Thoughts on boostic 2021?

Has anyone tried the new boostic? What are your thoughts on it? What kind of rock would it accel at? Good for mutipitch? How are they on vertical climbing? Is it too similar to the booster to have both?

I currently have the booster 2020 and love the persicion and power it delivers. I have noticed that on longer sport climbs my feet start to scream at me as I near the top or am doing work up there. 

I also run with the instinct vs and enjoy them as an all arounder that work pretty well anywhere.

Bumping to also ask if anyone has a pair yet and can comment on how the fit compares to the old boostics. They are my favorite shoes of all time and I am scared to see them change!

Edit: my questions answered:

And that vid is how a brand rep properly explains how they updated a cult classic shoe, great job Nathan!!

Now someone buy one and give the user perspective.

I have lots of days on two pairs of the first generation Boostics and they are still going strong, climbing as well as they did when they were new. It is a very durable, well made shoe.

Good on ya Scarpa for seeing this obvious hole in the market - a stiff, high performance shoe. This season I finally decided that a relatively comfy sized Boostic (for me, in the first gen, that is 1/2 size larger than street shoe), outperforms a Blanco on everything but smearing, and that includes crack climbing. Boostics are not the most comfortable shoe is the world, but the performance advantage is worth it.

On small holds and for edging, is there a better shoe out there?

Here's another vid about the new Boostic:

Glad to see they used a softer rubber for the toe patch than the old model. The old style toe patch (also on Instinct VS and the Boosters) was super uncomfortable for me in every size. I much prefer the softer toe patch on the Vapor V and Instinct S, hoping the new Boostics feel more like that on my big toes.

The new Boostic is definitely not as stiff as the old one. This is a concerning development for those of us who like to size up and still retain edging performance.

^^^

That is concerning, I take you've tried it? My BS meter got pretty high when Nathan talks about thinning the upper & reducing the sole thickness. There's just no way those things don't affect edging performance.

I messed around with a friend's pair and it is clearly a different shoe with much less support. Nathan's arrogantly condescending tone and aggressive spewing of marketing gimmicks can't hide the fact that the shoe is much softer and doesn't have the same support. The midsole is thinner, upper is thinner, sole seems to be thinner, and the shoe doesn't seem like it will perform well on micro holds unless sized for redpoint. It now relies more on foot compression and less on sheer stiffness for edging performance. It is no longer in the same realm as a Katana Lace, but still more supportive than an Instinct.

Heinz and Nathan have given the finger to people who rely on the Boostic sized up for hard, technical wall climbing.

I tired the new Boostic a half size down from my old Boostic size. It edged significantly worse than my larger-sized older version, its reduced support made my feet more tired, and it hurt my toes. 

The old version edged really well while letting me climb all day, providing a performance to comfort ratio on par with a TC Pro, but biased more towards performance. At least for me, the new version doesn't do this at all, and feels like a slightly stiffer Instinct. Bummer. I hope Scarpa brings back something similar to the old design soon. 

This is all very sad to hear. 

Charles - The marketing drivel linked earlier seems to suggest sizing 1/2 size down yields an equivalent fit. Are you saying you found that 1/2 size down new boostic is actually a smaller shoe but still edges significantly worse than 1/2 size bigger old boostic?

That is unfortunate. I only bought a few extra pairs when I heard they were changing the shoe. Maybe I should have bought more.

rkrum - Yes that was my experience. My old 44.5 Boostics edge better than new 44 Boostics, at least for how and where I climb (Eldo and Boulder Canyon). The old 44.5 Boostics were comfortable to stand around in, and I could climb all day without toe pain. The new 44 Boostics are a bit uncomfortable in the toes while standing (a smaller shoe), and sustained edging gets pretty uncomfortable for my toes. 

Unlike with the old version, the new Boostics are soft enough that the toe-tip flexes up a bit. This sort of flexing in a snug, modestly downturned shoe, smashes the ends of the toes a bit while edging. This was something that the old version had just enough stiffness at the toe-tip to avoid, while also providing great edging when upsized. 

Bummer, the changes to the new Boostics sound not good. I never owned a previous version of the the Vapor lace, but I do wish the new Vapor lace was stiffer. 

Back to Boostic, what is largest anyone has sized up and still felt they were not sloppy? I use the old Boostics in street shoe (42.5) for harder sport stuff, a 43.0 for single pitch trad, and wondered if I should add a 43.5 (1 full size larger than street) to the quiver for multipitch. 

Bonus question - anyone else have recs for other stiff, high performance shoes that can be sized up and still perform? Katana laces are great shoes but don't fit my foot. Besides the Boostics and probably Katanas, anything else? 

Are they actually bigger or do you need to downsize only due to decreased edging performance?

Katana Laces, Boostics, TC Pros, Miura VS, and Evolv Generals are the only truly stiff edging shoes I am aware of. Of those, Boostics and TC Pros are the only ones wide enough to fit my feet. 

I need to downsize quite a bit to get good edging performance out of the TCs.

I stocked up on some 1/2 size down, street shoe, and half size up OG Boostics for granite wall climbing. I never found a significant comfort benefit to going more than 1/2 size up in Boostics, although I have used full size up for climbing on the Diamond without any issues.

Thinking about getting some snug sized new Vapor Laces to save my 1/2 size down old Boostics for the really thin stuff.

Man, this is unfortunate to hear. I'll have to try on a pair of the new ones, but glad I have a small stockpile of the old ones. Are there any improvements at all?

I am actually quite optimistic for the new version but I also mostly use the old ones for vertical sport climbing. Loosing a bit of stiffness doesn't sound too bad for increased sensibility. While I love the old version it is lacking feedback on any more rounded holds.

What I am surprised with is how people size them. I have a super comfy pair in -1.0 compared to my scarpa boot size and a tight high performance pair in -2.5. 

The tight pair was in fact quite painful to break in. The comfy pair I use for everything from easier sport routes to also some multipitches. I have resoled the larger pair and feel like it lost some edging performance while gaining some sensitivity. 

I was pleased to hear that the old boostics were resoled 4-5 times so I hoping to keep might tight pair around for many years to come as I only use them for selective routes.  

Jakob, here are a few thoughts regarding your experience. I think Heinz and Nathan had similar thoughts as you, but many granite and sandstone wall junkies such as the people on this thread feel differently.

1. There are many moderately stiff, somewhat sensitive shoes on the market already. The Boostic was one of the lone holdouts of a truly stiff shoe, and the only very stiff shoe that is so highly asymmetrical (allowing the big toe to be oriented straight forward rather than bending in toward the 2nd toe). Believe it or not, a lot of us are happy to trade sensitivity for stiffness and support for climbing long routes. (See Point 2)

2. Are you describing your sizing for single pitch climbing? Many people on this thread use Boostics in a more generous size to climb long technical granite and sandstone walls. I have worn Boostics sized like this for 15hrs of climbing (taking them off at belays) and they are the only shoes that don't cause me intense bursitis at the base of the Achilles tendon for long routes. The TC pro when sized to perform similarly to the Boostic is much less comfortable for me and causes Achilles tendon bursitis. It turns out that sizing to street shoe size or larger allows the Boostic to be comfortable even with many sustained pitches on the feet and the foot swelling that occurs with long routes. Also, the shoe jams cracks surprisingly well when sized with the toes only gently bent.

3. You might have a narrow foot, or at least narrow or more tapered in the small toe/5th metatarsal area compared to some of us. Some of my friends with a narrow foot can downsize the shoe as much as you describe, and I imagine that was the intention of the design. I find I get plenty of power in the big toe at only 1/2 size down from street shoe. I could probably go down another 1/2 size, but with less comfort due to 5th metatarsal constriction, and not significantly better performance.

Chiming in to yell in to the void about hoping one day manufacturers will make popular shoes bigger than size 45

Michalm:

Have you looked at Acopa stuff at all? I’m wondering if the Legend or JB would be stiff enough to provide what you’re looking for, they certainly would be more tolerant of the Achilles/metatarsal. I’m hoping with Acopa being a newer and smaller company, if there is enough demand they might be able to make ‘extra stiff’ models.
(Full disclosure I did help Acopa with their relaunch last year)

I ended up buying a pair of Boostics on clearance partially due to the success you along with some other peeps have had with them on the kind of climbs I like to get on.  I actually think my old red Instinct laces are even stiffer and have been resoled 1-2 times. It blows my mind how the shoes that edge this well can’t stay on the market. 

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the message. I would be interested in continuing this discussion with you. I think we share some similar thoughts about climbing shoes. I sent you a message. Please let me know what you think!