Thoughts on other “trad specific” shoes?

Hi all, 

I bought a pair of TC’s a while back and love them for crack climbing, but don’t really trust them as much as a lot of my other shoes for edging. The ankle collar works great for offwidth as well - no more worrying about your skin grinding against the rock. I feel like it’s not just a confidence issue - I’ve climbed the exact same routes in my other shoes where a foot hasn’t popped, then climbed it in the TC’s and the feet just don’t seem to hold.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for shoes that they like as a replacement for TC pros? You all know what I’m talking about, every brand has its iteration; Scarpa has the Maestro, Evolv the General, etc. For reference, I have pretty wide feet, and definitely prefer the fit of Scarpas to that of Sportivas. Anything that works for other people that they’d recommend? 

I really like the BD aspects. Crazy comfortable and they’ve lasted me a billion pitches.

Unless you have a size quiver of TC pros they are going to underperform as compared to performance fit face shoes. Then there is the stiffness of the sole and rubber that will be less than ideal for some routes.

There simply is no shoe that does it all unless it is far below your climbing limit.

You mention edging and Scarpa's, someone needs to recommend the Boostics.

M Awrote:

You mention edging and Scarpa's, someone needs to recommend the Boostics.

Also the vapor laces, just an amazing granite shoe that climbs both cracks and face amazingly well

wearing my scarpa instincts lace up a little large for face climbing with intermittent cracks. the tc pros seem best for continuous crack and not so good when the terrain varies.

Jack Yipwrote:

Also the vapor laces, just an amazing granite shoe that climbs both cracks and face amazingly well

Do you know how the Vapor Laces compare to the Vapor V's?

Bryce Dahlgrenwrote:

Do you know how the Vapor Laces compare to the Vapor V's?

I have the velcro Vapors. I like them for face as long as there are no heal hooks involved. 

Bryce Dahlgrenwrote:

Do you know how the Vapor Laces compare to the Vapor V's?

They're the same shoe but I find the lace version works better for getting all of the dead space out of the shoe than the velcro because of the greater number of contact points.

Another vote for Katanas

John Tuttlewrote:

Unless you have a size quiver of TC pros they are going to underperform as compared to performance fit face shoes. Then there is the stiffness of the sole and rubber that will be less than ideal for some routes.

There simply is no shoe that does it all unless it is far below your climbing limit.

Size quiver of TC Pros is a good approach though. Larger comfy TCs for multipitch and straight in jamming; tighter TCs for single pitch hard granite face. 

Agree that no shoe can do it all. TCs are generally best suited to  verticalish (+/- a bit) granite with a mix of cracks and edging. This what they were designed for, and if you climb in places with these characteristics they are a good option - especially if you have a size quiver. They're not as well suited to other rock types (desert sandstone), steeper angles, or specialized thin crack pitches.

Agree with suggestions of Katana Laces - another great option.

Note on the Five Ten Grandstone, which is another hightop trad shoe. I have a pair (latest iteration of this shoe) and like them, but with some caveats. They are much softer and more pliable than the TC Pro, both in terms of uppers and midsole. This makes them more comfortable (for me) and sensitive, but not nearly as supportive on edges or protective in cracks. I wish they had made them stiffer. As they are, they are nice for smearing slabs, or anywhere the TC Pros feel too stiff.

Socks and moccs is always the answer

Rocrateswrote:

Socks and moccs is always the answer

A fellow man of culture 

The Pinks. street shoe size and a thin sock.

I really like the Evolv General.   A bit more aggressive and sensitive than the TC, lots of protection in the toe/ankle, and better for wide feet.

Jack Yipwrote:

Also the vapor laces, just an amazing granite shoe that climbs both cracks and face amazingly well

The vapor laces are too narrow of a toe box for my wide foot to be viable for a longer route shoe. Good edging platform just not as comfortable as I would like. 

Someone needs to remake the five ten quantum for us wide footed folk.

Anasazi Pinks are my go-to when friction is involved.  They edge and smear way better than TC’s and climb cracks well, although the high top on TCs is nice for wide cracks.  As an alternative, get your TCs resoled with C4 and they WILL be do-it all shoes.  I still prefer the Pinks for slab because the heel tension is way more aggressive, but I trust my feet in my TCs way more than I used to when moving between cracks and face.

JCMwrote:

Note on the Five Ten Grandstone, which is another hightop trad shoe. I have a pair (latest iteration of this shoe) and like them, but with some caveats. They are much softer and more pliable than the TC Pro, both in terms of uppers and midsole. This makes them more comfortable (for me) and sensitive, but not nearly as supportive on edges or protective in cracks. I wish they had made them stiffer. As they are, they are nice for smearing slabs, or anywhere the TC Pros feel too stiff.

Out of the box the GS is a good edging shoe but softens pretty quick.  
I have a pair of pre production Grandstones that are amazing edging shoes.  Much stiffer than the production model.  I save them for routes that where edging is crucial.  They seem to even be stiffer than the Blancos.   For a wide scale production model they we’re probably too stiff hence why the new model is softer but I do wish the new model were just a bit stiffer, otherwise I really like them. 

Kevin Mokracekwrote:

Out of the box the GS is a good edging shoe but softens pretty quick.  
I have a pair of pre production Grandstones that are amazing edging shoes.  Much stiffer than the production model.  I save them for routes that where edging is crucial.  They seem to even be stiffer than the Blancos.   For a wide scale production model they we’re probably too stiff hence why the new model is softer but I do wish the new model were just a bit stiffer, otherwise I really like them. 

Agree on all accounts. When I first got them I expected a great edging shoe, but softened fast. Wish they made them stiffer.  Still a nice shoe though. The pre-production shoe sounds great.

Kevin Mokracekwrote:

Out of the box the GS is a good edging shoe but softens pretty quick.  
I have a pair of pre production Grandstones that are amazing edging shoes.  Much stiffer than the production model.  I save them for routes that where edging is crucial.  They seem to even be stiffer than the Blancos.   For a wide scale production model they we’re probably too stiff hence why the new model is softer but I do wish the new model were just a bit stiffer, otherwise I really like them. 

I have the same issue with the Grandstones. With my foot, it fits better than the TC pro out of the box, feels comfortable, but softens up way too quick. I still have yet to resole them and they feel softer than my old Anasazi's. It's like they forgot to put a boot board in them. My older TCs Pros retain their stiffness and shape after a resole. I hope Fiveten or, Unparallel can come up with a better update in the future.