The right shoe...

Hey Guys,

I am trying to find a new pair of shoes and I am having some trouble. I typically climb about 4 days a week outdoors, mostly trad 5.10ish but some sport 5.11ish. One the weekends I will go often out for some bigger multipitch, almost every weekend. Usually the gunks, cathedral ledge, whitehorse ledge, cannon, etc. And in the summer and winter breaks I often take trips out to bigger places, Red rocks, yosemite, cochise, etc.

But more often then not, I am usually climbing to be able to climb longer and harder routes.

I am looking for a shoe that fits me and my needs best, edges wells, smears well, and climbs cracks. and I can wear just about all day.

I thought the 5.10 mocassym would be that shoe, but I tried it on today and it felt like it just quite didn't fit my foot.

I put on a katana, and it just sucked my foot right in real nice? But I hear their not to great for all day comfort or slabs and cracks.

Will the moc stretch to fit like glove in time?
Should I just get a pair of miuras and size them more comfortably?
Mythos? Mocs? Katanas? Muiras? TC pros? Holy sh*t.

All these damn choices and no real chance to test them out on anything real long other then a boulder problem or two makes it hard to choose.

Any advice?

I love my Evolv Pontas Lace for all day comfort. I don't have a problem edging or smearing, but I have heard some complaints about the rubber. I need to get them resoled after 6 months of daily climbing, so they last as long as I expect them to. I love the fit, the only real gripe I have is on steep, steep stuff, toe hooking can get a little finicky, but maybe it's just me.
I have a couple of buddies that love the mocs, and have yet to hear anything bad about the katanas, but they seem to take their shoes off their heels quite often, so I don't know about all day comfort.
Good luck on the hunt.

If you like the katana last, try the tc pro they are built on the katana last but not downt urned hence they smear better than the katana. Its a great all day comfortable shoe, that edges really well.

When I was climbing in the Mocs for a little, my calves were burning a bit more then normal definitely.

How do the Muiras handle slab?

Also how do muiras with crack climbing?

I wore a pair of La Sportiva Mantis's and I climbed in them for about 2 years, hard face 5.12, steep thin slab, 5.10 finger and hands, and they worked surprisingly well.

But now they have holes in the big toes and I am looking for a reasonable step up that if anything will help my climbing without being a Chinese foot binder.

I guess I just don't have a 5.10 foot, it seems alot of the italian shoes do fit pretty good, the tecnos and La Sportivas.

How about Miuras sized comforatbly? How would they do in cracks?

Like the TCs but damn, I am a college student with low funds.

Though, I do only here good things about Mythos, I just worry about their edging ability.

I'm an almost exclusively La Sportiva climber. But I have and climb/work in beater shoes from Mad Rock, 5.10, evolv, and several others I am probably forgetting. I currently have/climb in Mythos, TC Pros, broken in and tight Miuras, Nagos, and tight Miura VS's.

Here's a quick breakdown:
MIURA - excellent all around. I size mine too tight to wear all day but I can last several pitches before I need a break. They edge excellent, jam thinner cracks very well, and smear pretty well. I use them for face climbing at my limit, crack climbing all-around (not awesome on hand sizes - ouch) and I haven't figured out how to REALLY make them work on the thinest cracks. I don't climb any hard slab (the granite variety) really.

TC PROs - EXCELLENT all day alpine shoe for climbing my harder grades. Incredible edgers if you can deal with the lack of sensitivity. SUPER comfy except I sized them kinda tight - so C4 0.75 - #2 can cause pain if I'm not careful. NOT stellar on thin cracks (blue/yellow metolius). I may have not given them enough opportunity here though...

NAGOs - Surprisingly (to me) I LOVE these shoes for cracks at my limit (after I've broken them in). Where the TC Pros fail on very thin cracks for me, these things are amazing. They also smear very well. BEFORE I've broken them in they also edge pretty well...but turn to absolute mush if I keep pushing them on tiny, crimpy climbs (as in they become useless for ANYthing). I size these the same as my tight Miuras...and expect a break in period to get them into crack shape. These make a good, all-day alpine shoe for me for a really good price. Like I said...I've been surprised by these.

MYTHOS - I don't use them for anything except easy trad and all day comfort shoes. Definitely suck at edging.
MIURA VS - obviously not an all day shoe.

my $0.02.

p.s. I'm 45.5 street shoe size and 42 in everything above.

How are the Muiras for smearing?

I just picked up a pair of Five Ten Rouges as my gym shoe and am starting to think of them as my favorites. If you don't have narrow banana feet, they might be what you're after.

well like I said...they do it "pretty well".

They're good enough I don't think the shoe would be the limiting factor...if you catch my drift...

I'm thinking a pair of Muiras fitted to be comfortable would do best for smearing, edging, and cracks for long multipitch while still being able to climb hard?

heh...you are talking to a guy that climbs in six different pairs of shoes depending...

Tyler Gagne wrote:I'm thinking a pair of Muiras fitted to be comfortable would do best for smearing, edging, and cracks for long multipitch while still being able to climb hard?

Didn't work for me.

TC Pro's would be my suggestion. But there is no way I could wear them as tight as bevans does.

Does anyone have anything bad to say about the Moc?

Well... the mocassym sometimes slips off the heel on an exceptionally heel hook intensive move... and they aren't "THE BEST" for toeing-down or edging a sharp foot jib... But I mean people climb V-REALLY REALLY HARD boulder problems in them...

Climbing shoes are an individual person thing. Since they are meant to be snug and also hold a certain shape, any variation in a person's foot will significantly impact which shoes work for them.

So yes the Jet 7's might be a great shoe, but I can't wear them because I have low ankles. I thought the Optimus Primes were alright, but my heel wouldn't actually fit all the way in the heel.

So while I might be able to climb slightly better in say Solutions, my foot fits perfectly in mocassyms, anasazis, and now the AMAZING Arrowheads - so that's what I use. Which honestly I feel like is the best shoe ever. But that's just me.

TC Pro's sized .5 size down from street shoes. I love mine! climbing sport as hard as 11b in them without issue and all day trad multipitch at red rocks for a week straight. they do wear out quick though! Definitely pick up a bottle of seam glue with them and go around the edges of the rand on the toe (outside and inside)

Acopa Merlin. The best all around shoe in the world.

They are excellent on cracks of all sizes and smear really well for when the crack is just to small to jam. They climb really well on slab and steep face climbs but have a downturned toe so also do well on overhanging terrain. They are what La Sportiva wishes the Muira's were like.

So comfy too. I walk off the Domes in Coshise with them after climbing 5.11. Then go to Indian Creek and climb finger cracks, then back home to the New River Gorge and climb steep technical face. They do everything well.

The only other shoes I wear are Evolve Pontas for really steep sport and Scarpa Technos for pure jamming cracks so I don't waste the Acopas. That's their only downfall... Acopa is no longer. They are tough to find and are probably going to be extinct soon.

Nick Mardirosian wrote:TC Pro's sized .5 size down from street shoes. I love mine! climbing sport as hard as 11b in them without issue and all day trad multipitch at red rocks for a week straight. they do wear out quick though! Definitely pick up a bottle of seam glue with them and go around the edges of the rand on the toe (outside and inside)

Doesn't it seem strange that you need glue to hold together your $175 pair of shoes?

I think the point here is that if you're serious about climbing, you should own more than one pair of climbing shoes. Shoes are so specialized these days. Ideally, you'd have a soft shoe for thin cracks, a sturdy shoe for long routes and wider cracks, and a down-turned shoe for sport climbing and bouldering. Of course, there are finer distinctions to be made, but those three types of shoes would cover your bases.

You mentioned that you climb mostly in the Northeast on weekends. Don't make the mistake of thinking that if you are climbing trad in the NE, you need a crack climbing shoe. Much of our trad is more like face climbing with pro, and it is unlikely that a pair of slippers that Indian Creek climbers like would work for what we have out here. I can't think of any full-on, both feet in the crack, trad climbs at the Gunks, Cathedral Ledge, Whitehorse, or Cannon. Well, I guess Reppy's Crack would qualify as a full-on crack, but it's wide enough that your approach shoes would work better than any specific "jamming" shoe.

Tyler Gagne wrote:I thought the 5.10 mocassym would be that shoe, but I tried it on today and it felt like it just quite didn't fit my foot. I put on a katana, and it just sucked my foot right in real nice?

You answered your own question wrt these two shoes - if you want comfort pick the one that fits your foot. Katana (velcro) is not really that aggressive/downturned and will be good all around and comfy if sized with flat toes. Obviously if you size it tight with curled toes it is going to hurt more in cracks. Katana lace is a different beast...

Someone else may not like the way the heel/toebox/etc feels all day, but if it works for your foot, go for it. Don't over-analyze based on other opinions. In the end, you have to stand in it all day, and for it to perform relatively well and be comfortable, it has to fit you perfectly.

Tyler Gagne wrote:I'm thinking a pair of Muiras fitted to be comfortable would do best for smearing, edging, and cracks for long multipitch while still being able to climb hard?

If you can find a shoe that is comfortable, can climb steep and hard, and feel good in cracks, you will make a lot of money.

It doesn't exist.