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Searching for new shoes: Want stiff with a good, durable edge, but grippy enough to stand on a volume in the gym (pipe dream?)
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Wondering if anyone has some advice... I currently climb in Sportiva Finales both outside, and in the gym, and I love their comfort and edging power, and have found them really solid at heel hooking. However, the edge rubber is a challenge when I need something sticky to stand on volumes, or smear. I also climb in Evolv Talons when bouldering, but the laces make it a pain to take them off between climbs, which I need to do because they are tight. Does anyone have any recommendations for a stiffer, full-sole shoe like the finales that has a grippier rubber? And hopefully is relatively durable? Thanks! |
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What grades are you climbing? If you are pushing more than V7/8 and want to edge and smear this may be a pipe dream. |
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La sportiva katana |
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You want something with XS Grip 2 rubber for smearing or standing on volumes. Problem is going to be your requirement that the shoe be full sole, most shoes with that rubber are split sole. Still, a lot of split sole shoes with Grip 2 also edge well. Scarpa Instinct VSR or Instinct Womens have Grip 2 rubber, edge well, are not super downturned, and also smear great. La Sportiva Solutions also edge well and use Grip 2 rubber, although you may find them more downturned than you are used to, coming from the Finales. Your best bet might be wearing a softer shoe in the gym and sacrificing the stiffness; it'll help develop your toe strength too. Outdoors you can wear stiff edging shoes for climbs that need it. |
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Resoled katana |
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Maybe not widely known but the Women’s Katana Lace comes from the factory with XS Grip. The men’s has XS Edge. |
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VSR |
James - wrote: Clarifying because I think I’m the one who started this misapprehension: the women’s Miura VS features XS Grip but the women’s Katana Lace features XS Edge. The women’s Katana does have a split midsole though, making it definitely better for smearing and volumes. |
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2022 La Sportiva Katana's (White) have XS Grip2 rubber. I owned a pair of these shoes last year. |
Kyle MacKrell wrote: They’re listed online as featuring XS Edge  |
Elijah Benson wrote:  |
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La sportiva Futura is my favorite indoor climbing shoe. |
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laspo has multiple official websites, for different regions. Shoe specs on their sites are sometimes incorrect and contradict each other. In this case, the lasportivausa website is wrong about the women's katana lace having xs edge. The regular lasportiva page indicates otherwise: https://www.lasportiva.com/en/katana-laces-woman-white-30v000999 |
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Been liking the Ocun Bullets lately. Usually reach for those first for indoor boulder. They match your criteria pretty well. In short I find them soft in the middle but edgy on the... Well... Edge. |
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You're looking for two different shoes. +1 to recs for Katana Laces — rad edging shoe, still quite grippy (rubber differences are a bit overblown, especially on textured gym volumes). If you really hate laces that much, try Solutions (not Comps)…but they will be noticably more downturned than your Finales. They're quite stiff for a sensitive bouldering shoe (in a good way IMO). Also if you like your Talons and they fit tight, try not tying them. A well-fitting lace-up shoe typically doesn't need to be tied tight (or at all), depending on the terrain. Tight laces = more stiffness. I almost never tie my Katana Laces unless I'm jamming or on a total edge fest. Oh, and if stiffness isn't actually a requirement for your bouldering / comp volume shoe, try the Futura or Mantra. They're amazing. |
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Evolv Shaman Lace. |
