Agressive Trad Shoe

I am looking for a mildly agressive shoe that would be good for longer days without killing my feet. I want something that slots in between my tc pro’s and instinct vs. On paper, the katana looks great.. mildly down turned/nice and stiff. Unfortunately, like most sportiva shoes, it doesn’t fit my foot. I have a relatively wide forefoot and a tiny heel.

Would love some suggestions!

Try the Evolv General.

pat a wrote:

Try the Evolv General.

Isn’t that pretty in line with the TC Pro? Was also looking at the new evolv geshido 

Scarpa Vapor? I had a pair of the lace model which were a half-size too small, but climbed very well and were not as uncomfortable as they should have been for their size. 

Scarpa Booster or Vapor Lace would probably fit the bill. Asking for a downturned shoe thats also comfy enough for all day is a tough one though...

If I were in the same boat, id probably just get Boostics 1/2 a size up and take my shoes off after every pitch. That seems to be what all the cool kids climbing hard on El Cap and not wearing Air Tommy’s are doing....

I've never tried them on but what about the Scarpa Maestro?

B G wrote:

I've never tried them on but what about the Scarpa Maestro?

I found the toe box- too boxy, and it made jamming pretty painful for me.

I really love my katana lace’s for this purpose. 

What type of climbing are you thinking would be between your TC pro and Instincts? Are you still talking non-stop jamming, or are you talking longer days of edging with some jams here and there?

EDIT: Saw the Maestro comment after I posted. Those are the most confusing shoes ever; they made no sense to me no matter how I sized them. Comfortable left so much volume in the toe box. Aggressive to fill that toe box defeated the purpose of them being an all day trad shoe.

Nick Orticelle wrote:

What type of climbing are you thinking would be between your TC pro and Instincts? Are you still talking non-stop jamming, or are you talking longer days of edging with some jams here and there?

EDIT: Saw the Maestro comment after I posted. Those are the most confusing shoes ever; they made no sense to me no matter how I sized them. Comfortable left so much volume in the toe box. Aggressive to fill that toe box defeated the purpose of them being an all day trad shoe.

Hard gunks climbing! Can’t remember the last time I actually had to jam a crack. Lots of small edges and smedges.

I tried the maestro as well and has a similar experience to yours. They ended up being pretty soft too.

To the posters above:

I’ve thought about sizing up the instincts, but I find it kind of defeats the purpose of a softish half sole shoe like that.

I have a pair of the new boostics, and I’ll be damned it’s one of the only scarpa shoes where the heel doesn’t fit me at all. I am left with a ton of dead space due to the agressive heel rand.

I had a pair of the older yellow and black vapor laces.. found them a bit soft after break in.

Also thanks for all the input so far!

I really enjoy my Scarpa Vapor Vs for all day all around climbing. I have two pairs of the previous model that is part leather, but I believe the new synthetic ones are very similar in fit and function. Both are sized the same in a slightly curled toe fit soled with different rubber (edge and grip). They are flexible enough for smearing, edge very well for me, and can still jam smaller cracks very well. I think they're the best all around trad shoe for me until it gets into #2+ sized cracks.

They fit the bill for me between my 5.10 grandstones (new version) and the scarpa instinct lace.

Try the new vapor laces while you're at it. Same fit, but tweaked for slightly different climbing.

Scarpa boostic. Size them for comfort, super stiff but downturned shoe. I can wear mine for a full day of trad if I take them off at the belay. 

edit: just saw the boostics don't fit you, bummer. The booster is the same last, so doubt that'll work. You can always size the TC pros more aggressive, they're a fantastic shoe. Otherwise, I don't see a downside to upsizing a pair of instinct laces. It seems to me like boostic is one of the few shoes that doesnt get soft overtime though. 

Katana lace 

Katana lace, and skwama are Ferrari and mclaren  respectively for trad

The instinct laces should be stiffer than the VS so they might work

My favorite is the La Sportiva Kataki. It’s downturned with a stiff toe. But if you size it just big enough it is really comfy even for all day multi pitch. 

Really vibing the unparallel newtro lace aswell. Found the scarpa vapor lace felt pretty soft. More of a successor to the TechnoX 

Another vote for Boostics! They edge better and are more sensitive than TC Pros. They're also slightly downturned at the toes and better on overhangs. If sized comfortably, they smear fairly well too. I size mine in a 44.5, and I wear TC Pros in a 41. In these sizes, the Boostics are slightly less comfortable in the toes than TC Pros, but put less pressure on my Achilles tendons. Boostics are quite wide in the toes, and narrow in the heel. 

La sportiva Katana

Wide forefoot narrow heel?  Five Ten Anasazi.  You might like the heel on the lace (Pink) a bit better.

Eliot Hack wrote:

Katana lace, and skwama are Ferrari and mclaren  respectively for trad

Uhhh 2020 Ferrari and McLaren or 2019 Ferrari and McLaren? Because that's a notable difference

The five ten quantum (blue lace up) is a sweet shoe they might fit the bill. I was in the same situation where i wanted to like the katanas but they didn't fit my feet at all (i wear wide running shoes but have a skinny heel). Quantum's fit perfect. A little softer than katanas or tc pros, but not much. More down turn than anasazis but nothing crazy and better fit (for me) but just as sensitive. 

 They're comfy to wear all day on a mix of face and crack, but if you're gonna be mostly on cracks then the tc is still better. I wear my street shoe size in the quantum's. The three shoes that i own are tcs, quantums, and instincts, so you could be like me too.