Tenaya Tarifas as an intro aggressive shoe?

I currently climb 5.10 slab in my well-loved Scarpa Reflexes, and notice that on my more overhanging, smaller edge climbs I never feel as secure as I want with my feet. I’m wondering if there are any other shoes I should look into, but I’ve tried on the Tarifas and really like how they feel and fit my foot. Basically, tell me about what aggressive shoes you started out with and why

The tarifas are a fantastic shoe if they fit your feet well. They are a great (non crack) all-rounder that basically won't hold you back. I use my on slab, verb, and severely overhanging climbs and love them.

If aggressive shoes are also downsized, then I would personally stay away from laces. I got a couple of pairs of flat ones for all day use and laces are fine for those. 

I focus more on how well the shoe fits than on how "aggressive" it is. Got multiple pairs of good shoes and downsize when necessary.

My Scarpas are 1 size down from street shoe, so 10 from 11

I also know the Tarifa 10s fit with a little room to break them in

The Tarifa is a pretty good generalist shoe that should work for most applications. Super narrow though. If it fits you well, an entirely reasonable choice for a first higher performance shoe. It would definitely be a step up in performance from what you have now.

Nordic Gumby wrote:

If aggressive shoes are also downsized, then I would personally stay away from laces. 

Why though? I don't really agree here. There are lots of great downturned/aggressive lace-up shoes. 

I’ve had negative experiences with Tarifas and Oasis peeling at the heel from heel hooking. I loved them until that happened. Very soft shoes, though. Soft is not that great for slab or traditional climbing, imo. Others may disagree. YMMV.

JCM wrote: Why though? I don't really agree here. There are lots of great downturned/aggressive lace-up shoes.

Ease of popping the heel out after a pitch is a must for me if I use a sending shoe.

I think laces tend to give a better fit but they can be a bit of a pain if you are aggressively down sizing and can't keep the shoes on for more than a boulder or pitch. I find tight shoes with laces more annoying when hang dogging than actually trying to send. 

The tarifas and similar shoes are def not good crack shoes; the toe box is not flat at all. I don't mind them for edging but that's mostly because I prefer sensitivity over stiffness.

They’re tight right now, but they’re leather so I am accounting for stretch

They're exceptional for narrower feet. Mine are normal width and getting a performance fit is suffocating

The Tarifa is an excellent shoe that won't really hold you back on anything. 15b has been sent in them. If you want to go even more aggressive, you can try the Oasi. I have both and really like them.

Maddox DeWoody wrote:

They’re tight right now, but they’re leather so I am accounting for stretch

They are synthetic, actually. 

I've been wearing Tenayas for almost a decade now, and I love them.  Even so, I tried the Mastias and the heel was too big and the forefoot too high volume.  Whenever I see one of these "what are you wearing" threads, I think about some advice that someone gave me years ago which led me to Tenayas in the first place:  It doesn't matter what anyone else is wearing.  It doesn't matter what other people have done in <insert shoe name here>.  The only thing that matters is how YOUR shoes fit YOU.  I'd take a flat last nothing special intro shoe that fits my foot shape and volume really well over anything "downturned".  That's not to say that I don't wear expensive, aggressive shoes.  I do. I need all the help I can get.  This is merely a long-winded way of saying that 'recommendations' from people whose feet may differ wildly from your own are essentially worthless.  Go to a shop with as many different brands and models as you can find. There will definitely be one in there that fits better than any of the others you try on.  This is your shoe.

These are my favorite gym shoes, but I have not liked climbing outside with them(Gunks and Red Rocks).  But they felt great on limestone(Mt Charleston).

For most of my outside climbing, I wear TCs or Katanas - I am happy with the performance of both but neither fits me quite like the Tarifas.  So I will follow this thread to see if other Tarifa lovers have suggestions on other shoes that fit/perform well :)

Good to know they’re good on limestone, missouri is filled with sharp limestone so it’ll br nice for when I can go outside

If scarpa fits your foot then stick with scarpa. As it’s been said, the tarifa is a very narrow shoe and it’s quite a specific fit. I would say the instinct vs is probably a better fit for most.