Vegan trad climbing shoes

Hey folks.

Hoping for some insight into good vegan trad shoes... basically the equivalent of TC pros sans leather. Low volume, laced, durable, rubber coated or reinforced toe box (particularly the large knuckles of the 3 outside toes give me hell in hand cracks).

Thanks!

https://www.unparallelsports.com/product/up-rise-pro/

Some of BD shoes are vegan like the Momentum (says so on Amazon - their #1 best seller in climbing shoes - surprised me), and it appears that their Fuel Approach Shoes are vegan but the rubber may have animal byproducts. BD shoes are made at the Butora factory in China so maybe Butora also has a vegan line. I can't attest to the quality of the rubber or life span since I don't use either. Fit & comfort will vary with everyone.

REI sorts climbing shoes by vegan

I also use vegan climbing shoes, and think that the above mentioned UP-Rise Pro is an awesome shoe. For crack climbing, it is useful for hand-sized cracks and larger, but performs poorly in sizes smaller than #1 cams. The rubber covering the toe gives it too high a volume for small cracks.

It is better than any other shoe I’ve used for standing on small holds for a long time. It’s great at edging, it’s also great for stemming in dihedrals. 

Unparallel used rubber that is both super sticky and quite hard, which is great combo for trad climbing.

Its downside is that the toe is too big for thin cracks and small pockets, and that it doesn’t have ankle protection for offwidths.

The Up Lace by contrast is nearly as stiff as the Up-Rise Pro, but is a better all-arounder. It fits into all sizes of cracks, is sticky, and is relatively stiff (when compared to other vegan shoes on the market). Still no ankle protection. The only vegan shoes I know of with ankle protection are the ones made by Tulson-Tolf, which I have never tried.

Thanks for the feedback. 

Kevin N.: These are interesting! I definitely don't need a tight fit when climbing most hand cracks, so these could work. I'd love something laced up and low volume for when I'm in on tight hands/finger cracks.

Strings Attached: I've seen some of BD's vegan shoes but unfortunatley they are not trad shoes. Honestly, something similar to the TC Pros but vegan would be ideal.

Weston: Good thoughts there. Do you have experience crack climbing with the Up-Lace's? How do they hold up? Most of my shoes inevitably wear holes in the uppers around my outside 2nd/3rd large knuckles and it unfortunately looks like the up-laces are missing rubber right in that spot. 

Does anyone have experience with the Tulson-Tolf shoes? Those look like they have potential.

If you can find it, there’s an interesting product called ‘stealth paint’. It’s a cement/sticky rubber outsole grinding mixture that is do it yourself. You can proactively apply this to the areas if your shoes that you expect high wear. Similar to skateboarders that put cement (glue) on areas of high wear to protect their shoes from pre-mature wear. This Potok could work to protect the up lace in the high wear areas you mentioned.

as well, UP has a resole program done in house that also allows you to customize rand options, so you may be able to ask them to customize the lace ups to your specs. Worth a try.

If you get Tulson-Tolf shoes and they’re good, I’d be stoked. I’ve never seen them in the wild. The new shoes that look promising are called the Utahs I think (or something like that).

I crack climb in the Up Laces fine. The knuckle rubbing is an interesting problem—have you already tried sizing up so that your toes are more flat? My knuckles don’t bend in my “crack” shoes. I understand the desire to downsize though.

The material feels burly, and I haven’t put holes in them yet. I’ve only put holes in my Tenayas, which seem to not have a weak material for crack climbing. The UP-Rise Pros feel burlier where you seem to be having problems.

I'm another satisfied Up Rise Pro wearer. Excellent rubber, comfortable fit really close to the original Anasazi,  but with a heel cup that never pops, and the killer soft rubber toe patch. This thing sticks so much that you only need the faintest twist to render a shallow toe jam secure. My pair also survived 3 weeks in Vedauwoo,  which is a pretty good testimony to the build quality.

Will do, thank you folks. I think I'm going to go with the Up-Rise pro's, assuming they fit well enough to be as precise as the reviews claim they are. Found out the Tulson Tolf company literally uses glitter and sequins in their California shoe... which is outrageous considering how glitter and sequins contributes to micro-plastic pollution... so they are a no go now :(

New (now discontinued) Five Ten Grandstones? microsuede upper, not leather

Probably higher volume than TC Pros in thin cracks and reportedly get softer than TCs with use. 

Matt N wrote:

New (now discontinued) Five Ten Grandstones? microsuede upper, not leather

Probably higher volume than TC Pros in thin cracks and reportedly get softer than TCs with use. 

Lots of shoes, even if primarily synthetic, have leather toe caps. I’m pretty sure these shoes were not vegan for some reason like that. 

rock climbing wrote:

Even without the glitter the rubber, glue and synthetic leather( aka plastic) are non recyclables. Vegan in climbing shoes is just marketing. 

While you are correct that synthetic leather is likely plastic in origin, it does not wear off as obviously as glitter would. It’s just an easy decision to not purchase those California shoes for that reason.

Vegan has nothing to do with recyclability, so no, vegan climbing shoes are not just marketing. No animal products means no animal products :) 

Shane Bennett wrote:

Vegan has nothing to do with recyclability, No animal products means no animal products :)

And, not all climbers who buy vegan shoes do so because they themselves are vegans.

Either way, plastic can harms animals and their habitat so recycling might be important to true believers of the vegan faith whose orthodoxies often overlap with those who recycle. Many rubbers contain animal products so "vegan" can be misleading. Harvesting materials and manufacturing the shoes may also require animal byproducts. A true-vegan buyer is often just lessening their vegan footprint, instead of expanding it.

Synthetic climbing shoes don't always stretch as much as leather ones thus allowing one to get a better fit from day one. Other reasons might also drive buying decisions away from leather.

Teton Climber wrote:

And, not all climbers who buy vegan shoes do so because they themselves are vegans.

Either way, plastic can harms animals and their habitat so recycling might be important to true believers of the vegan faith whose orthodoxies often overlap with those who recycle. Many rubbers contain animal products so "vegan" can be misleading. Harvesting materials and manufacturing the shoes may also require animal byproducts. A true-vegan buyer is often just lessening their vegan footprint, instead of expanding it.

Synthetic climbing shoes don't always stretch as much as leather ones thus allowing one to get a better fit from day one. Other reasons might also drive buying decisions away from leather.

You may be confusing some things here. Generally speaking, people following a vegan ethic follow an ingredients-based ethic. A process-based ethic like you are describing is only reasonable to a very limited extent. White sugar is filtered with bone char, whereas organic sugar or other sweeterns are not. That is reasonable. Many everyday products are produced using animal products somewhere in the process, up to and including almost all vegetables that are grown with animal-based fertilizers (which are many). You can see how your logic to be a "true vegan" quickly spirals into an unreasonable, barely-livable existence. You are correct that vegans have to draw a line somewhere to be reasonable, so we are all just lessening our impacts. Therefore, I think it's fair to assume that there is no such thing as a "true" vegan as you describe it. Recycling is great, being vegan is great, and they often overlap. They are not, however, related. So, I stand by my statement that recycling has nothing to do with the vegan ethic, be you a "true" vegan or not.

As for the stretch, I completely agree :)

Shane Bennett wrote:

You may be confusing some things here. Generally speaking, people following a vegan ethic follow an ingredients-based ethic. A process-based ethic like you are describing is only reasonable to a very limited extent. White sugar is filtered with bone char, whereas organic sugar or other sweeterns are not. That is reasonable. Many everyday products are produced using animal products somewhere in the process, up to and including almost all vegetables that are grown with animal-based fertilizers (which are many). You can see how your logic to be a "true vegan" quickly spirals into an unreasonable, barely-livable existence. You are correct that vegans have to draw a line somewhere to be reasonable, so we are all just lessening our impacts. Therefore, I think it's fair to assume that there is no such thing as a "true" vegan as you describe it. Recycling is great, being vegan is great, and they often overlap. They are not, however, related. So, I stand by my statement that recycling has nothing to do with the vegan ethic, be you a "true" vegan or not.

As for the stretch, I completely agree :)

I wasn't in disagreement with your statement, nor considering it hypocrisy worthy of critique or judgment. Just expanding upon the "vegan" shoe concept. I own vegan shoes and sometimes wear them while grill'n steak. 

Shane Bennett wrote:

While you are correct that synthetic leather is likely plastic in origin, it does not wear off as obviously as glitter would. It’s just an easy decision to not purchase those California shoes for that reason.

Vegan has nothing to do with recyclability, so no, vegan climbing shoes are not just marketing. No animal products means no animal products :) 

Sequins and glitter on the california shoes wouldn't generally be considered as a micro plastic, plastic sure but not micro plastic.

The microfiber upper of synthetic climbing shoes is literally a micro fibre, either polyester or nylon. Climbing shoe rubber also creates micro plastics.

I just had to do some research on micro plastics effect on sea life, basically we don't really know what the negative effects are in real world conditions in extremely high concentrations in a lab we do know micro plastics are bad but real world conditions, data is unclear. Should we try and avoid it yes, but in reality the micro plastic generated from climbing shoes is practically non existent compared to the rubber that comes off your tires. 

Edit: more on leather

It is also worth noting, using typical leather manufacturing techniques leather won't really degrade any faster than something like a plastic microfiber, la sportiva's eco leather is a gd place to start. A large part of what makes leather less green than microfiber based leather is the manufacturing processes that are very energy, water and chemical intensive, but there are alternatives to typical manufacturing techniques.

But as I said, they're just climbing shoes we can all make changes in lifestyle, climbing shoes are one of the least impactful things we could do. 

Shane Bennett wrote:

Will do, thank you folks. I think I'm going to go with the Up-Rise pro's, assuming they fit well enough to be as precise as the reviews claim they are. Found out the Tulson Tolf company literally uses glitter and sequins in their California shoe... which is outrageous considering how glitter and sequins contributes to micro-plastic pollution... so they are a no go now :(

The sequins are ridiculous, but looking through their site, they are doing more than any other climbing shoe manufacturer in concerns of eco friendly manufacturing process.  I am skeptical about their recyclable liner.... but the rest seems pretty legit.  Other companies might not use sequins, but they're definitely doing significantly worst things in concerns to the environment.  And I say that as someone who works for a manufacturer who is very concerned with eco friendly manufacturing processes.  We all have our own lines to draw, but this seems like a good company to support.  But UP is also a good company to support, and those mocs looks pretty sweet.  So I'm sure you'll be psyched.

that guy named seb wrote:

But as I said, they're just climbing shoes we can all make changes in lifestyle, climbing shoes are one of the least impactful things we could do. 

Prop to anyone who's doing their part. For me, climbing footwear is the most impactful equipment to climbing performance and I'd rather take one less climbing trip than compromise on that. 

I witnessed Charles Albert barefooting boulders at Font. But even if I emulate him for the rest of my life, it probably wouldn't offset my flight to France.

So ILL isn't a vegan brand, but they've recently told me their climbing shoes are vegan-friendly (including the glues used). Hopefully they've got what you're looking for.

I’ve got the UP Rise Pros but didn’t really like them. Too much volume for cracks. Great rubber though.

Just tried the Evolv Yosemite Bums and couldn’t be happier. Cracks, edging, smearing, comfort, everything! They performed much better than I was expecting. 

Shane Bennett wrote:

Thanks for the feedback. 

Kevin N.: These are interesting! I definitely don't need a tight fit when climbing most hand cracks, so these could work. I'd love something laced up and low volume for when I'm in on tight hands/finger cracks.

Strings Attached: I've seen some of BD's vegan shoes but unfortunatley they are not trad shoes. Honestly, something similar to the TC Pros but vegan would be ideal.

Weston: Good thoughts there. Do you have experience crack climbing with the Up-Lace's? How do they hold up? Most of my shoes inevitably wear holes in the uppers around my outside 2nd/3rd large knuckles and it unfortunately looks like the up-laces are missing rubber right in that spot. 

Does anyone have experience with the Tulson-Tolf shoes? Those look like they have potential.

I have used both the Tulson Tolf Trad and Step 2. Overall they were alright. The trad is really strange, it has a very stiff midsole under the toe so they edge amazingly, but absolutely no support through the arch kinda like a comp bouldering shoe. Their thing as a brand is that you are supposed to engage your foot muscles while climbing with all their shoes but I just found my arches absolutely killing me after a long pitch. If you already have super strong feet this might not be a problem, and I believe the x-hard version has a full midsole for more support so that might be a better option. The other thing is that the Trad is one of the least sensitive shoes I have ever worn, it felt like standing on a block of wood, very stiff and secure on edges but I could not feel the rock underfoot at all.

The Step 2 was alright too, a super light cool slipper that actually had a bit of stiffness and support to it which I did not expect.  I used them on some thin crack in Squamish and it did well, and they were also a great pair of gym beaters. People loved the look of them and they drew a ton of attention at gyms. My biggest gripe with both pairs was that they used XS Grip which I just personally do not like. Also the Trad and Step 2 are very narrow, and while the Tulson Tolf sock system does eventually work and they got wider, it was a painful break-in for my wide feet so be warned.

Edit: I did not realize how old this thread was, sorry to contribute to its resurrection.