Intermediate Climbing Shoes Suggestions?

Hey all!

I’ve been climbing for about 7 months now and looking for a new pair of shoes. I started with a cheap used pair of Black Diamond Momentums which I have enjoyed but they’re near the end of their life. I’ve climbed outdoors a handful of times and I want to get outside more, especially in the spring, but it’s mostly indoors for me. A good mix of bouldering and sport climbing and I climb at the V4/5 and 5.10-11 range. I’m looking for a more intermediate/moderate shoe and wanted some insight.

Based on some research the Scarpa Instinct VS/VSR, Scarpa Veloce, Scarpa Vapor (V), La Sportiva Kubo, and La Sportiva Katana look like some good options. Wondering if anyone has experience with these or other recommendations?

Thanks! 

This question pops up a lot. What shoe should i get? Does this shoe climb well? 

Well my answer is always the same and that is: Does the shoe fit your foot well? if the shoe has poor fitment, it will have poor performance. You could be in a LS Solution that fits like garbage and i would bet that you would climb better in your "beginner" BD momentums. Go to your gym/REI/whatever and try on a bunch of shoes to see what fits and doesnt. I found that i do not fit well into La Sportiva because the heels are always too loose on me. I do however fit very well into Scarpa shoes! so i have the VSRs as a bouldering shoe. 

For the most part, it sounds like you are looking for a slightly down turned shoe with just a little asymmetry. The vapor fits that bill well. But you may not fit well into scarpa so keep tryin a bunch on.

Good luck

No need to post the same Q in multiple forums here.

If you climb mostly steep, get a shoe that fits tightly enough to heel and toe hook, but is not painful. If you are climbing mostly slab/vert, get a stiffer shoe that is tight but not painful. If you are getting into cracks, get a slipper style shoe that is tight/painful to start, but will stretch and become comfy after a few sessions of sweat (heat and moisture is the mechanism that allows leather to stretch quickly).

Also, you will end up buying many different shoes if you get into climbing seriously, so part of it is stick to the general rules above and get something that fits you and you like the look of. I was a mocc guy for a while, but now I have at least 10+ different kinds of shoes over 4 brands, all which fit some niche scenario well.

For what it’s worth, I have climbed a decent amount of 5.12 sport in BD Momentum Laces and still bust them out when I don’t feel like blowing rubber off a zillion dollar pair of TC Pros for a techy vert granite pitch with no jams bigger than 0.5 camalot