TC Pro Heel Pain

Not all of the time and only in my right heel I sometimes get intense heel pain in my Achilles area wearing TC pros for long days out. Does anyone else have this experience? I'm generally extremely happy with how they fit and climb, and I'd like to stick with them if possible. Has anyone come up with a solution?

I cut the heel rand. Start small and you can always make it longer which relieves more tension 

Thanks. I thought this would be a somewhat unique experience but I just dived into the world of TC pro rand surgery. Are there shoes out there with good edging performance that don't cause the achilles inflammation?

New style TC pros are the only shoes that have caused achilles pain for me. It's only really a problem on hot days and personally it is a worthwhile tradeoff for the edging/stiffness. I absolutely take the shoes off at every belay.

Katakis and Katana laces edge almost as well for me and are much more comfortable for my foot but also aren't quite as stiff leading to slightly more fatigue on vert edging. This seems to be a good tradeoff for me on low 12 granite, especially on hot days, but maybe not on harder grades. Instinct laces, muira velcros, and boostics also don't bother my achilles and edge well on vert (but otherwise don't fit my feet as well and cause greater pain overall, this almost certainly varies by footshape). I'd like to try the Scarpa Generator. 

If you aren't taking your shoes off at every belay and care about edging performance, start there. Damaging your feet makes all sort of footwear more difficult going forwards.

bearded sam wrote:

I cut the heel rand. Start small and you can always make it longer which relieves more tension 

This is the answer. I BUTCHERED mine trying to figure out the issue. I’d suggest cutting the rand on both sides of each shoe right below your ankle bone. Don’t use too much pressure or you’ll be digging into the leather.
Mine were perfect last year, no issues at all. This past spring they just started killing my heels to the point that I was considering ditching them. After a few slices though, they’ll be good as new! 

+1 for slicing the rand. That has made mine bearable. I did a few slices on each side but still wanted more so I used some pliers to pull up a little bit of rubber slingshot piece and break the glue apart and that helped them stretch out even more around the heel.

Another option is a dremel. Remove larger portion of heel rand

new BD aspect pro is like the old TC / comfier heel. Scarpa generator also has a comfy heel for me but is a stiffer shoe better for edging but taller toebox for cracks.

My homie Dale gave me the tip when I got my original tc pros to remove the laces from the topmost eyelet. This takes off some of the pressure off my achillies.

I butchered three pairs of TCs to try to relieve the Achilles pressure but still got bad bursitis of my heels. Three years after stopping wearing TCs and it still lingers. If they bother your Achilles, I would move on, you only get two feet. The BD Aspect Pros and Evolv Generals were an improvement over TCs in both comfort and performance for me. 

Scarpa's PAF thing linked above does really work. Too bad their amazing cobblers from the Dolomites can't quite make a good hightop. 

Not my photos. A lovers leap guide did this and I’m considering it as well. Or i might just move on and try the bd’s

I would find a different shoe instead of starting rebuilding TC Pros...

+1 for the new Scarpa Generators. I have developed haglunds over the past few years from tight shoes and TC’s that hurt my Achilles. The generators are far more comfortable