Climbing Shoes Recs

I have a pair of Finale which greatly disappointed me. In the shop, they felt like the stiffness/support I was looking for, but their midsole softened up badly real quick. I won't even bother resoling these, so a total waste of money.
I have high/wide feet, so Scarpa Techno X is perfect fit for me (which also rules out TC). I'm just about to resole my first pair of Technos and I see basically no wear/tear/disintegration anywhere else on these. So if these fit your foot, they are well worth the money. For long continuous cracks (Indian Creek), their protection on top of the foot is somewhat not great, but I've never had an issue in granite cracks.  

Thanks everyone for their input. I went and tried on a bunch of different things, however, they were out of my size in a few of the models I was super interested in, so haven't settled on anything yet.

In thinking more about this, with this pair of shoes, I'm trying to avoid the inevitable arch ache that comes with wearing my Otakis for too long. They are great for anything single pitch, but for any multipitches or even longer trad, where I'm still fiddling with gear, I want something confidence inspiring, yet comfortable. My question is, what is it about shoes that causes the ache? Aggressive downturn? Lack of midsole support (like LS's P3 platform)? Having midsole support (would something really flexible be better)? Shape of shoe vs shape of foot?

Hey Chris, good advice here. Listen to your feet. LaSportiva is currently out of some the meat sizes of their key shoes. Notably the TC Pros are out until early June. Hang in there!

I find that a lot of La sportiva don’t fit my foot well with the exception of otakis which I love. I use 5.10 Anasazi pro for multipitch stuff. The toe cap is awesome for crack climbing, fit is great and they are great balance IMO of aggressiveness/comfort if sized appropriately. 

If you have and like the Otaki's I see no reason to get a pair of Katana's/// The Katanas are similar to otaki's, but with a worse heel and laces. I use Kataki's as my primary trad shoe for multipitch and everything... Love em.

I uses the softer Skwama's for gym climbing, hard sport, and bouldering; Katakis for sport and trad; Anasazi Moc's for messing around, cracks, easy comfortable days.

The Otaki are an aggressive bouldering and single pitch shoe for possibly small vert to mild overhanging climbs with small edges. What you’re experiencing is a lack of foot strength and shoe support.

If I were you I’d train in something even softer and build some foot strength. The best thing I did as a noob was climb in Scarpa Dragos in the gym and even on lead to build toe and foot strength. Lots of coaches recommend the same for juniors.

If the LS last fits, I’d try the Katana, which is only slightly stiffer, but not a split sole, or perhaps the other recommended equivalents. I’d also look for used shoes because they often break in so differently. I don’t really like my Hiangles until I’ve had a month in them and then they’re super comfy and the rubber is worn in enough to be really sensitive and just about perfect

Chris W wrote: If you have and like the Otaki's I see no reason to get a pair of Katana's/// The Katanas are similar to otaki's, but with a worse heel and laces. I use Kataki's as my primary trad shoe for multipitch and everything... Love em.

I uses the softer Skwama's for gym climbing, hard sport, and bouldering; Katakis for sport and trad; Anasazi Moc's for messing around, cracks, easy comfortable days.

What size Otakis and Kataki's do you have? I did have that thought, but the Kataki's look just as downturned, so I was worried about that. 

Karl Walters wrote: The Otaki are an aggressive bouldering and single pitch shoe for possibly small vert to mild overhanging climbs with small edges. What you’re experiencing is a lack of foot strength and shoe support.

If I were you I’d train in something even softer and build some foot strength. The best thing I did as a noob was climb in Scarpa Dragos in the gym and even on lead to build toe and foot strength. Lots of coaches recommend the same for juniors.

If the LS last fits, I’d try the Katana, which is only slightly stiffer, but not a split sole, or perhaps the other recommended equivalents. I’d also look for used shoes because they often break in so differently. I don’t really like my Hiangles until I’ve had a month in them and then they’re super comfy and the rubber is worn in enough to be really sensitive and just about perfect

Maybe this comes from using the skwama's and moc's for so long, but I found the otaki's and kataki's to be plenty stiff for almost all climbing for me, at pretty much any angle. I do think training in a soft shoe is a good way to go. I now find super stiff shoes to feel like climbing in wooden clogs and just cant seem to get used to the feel.

Chris Johnson wrote:

What size Otakis and Kataki's do you have? I did have that thought, but the Kataki's look just as downturned, so I was worried about that. 

I think I might have sized up a half size for the Kataki's? I have a 41.5 I believe. My Skwama's are 40.5, and my kataki's are somewhere in the 41-42 range. (I don't have them with me right now). When fitting katanas and kataki's as a trad/all-around shoe ignore all that BS about curled toes. You want a very slight curl, but your toe knuckles should not be pushing too hard into the top of the shoe, snug not painfully tight, this will make it more comfortable in cracks and on  vert face climbing and slab. I tend to find I engage my toe quite a bit when climbing by pressing down through my big toe for extra edging power/sensitivity.

Karl Walters wrote: The Otaki are an aggressive bouldering and single pitch shoe for possibly small vert to mild overhanging climbs with small edges. What you’re experiencing is a lack of foot strength and shoe support.

If I were you I’d train in something even softer and build some foot strength. The best thing I did as a noob was climb in Scarpa Dragos in the gym and even on lead to build toe and foot strength. Lots of coaches recommend the same for juniors.

If the LS last fits, I’d try the Katana, which is only slightly stiffer, but not a split sole, or perhaps the other recommended equivalents. I’d also look for used shoes because they often break in so differently. I don’t really like my Hiangles until I’ve had a month in them and then they’re super comfy and the rubber is worn in enough to be really sensitive and just about perfect

This may be a dumb question, but am I giving anything up by not working on foot strength? Ability to stand on smaller holds? It sounds like the shoes are propping up this ability for me right now...

I would say depending on the type of cracks you're climbing, whether there's many face hold options along the way, the Katana Laces have proven to be a much better option for me than TC Pros. They're just as comfortable jamming, but the edge 100x better. When you're shaking out and standing on a dime edge, I'm always super happy I'm wearing Katana's. I sold my TCs because the Katana's are so good. I wish they would come out with a high top version. I always really liked that extra protection with the TC Pros.

Can I ask those who've had the Pinks and The Generals what's the heel tension like?  I saw a bunch of you up-thread.  Is it real tight up high, or kinda of spread over the back of the heel?  I'm looking for a good performing shoe that isn't too tight right where the Achilles attaches.  Most La sportiva and slingshot heel designs are really painful for me.

Ma Ja wrote: I would say depending on the type of cracks you're climbing, whether there's many face hold options along the way, the Katana's have proven to be a much better option for me than TC Pros. They're just as comfortable jamming, but the edge 100x better. When you're shaking out and standing on a dime edge, I'm always super happy I'm wearing Katana's. I sold my TCs because the Katana's are so good. I wish they would come out with a high top version. I always really liked that extra protection with the TC Pros. 

This was definitely my thought as well. The TC's look like they have a super flat last, which is what I don't love about my current 5.10 Rogues. Though I believe the TC's have the P3 platform to keep them from rounding up (would love to know if yours did this). Vs the Katana's have an ever so slight downturn, which as they break in and the rubber wears down, will still give me that edging ability when needed, while still being pretty thin and low profile for cracks.

Any insight as to stretch from the Katana's?

Chris Johnson wrote:

This was definitely my thought as well. The TC's look like they have a super flat last, which is what I don't love about my current 5.10 Rogues. Though I believe the TC's have the P3 platform to keep them from rounding up (would love to know if yours did this). Vs the Katana's have an ever so slight downturn, which as they break in and the rubber wears down, will still give me that edging ability when needed, while still being pretty thin and low profile for cracks.

Any insight as to stretch from the Katana's?

First off, I meant to include that I was talking the laced version. 

Yes, TC Pros rounded up quickly and weren't much help on tiny foot holds. The Katana's have been amazing. They're still on the first sole, so maybe they become rounded up later in life after a resole, but I doubt it. I wear a 42 in LA Sportiva in everything else, Genius and Miura, and I got 42.5 for the Katana's. My toes are flattish (all day comfort), with no space left, so the way I sized them there's no way I'll stretch them out, so hard to comment on that. But, pretty sure they would stretch, I think they're leather. Also, they're laces, so you get a lot more leeway for sizing than velcro straps. 

Ma Ja wrote:

First off, I meant to include that I was talking the laced version. 

Yes, TC Pros rounded up quickly and weren't much help on tiny foot holds. The Katana's have been amazing. They're still on the first sole, so maybe they become rounded up later in life after a resole, but I doubt it. I wear a 42 in LA Sportiva in everything else, Genius and Miura, and I got 42.5 for the Katana's. My toes are flattish (all day comfort), with no space left, so the way I sized them there's no way I'll stretch them out, so hard to comment on that. But, pretty sure they would stretch, I think they're leather. Also, they're laces, so you get a lot more leeway for sizing than velcro straps. 

Awesome, thanks for the info. That's exactly what I think is going to work best. 42.5 in Otakis, 43 or maybe 43.5 in Katanas. Love that they have the laces to give me a looser or tighter fit as needed, and good to hear on the durability.

BD momentum laceups.

They are cheep, very comfortably, perform well (crack and smearing are great, edging is decent), and currently on sale at backcountry.

They are my favorite shoes I have ever used!

Disclaimer: I have not climbed in TC pros, but I have tried them on. I thought the momentums were much more comfortable for my feet.