skinny and weak tootsies.

I might try removing some rubber from around the area... how have folks done this? Some kind of grinder? Sharp blade?

TC Pros and Katana laces kill my heel more than any shoe I have used. They both not only have a slingshot rand but two layers of thick rubber than come up from the sole and wrap over the back of heel, and their heels are relatively low volume. Long slab routes on hot days is pure torture on my heels in either of these shoes.

Start with a sharp knife and make vertical slits in the slingshot rand - each slit probably relaxes the rand by 1mm (like shown on the shoe on the right in pic below - through the "La Sportiva" letters). Make several shallow cuts for each slit so as to not cut into the leather. Go slow and use a light touch at first. Wear shoes and see if you can notice a difference. Next, try making two slits in the rand a few millimeters apart and remove the rubber section in between by grabbing and pealing with needle nose pliers. All shoe mods are made much easier by heating with a heat gun to soften/weaken the glue beneath the rubber (La Sportiva glue is notoriously weak and temperature sensitive), a hot hair dryer probably would probably help but a heat gun is best. These mods helped a little but I still had too much pressure on the outside of my heal from the combo of the rand and the thick rubber wrapping up from the sole, so I kept going and ending up removing all the rubber shown, which surprisingly did not affect performance that much. To remove the thicker rubber over the heel, you will definitely need to heat with a heat gun.

Don't be afraid to mod your shoes - start slow and see how you like it. You can go a long way without messing up performance. Be very afraid to have your bursitis or Haglands Deformity get so intense that you do long term feet damage and/or start avoiding climbing long routes.

Back to the OP's question - another shoe to consider is the Five Ten Quantum lace. It has been called a Katana Lace for people with Five Ten (wider) feet. I think that comparison is only so good. The Quantum is both softer and has no heel tension compare to the Katana - but climbs just as well out of box, maybe better because C4 outperforms XS Edge IMO. It also has a much larger heel than the Katana so is way more comfortable for me. But the Quantums, being softer, break down and become sloppy faster. Any day now, Five Ten is supposed to come out with their TC Pro clone, the new Grandstone, which appears (in pics) to not have much heel tension (Adidas we ever gonna see it?)

If I am climbing longer trad routes without much straight/wide jamming (i.e., the Hitchhiker - close to the OP) I will use the Quantum. If doing something wider (Rebel Yell, East Face Lexington) I still use the TC pros.

Pinks don't have the same slingshot effect as TC Pros or Katanas and neither do Blancos.

What?  Pinks and Blancos have WAY more heel tension than TC Pros.

What about the Anasazi VCS?  I’ve used them quite a bit and although the heel is fairly tensioned it tends to be more forgiving and deforms.