What makes the TC Pro so dominant?

Anyone out there know enough about shoes to tell me why one may have risen to fully dominate the trad scene? Or is it just marketing and the Honnold effect? Maybe this is just regional bias because I live near yosemite, but it feels like wearing anything else on a trad climb is a conversation starter these days. Mikey Schafer said he had a couple dozen pairs IIRC. What magic sauce did LS put in the sole to make them crush so hard in a field of 8+ companies and dozens of models? 

Started shortly after they came out.  Lived in the Canadian Rockies at the time.  Bugaboo objectives, large walls, etc.  Mostly a trad/crack climber.  When I did visit the states back then, it was Zion and Red Rock mostly.  Moved to southern Utah and got more addicted to sandstone and granite cracks.  Black Canyon, Jtree, City of Rocks, Cochise, Eastern Sierras, Sedona, Moab, etc.  Ankle protection and durability were obvious advantages for me. Went on a quest to lead over a 1000 climbs in Jtree.  As the good crack climbs petered out well before I hit a 1000, I started leading the good slab climbs.  I had always owned two pair of shoes prior to that, one for slab and one for trad.  I eventually figured out that the pros actually gave me more confidence on slab and I kind of became the run out slab king among my desert friends. Always had a relationship with Scarpa.  Still to this day exclusively use their ice and alpine boots as well as approach shoes and trail runners.  They came out with a competitive product, maybe 10 yrs ago?  In any regard I tried hard to make the transition.  But I think something most of us do not think about is that short of ballerinas, nobody binds and abuses their feet more than climbers.  My feet have shrunk with age. Most expand  with age.  It makes sense that our feet, and more importantly maybe our achilles, adjust to this binding and that when active climbers try and switch shoes, it can be difficult.  I believe this more than any other cause, is why some of us simply cannot or will not wean ourselves off of TC pros. Why even bother.  I swear on them for slab and crack and edging.  I am just familiar with how best to put them to use in my favor.  I would be surprised if other active climbers who have been at it awhile don't get the same comfort level with whatever brand they use.  

Pweeter Pwansdale wrote:

Anyone out there know enough about shoes to tell me why one may have risen to fully dominate the trad scene? Or is it just marketing and the Honnold effect? Maybe this is just regional bias because I live near yosemite, but it feels like wearing anything else on a trad climb is a conversation starter these days. Mikey Schafer said he had a couple dozen pairs IIRC. What magic sauce did LS put in the sole to make them crush so hard in a field of 8+ companies and dozens of models? 

Good marketing, the reality is 90% of TC pro users would be better served with a less aggressive shoe but everyone firmly believes they need a high performance edging shoe to climb 5.9 because LS told them so.

Kevin Mcbride wrote:

Good marketing, the reality is 90% of TC pro users would be better served with a less aggressive shoe but everyone firmly believes they need a high performance edging shoe to climb 5.9 because LS told them so.

I don’t know-I am fond of the ankle protection myself for long climbs

Kevin Mcbride wrote:

Good marketing, the reality is 90% of TC pro users would be better served with a less aggressive shoe but everyone firmly believes they need a high performance edging shoe to climb 5.9 because LS told them so.

THIS! And because of honnold or krupicka.

My second pair of shoes were La Sportiva Kaukulators, the original baby blue ones.

They had a stable sole, not the particle board of leather that so many other board lasted shoes had. They edged, they smeared, they flexed, and most unusually, they fit in a finger crack.

Once they were discontinued, it took shoe companies 20 years to figure out that the toe of a high top doesn’t have to look like the front of a bread van.

The TC mostly delivered. It generally feels too stiff for thin cracks but outperforms the kauk on edges.

It has become its own driver, people buy them because their friends all say they should. They don’t suck for anyone. They’re expensive but only $50 more than anything else that’s not a sure thing. No reason to even advertise them.

They work. Red camalot cracks and larger, smearing, edging, and “comfortable” all day. It’s hard to be a hater.

I was a longtime skeptic and latecomer to tc’s but I love them now. It is special to have a shoe that can handle offwidths and 5.13 edging and is still reasonably comfortable. That said I think their ubiquity is still mostly from marketing. 

Similar to Dow's experience,  I bought them for crack climbing after trying them out at a shoe demo, but was very surprised at how well they worked on slabs. For my feet they are a pretty darn good all-round shoe.

I haven't found any shoes even close to as comfortable as tc's that can stand on dime edges... I've tried. 

I don't know because I can't get them to work for me because they're so damn uncomfortable. They're hard to get on my feet and I can't wear them for long. I still have some Boreal Ballets and even though I haven't worn them for a long time will see how they compare climbing wise. Comfort wise, I could wear those all day no problem, but maybe it's like Dow Williams said upthread that we just get used to something and can't change after so many years.

Every year they is a new thread on mountain project hoping some new shoe is the latest tc pro killer.  Every year a few people like the new show but the vast majority find it to be an inferior shoe.  

The reason the tc pro is dominant is it climbs well, fit most people well, is the rare high top shoe on the market and there is not a lot of serious competition in the trad shoe market. Most mainstream manufacturers want to sell sport, bouldering, or gym shoes. The tc pro is a safe bet to recommend to just about anyone.

TC Pros are dominant because they lack competition. 

There are hundreds of bouldering shoe models. There are 7, really only 6, options for a full coverage trad shoes. The TC Pro fits the most feet and they are the biggest climbing shoe company so, of course, the TC Pro is dominant. 

Here's you options:

• La Sportiva TC Pro
• BD Aspect Pro (new) 
• Evolv General (only fits wide high volume feet) 
• Five ten Grandstone (in and out of production, probably discontinued) 
• Acopa Outdoors (weird fit, not super wide but you better have the thickest feet ever, almost like they are made to fit a summer sausage)
• Scarpa Generator Mid (available approximately nowhere to try on) 
• Butora Altura (never seen them anywhere)

Kevin Mcbride wrote:

Good marketing, the reality is 90% of TC pro users would be better served with a less aggressive shoe but everyone firmly believes they need a high performance edging shoe to climb 5.9 because LS told them so.

Calling BS on this. There's nothing aggressive about TC Pros. You can literally hike in them. If you lay a brand new pair on a flat surface the toe is like 1/2 a centimeter lower than everything else, that's about as aggressive as a basset hound that got into the edibles stash. For all intent and purposes, after breaking them in, TC Pros are flat shoes. 

The reason TC Pros edge well is because they are stiff and there's a lot of material gripping a lot of your foot to draw support from. Kind of like how holding your breath braces your back. 

 “…that's about as aggressive as a basset hound that got into the edibles stash.” (Scott)

That is friggin’ hilarious.

I have tried various gym shoes, not wanting to wear out my TC Pros on plastic… but I like them so much that not only are they my go-to for everything outside, I have also gone back to using them in the gym—despite the stares and whispers from the 5.12 heel hooking crowd. Whatever. I’m old enough I don’t care anymore. (And occasionally, my gym will actually use vertical volumes to build a hand crack!)

Danny Poceta wrote:

I was a longtime skeptic and latecomer to tc’s but I love them now. It is special to have a shoe that can handle offwidths and 5.13 edging and is still reasonably comfortable. That said I think their ubiquity is still mostly from marketing. 

I thought they were pretty good on 5.14 edging/slab as well. I also think they do just fine in finger cracks 

Daniel Joder wrote:

 “…that's about as aggressive as a basset hound that got into the edibles stash.” (Scott)

That is friggin’ hilarious.

I have tried various gym shoes, not wanting to wear out my TC Pros on plastic… but I like them so much that not only are they my go-to for everything outside, I have also gone back to using them in the gym—despite the stares and whispers from the 5.12 heel hooking crowd. Whatever. I’m old enough I don’t care anymore. (And occasionally, my gym will actually use vertical volumes to build a hand crack!)

Did you try the scarpa vapors? Gym version of the tcpros. Don’t get the lace version of the vapors the front rand is even softer less durable than the tcPro 

rock climbing wrote:

Because they are so average. Both in shape and design. If tarantulas were build with the same materials and not fall apart they you’d be more popular 

There are lot many honest reviews about there but this one it is 

https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/tip_of_the_spear_sportiva_tc_pro

La Sportiva sells about 10x as many Tarantulas as they do TCs. Pretty popular shoe despite the poor craftsmanship.

And to answer the OP - I would say marketing (featured in popular films) and availability compared to other similar mid/high top shoes, as others have stated.

Because its best competitor are the katakis which are discontinued in America. Seriously, other than the lack of ankle protection, the katakis are just as good at crack climbing (better than TC at tight #2s and below, worse on bigger sizes) and better at face climbing.

Have you ever used em? You climb at least a grade harder in em. They’re stiff yet still smear well, great in cracks, basically the best trad shoe ever made, durability aside.

For all the internet doubting Thomases, why do so many pros wear them if they’re not the best? What did Alex wear when he soloed El Cap? Heck even non sportiva athletes wear em, I have photos of a former evolv climber who only wore his evolvs for footage, otherwise he was in TC’s.

Scott D wrote:

Calling BS on this. There's nothing aggressive about TC Pros. You can literally hike in them. If you lay a brand new pair on a flat surface the toe is like 1/2 a centimeter lower than everything else, that's about as aggressive as a basset hound that got into the edibles stash. For all intent and purposes, after breaking them in, TC Pros are flat shoes. 

The reason TC Pros edge well is because they are stiff and there's a lot of material gripping a lot of your foot to draw support from. Kind of like how holding your breath braces your back. 

Two words chief, Heel Tension. It’s why so many people cry about their heels in tc pros, it’s what gives them that edging prowess.

To climb like Thomas Caldwell, you must dress like Thomas Caldwell. 

This is the way.