How Important are Climbing Shoes?

I know they’re important, my question more specifically is this. Are climbing shoes worth stressing over for the average climber?

I climb 5.10 trad, trying to move into 5.11 and the. 5.11 sport hoping to move into 5.12. I’m wondering if I should just stick to what feels good (TC pros) cause they’re gunna perform plenty fine for the grades I’m tackling. Or is it worth digging into the research, comparing specs, trying different shoes out, etc.?

Yes. Totally. For me I was rocking a pair of Skyhawks which were great when I first started but for when I started pushing grades I found my shoes to be a limiting factor. Don’t get me wrong, you can still climb hard with poor shoes but they definitly help in getting into harder grades. Especially for different types of climbing. For example tc pros are great for big wall, crack, etc. whilst for example solutions would perform significantly better on overhanging routes rather than crack. 

I started climbing about the time friends units became commercially available. I climbed for a few months in Chuck Taylors. Then I made my first trip to the Gunks and got my first pair of EBs. They were world changing for me. Then Firé made their appearance and rocked my world, again. It went on like this as the climbing shoe industry matured. So, in my opinion, shoes are VERY important.

Tcs are one of the best climbing shoes imo… but they don’t perform great on all terrain. If you are climbing overhangs with pockets get something with a downturn like a solution. But for vertical to slightly steep rock especially granite tcs will do it. If you want something in between try a katana lace my personal favorite. But to answer your question I wouldn’t stress over it I climbed my first 5.12s in tcs and have done 5.13 in them. If you want to jump grades you gotta work on power sooo more bouuudering!

There is this rad slab multipitch mostly sport location near me called Emigrant Wall. I started spending a fair amount of time there and found myself sliding backwards on lead while climbing only 5.8. One of my buddies is a much better slab climber than myself and he told me what technique advice to follow-- and then while following that advice, following all his verbal commands pretty well, I was still sliding and skittering backwards. He concluded it was my shoes. I was hesitant to believe that shoes could matter so much at such a low grade, but I went out there again and witnessed a buddy in TC Pros skittering backwards on only 5.7. 

I got my shoes resoled in XS Grip 2 (btw getting a stiff trad shoe resoled in grippy rubber is the ultimate trad dad shoe) and they seem to be performing MUCH better. Exact same shoes, only difference is the rubber under the toes. 

Now to be clear I'm not saying you can't send hard friction slab in TC Pros, I'm sure that happens all the time. But if you don't know your way around slab then shoes start to matter a whole lot at just 5.8 friction slab-- or even thin slab. I originally got my TC Pros because I was doing a lot of TRS laps on a 5.8 thin slab climb and my normal, softer shoes would totally kill my feet after just four of five laps. So that's another example where the grade that seems to separate the appropriate shoes from the less than ideal ones is only 5.8. 

I think for gym style sport climbing (whether in the gym or outdoors) the grade where shoes matter is considerably higher, but I think there are all sorts of reasons why your shoes might have a significant impact on your climbing and be holding you back, and I think the grade at which this can happen can be as low as 5.8 outdoors (granted this is in an area that doesn't grade soft and is pretty similar to Yosemite, this is probably ~10a at the new squishy sport areas I sometimes climb at). 

So my 2c whatever its worth from this perma-gumby (which I don't think is a lot, mind) is that although it can depend a lot on what you're climbing whether or not it matters, at surprisingly low grades appropriate shoe selection can matter massively. Grippy rubber approach shoes would do you better at E Wall than TC Pros for example, a fact which although surprising has been confirmed via observation of both.

Caleb Templeton wrote:

Is it worth digging into the research, comparing specs, trying different shoes out, etc.?

I think is IS worth it to try different shoes, compare them, etc. Not because you absolutely need a different pair of shoes right this moment, in order to climb the next grade, but because finding the right shoes takes time and effort, and you very likely will want to have good shoes for overhanging terrain, eventually.

I have climbed for years in old model 5.10 sirens (before they switched to lined stiff wine-colored version and ruined the fit for me). They are beginner shoes, but they’d fit me well, and certainly didn’t prevent me from sending 5.12.

I now climb in Testarossas, which are different in every conceivable way from Sirens. I even climb (gasp!) slabby/vertical routes in testarossas. But last summer on a trip to Tensleep, I expected to do a large volume of easy slabby/very climbing, and thought it would be ridiculously uncomfortable and silly to do that in a brand-new pair of Testarossas. So I dug out a 10+ yo resoled pair of Sirens from my closet that I kept around for my daughter’s occasional climbing.

After wearing Testarossas, my old Sirens felt about as precise as galoshes. 10+ years in the closet didn’t improve the rubber, or the uppers, either. But, it turns out, they still worked just fine for me. Even though they literally fell apart after a week of climbing, lol. They got me through the week, and I never felt that they kept me from sending anything. Anything I hadn’t sent on that trip was purely due to my failings as a climber, not the shoes. 

yeah - shoes make a difference -- but you may have to try lotsa different shoes to find what  works best for you.   Two considerations:  the style of climber, and the foot you need to fit.   Style: are you bouldering, or doing long trad mileage?  fit: high-arch "strong" feet, of "flat" feet.  as a flat-footed climber, I do better with a "stiffer" shoe.  One KEY factor: if your feet HURT you won't be able to load them optimally.  so yeah, shoes make a HUGE difference, but yeah, ya gotta try lotsa shoes to see what works best for you..

-Haireball

It depends on the climb too. I was trying a vertical route with crimper holds for a while. I got some good edging shoes and it felt way easier and I fired it. But for trad I want more comfy all day shoes that are easy to jam in a crack. 

Most newer climbers underestimate the contribution that good footwork has on their climbing ability.  Having the right shoes to compliment the footwork is a big part of it and different shoes fit different feet and climbing styles better or worse.

Not Hobo Greg wrote:

Almost always it’s the pilot not the plane.

Fucking French dude sending v14 without shoes at all, there’s your answer.

Yeah, I mean, I hear you, and you're not wrong, but saying what you're saying is like saying "How important is height with regard to getting into the NBA?" to which the same type answer might be "Not much, look at Spud Webb".  So, yes, that's also true, but I don't think we can categorically ignore that most people, even with gobs of athletic prowess can't win a dunk contest against giants, or climb tiny rock features by turning their toes into fingers.

Usually, Vans are the go to shoes for the new generation, until they get up to 5.12

It really depends on the person. Some people truly feel like they climb harder in high end shoes, even if they are sending 5.8. Others climb 13s in garbage. I’m not going to tell either of them they are wrong. If they help you, they help you.

Caleb Templeton wrote:

I know they’re important, my question more specifically is this. Are climbing shoes worth stressing over for the average climber?

I climb 5.10 trad, trying to move into 5.11 and the. 5.11 sport hoping to move into 5.12. I’m wondering if I should just stick to what feels good (TC pros) cause they’re gunna perform plenty fine for the grades I’m tackling. Or is it worth digging into the research, comparing specs, trying different shoes out, etc.?

I climbed my hardest onsight cracks in peeling-sole boots. The rubber was sticky, and the shoes fit (with socks). 

You'll be fine with shoes that fit right. Nobody used cheater sticks at Smith back when Mariachers and One Sports were high-end euro sport shoes.