La Sportiva Testarossa sizing help

Can anyone weigh in on proper sizing for La Sportiva shoes?

I have a pair of Testarossas that are 1 full size larger than my normal street shoe and my toes are unbearably jammed against the front of the shoe. Like its painful to put weight on the toe end of the shoe, no way in hell I would survive a pitch.  I have read that most people are sizing down 1.5 - 2 full sizes. What am I missing?

I have a feeling that they may not fit your foot. I always wore 5.10's, then Evolv, now Unparallel. It's also possible that your pair isn't true to size, when I was attempting to get Testarosas, I ordered a bunch of different sizes online and found that the sizing had huge discrepancies where larger sizes would sometimes be smaller than the smaller size. My friend had a similar experience with TC pros. Also, some shoes just don't work for certain people. All of my friends love the Skwamas and they kill the top of my foot, an area I have never had a climbing shoe cause pain in 20 years of climbing. 

I'm a 41.5 street shoe, ended up keeping a pair of testarosas that were a 39.5, but they stretched out too big and I no longer use them. 

Hmm…that’s really strange. I switched from 5.10 to Sportiva when they went full Adidas. I find the sizing pretty consistent across models, and generally go down to 40 from 42.5 street. I have a wide forefoot with a skinny & pronounced heel, flippers if you will. 

Agree - super strange. Everyone I know wears those down multiple sizes from street. Probably not the shoe for you then, regardless of size. Find something you can wear comfortably in a snug size.

Sizing for me varies wildly brand to brand. I have 9.5/42.5 street shoe. Wear 40 in most Sportiva (including Testarossa) and Tenaya. 8 or 8.5 in 5.10 depending on model and intended use. 9.5 in Evolv. These are all for snug performance fit; all-day shoes are larger.

Probably not your fit. My toes are curled down in Testarossas. And yes, I downsize them. 36 in Testarossa, 37-39 in street/running/approach  shoes, depending on the company.

One thing I would suggest for a new pair of Testarossas is to loosen the laces a LOT, way more than you need to loosen them, in order to put them on, and make sure to loosen them all the way down to the toes. Then put the shoes on, allowing your big toe to line up with the toe bump. And then re-lace, keeping the laces still relatively loose over the toes, and gradually tightening them towards the top. It would allow the show to mold to your foot better.

I should also add that several years ago I had one pair of Testarossas m, ordered online in the same size as I always wear, that just didn’t fit right. No matter what. I even contacted La Sportiva, and they essentially shrugged and said “handmade shoes, try before you buy”. I attempted to stretch them using the shoe stretcher, and eventually gave up as a lost cause. That was one pair out of, probably 10 pairs I have owned over the years. 

Frank Stein wrote:

Hmm…that’s really strange. I switched from 5.10 to Sportiva when they went full Adidas. I find the sizing pretty consistent across models, and generally go down to 40 from 42.5 street. I have a wide forefoot with a skinny & pronounced heel, flippers if you will. 

It's definitely strange. I have a very square forefoot, basically like shoving a brick into a shoe so I generally size same as street shoe. I have worn 5.10s forever, same size as street shoe is perfect for a snug sport fit. I was under the impression that La Sportiva Testarossas are an acceptable technical shoe for people who generally wear 5.10s. 

I would try a larger size, but I am a 44 street shoe and the pair I have is a 45... End of the range 

A brick shaped foot could be the problem. My experience has been that old, pre-Adidas 5.10 and current Sportiva are pretty asymmetric, and although the can be on the narrow side, are generally high volume, which molds nicely to my wide, asymmetric feet. 

Jeff Troyer wrote:

Can anyone weigh in on proper sizing for La Sportiva shoes?

I have a pair of Testarossas that are 1 full size larger than my normal street shoe and my toes are unbearably jammed against the front of the shoe. Like its painful to put weight on the toe end of the shoe, no way in hell I would survive a pitch.  I have read that most people are sizing down 1.5 - 2 full sizes. What am I missing?

I wear 42.5/9.5 in Salomon speedcross. I bought a 41/8.5 in testarossas and I could only wear them for one boulder problem at a time. And only a few problems during that session before I have to switch because the pain is unbearable to walk on. After a month or two of this every other day they broke in and now are like gloves. I love these shoes. They will break in and stretch some. 

Rush Dunaway wrote:

I wear 42.5/9.5 in Salomon speedcross. I bought a 41/8.5 in testarossas and I could only wear them for one boulder problem at a time. And only a few problems during that session before I have to switch because the pain is unbearable to walk on. After a month or two of this every other day they broke in and now are like gloves. I love these shoes. They will break in and stretch some. 

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Also putting them by the fire and then putting them on several times helped mold them to my feet and break in. 

The size 11.5 Tarantulace I bought recently are substanitally LARGER than the size 12 Tarantuace I have from several years ago. You can see the difference in length.