New Climber/New Painful Shoes

Hey guys,

I’ve been climbing for a little over a week now and loving it!

I purchased a pair of La Sportiva Tarantulace shoes in a size 12 US (45 1/2) with the help of an employee at REI. I normally wear either 13-14 in everyday footwear but she said I would want the toes slightly curled and the first toe at close to a 45 degree angle when standing.

When I first put the shoes on, they are extremely tight and snug all the way around, uncomfortable but not painful, but after about 15-30 minutes, the knuckle of the first toe on the left becomes so painful I have to stop and take the shoes off for about 10-15 minutes before climbing again but only get another 5-10 minutes of climbing before it becomes unbearable and I have to break again. Once it gets that bad, I just don’t trust the foot because I can’t hear anything but pain from it.

My question is, is this normal as part of the break in cycle of the shoes?

It’s bumming me out because it distracts from time on the wall in the gym and I spend more time on the floor than the wall. I’m trying to build hand strength, whole body stamina and technique but it’s hard to do all that on the floor! ;)

Thanks!

Yep, some salespeople try to push shoes that are too small. Your toes should sit flat in the shoe. Take them back (fortunate that you got them from REI, since you can return them) and get a comfortable-fitting shoe.

Your toes should sit flat, with as little extra space as possible. Wearing painful shoes would discourage a new climber, or most climbers.

Put 75 percent rubbing alcohol on the area and wear them with socks while climbing until they dry, 15-30 minutes should do it. That will help that spot stretch. Technically the salesperson was right, but honestly, if you just started them the fit could be sloppy and it won’t make a difference. I still wear cheap shoes, sometimes with socks. I boulder at the gym up to V7 and it is rarely the shoes that holds me back. If my shoes are a problem, it’s usually because there is no more climbing rubber under my big toe

dindolino32wrote:

Put 75 percent rubbing alcohol on the area and wear them with socks while climbing until they dry, 15-30 minutes should do it. That will help that spot stretch. Technically the salesperson was right, but honestly, if you just started them the fit could be sloppy and it won’t make a difference. I still wear cheap shoes, sometimes with socks. I boulder at the gym up to V7 and it is rarely the shoes that holds me back. If my shoes are a problem, it’s usually because there is no more climbing rubber under my big toe

While I agree with the rest of what you say, that REI salesperson screwed up. A customer's climbing experience matters when it comes to sizing shoes. A newbie in an entry level shoe should be comfortably snug in the store. She screwed up bigly.

dindolino32wrote:

Put 75 percent rubbing alcohol on the area and wear them with socks while climbing until they dry, 15-30 minutes should do it. That will help that spot stretch. Technically the salesperson was right, but honestly, if you just started them the fit could be sloppy and it won’t make a difference. I still wear cheap shoes, sometimes with socks. I boulder at the gym up to V7 and it is rarely the shoes that holds me back. If my shoes are a problem, it’s usually because there is no more climbing rubber under my big toe

Don't do that. I think REI is less likely to accept the return if you do. 

Return the shoes and get ones that are tight but comfortable. Take them off for about 5 minutes every few boulder problems. If you're climbing routes, take them off while you belay. As a beginner, you don't need high performance shoes. They won't improve your footwork on easy routes and problems. Buy shoes that are comfortable and cheap. You're going to trash them because your footwork is likely not very good. Then when it's time to buy another pair in 6 months or a year, you can think about upgrading in quality or downsizing. 

+1 for starting out w comfortable shoes. You’ll climb better if you fully weight your feet, which you’ll be reluctant to do when they hurt. 

If you're primarily climbing indoors, you can get away with the cheapest, most comfortable shoes for quite a while. It's possible for setters to set with jibs, slippery holds, or smears to get the same kind of footwork challenges as you often see outdoors, but in most cases wearing my outdoor shoes to the gym feels like bringing a nuclear weapon to a knife fight. I typically don't feel like I get any benefit from better shoes until somewhere in the V5/5.11 range indoors.

REI = Return Everything Indiscriminately 

For serious though, that salesperson led you astray. Much too tight for beginner shoes. Go return those shoes ASAP and get some shoes in a larger size. They should be snug but comfortable.

Josh, you wouldn't walk into a random car dealer looking to buy your first car and ask the sales person what you should buy.  You'd do a little research first.  For pretty much any climbing product, come here to MP and do a search or google the product + reviews.  You may still not know what the answer is after reading all the opinions but at least you will have a sense of the issues and what questions to ask.

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/climbing-shoes/la-sportiva-tarantulace

The REI sales person screwed up on several levels.  The Tarantulace is a flat lasted shoe that is meant to be a comfortable beginner shoe.  Your shoe is way too small.

What she was probably trying to do is to give you better performance on the typical moderate rated gym route - edgy and vertical to slightly overhanging - in a cheap shoe.  She tried to do that by just undersizing the shoe.  That's a mistake.  Option 1: get the comfier shoe and focus on your technique and strength improvements.  Option 2: get a more advanced shoe that gives you a bit of a cushion for your beginner technique - tighter, perhaps with a slight downturn toe - but get that shoe in a velcro model that you can slip on and off for every route.  Because that shoe if fitted properly will never be comfortable to stand in for 15 minutes. IMHO option 1 is the better choice in the beginning.  

Just read a few reviews and every one said this model shoe stretches a lot—the salesperson at REI may have known that. Also, if you're not used to wearing climbing shoes it takes a while for your feet to toughen up. With some more break-in these could actually be fine. But it sounds like you also may have one toe that's longer and causing a hotspot which doesn't help.

Ultimately finding the right shoes is a process that only you can figure out for yourself. I tend to agree with everyone who said get a larger size for now, but it sounds like with this shoe they may start to feel pretty sloppy before long. That may be fine for the gym.

One other thing that I find equally important as size is the shape of the shoe...does it fit the shape of your foot? It could be a losing battle trying to find the right size shoe in one that is not ideal for your foot type.

FWIW I wear a size 13 Nike, 46 in the old TC Pros, 45.5 in the new ones. When I got the first pair I had just got back into climbing and they were pretty painful to wear for more than a pitch. Now they feel like an old pair of jeans and I can wear them for hours on a multi-pitch climb without any significant discomfort.

I disagree that that shoe stretches a lot, in fact, most modern shoes don't stretch very much at all.  Leather shoes will stretch a little, but if they hurt now, they are too small.  I've been climbing about 15 years seriously, and I still use my old Tarantulaces as my primary gym shoe.  Mine are basically trashed, they've been (badly) resoled, and I can stand with my toes just touching the ends of the shoe.  But I don't reach for any of my (more expensive!) more aggressive shoes until I'm climbing 12's in the gym, or things that require real edging or crack jamming outside.  Go watch some video footage of previous generations (ie., John Bachar) climbing hard in EB's with socks on.  You simply are in no position to gain anything by climbing in overly tight shoes at this point--you need to learn to climb first, and you will do that better if your feet are supported, but comfortable.  

I would take those shoes right back to REI, and trade them for (probably) a whole size larger.  Your toes should just touch the ends of the shoes while standing, but not be curled.  That is how those type of shoes are designed to fit and function well.  Further, climbing in really tight shoes can damage your feet, making climbing less fun in the long term.  Don't push it that far--learn from others' experience, and enjoy learning to climb!  

All of this is so great guys, thank you!

I had done some research on brands/models as well as fit and narrowed down the brands/models to a few affordable options but got lost in the fit subject due to the plethora of opinions out there and just decided to go in and trust what I was anticipating to be an experienced climber that would help me as I tried a few on and guide me through the fitting.

Everything climbing is new to me right now and the devil seems to be in the details on each climbing component and sometimes internet research just gets exhausting/overwhelming. There’s way more to learn here than I realized all the way around!

I love the fit of these shoes in that when they lace up, they feel like they were made for my foot other than that spot that gets to a true 9/10 pain!

It didn’t make sense to me that I should have to suffer weeks on end before they felt right. I’m trying to go 4-5 days a week in the gym as I condition myself for an upcoming outdoor class in a couple weeks and these shoes made it really discouraging due to not being able to climb for more than maybe 30 minutes a day.

My gut feeling was they were too small when I was at the store but I didn’t know what I didn’t know about shoes.

Thank you for the kind, thoughtful and informed replies and I’ll be going back to REI tonight to exchange them. She did say if they didn’t feel right, I could exchange them for the larger size they had that I initially really liked! ;)

Thank you again! :)

Josh Groomswrote:

 I’m trying to go 4-5 days a week in the gym as I condition myself for an upcoming outdoor class in a couple weeks…

Not shoe related but since you are new, worth the thread drift…

At your current level, this is way too much and a recipe for overuse injuries - the kind that can keep you off the rock for months while you recover. For now, until you get stronger in the right ways, consider cutting it back to 3 days and just do general conditioning the other days. Don’t forget to include rest/recovery days.

Look for threads about tendinitis or pulley injuries for context. 

I have a pair of Tarantulace for moderate, multi-pitch trad climbs. It is a comfortable shoe that I can wear all day without taking them off.

You should return your current pair and get pair that fits comfortably. You should enjoy your climbing and not be distracted by uncomfortable shoes.

Kevin DeWeese wrote:

Agree with most of this except getting shoes that would require you to take them off between pitches/problems. The whole painfully tight shoe that would require this thing for new climbers is such a load of crap. 

Yeah, your main purpose for taking off your shoes shouldn't be pain. But remember that it's usually wise to take off your shoes between climbs/boulder sets strictly for the longevity of the shoe.

Marc801 Cwrote:

Not shoe related but since you are new, worth the thread drift…

At your current level, this is way too much and a recipe for overuse injuries - the kind that can keep you off the rock for months while you recover. For now, until you get stronger in the right ways, consider cutting it back to 3 days and just do general conditioning the other days. Don’t forget to include rest/recovery days.

Look for threads about tendinitis or pulley injuries for context. 

Funny you should say this because so am so wiped out today, haha… There’s wisdom here to keep my over eager self in check so thank you for this!

Josh Groomswrote:

Funny you should say this because so am so wiped out today, haha… There’s wisdom here to keep my over eager self in check so thank you for this!

Seriously google pully injuries. As a new climber this will be the last area to adjust to the activity and strengthen. Don’t rush that process. 

I had pretty much the exact same thing happen to me with the same shoes. Long story short, they DO stretch. Now I'm wishing I would have kept a smaller pair. Only problem is it took several weeks to stretch this much. But now I can fit a full finger behind my heal for the toes to be pushed up against the front.

Take a shower in your shoes, it softens the leather and fits them to your feet. Also, now that you have bought them and im sure your aware they're too small, use that to your advantage! The smaller the show, the more persice and aggressive you can be

Addison Guntlewrote:

The smaller the show, the more persice and aggressive you can be

And the more you risk permanent damage to your feet.

Marc801 Cwrote:

And the more you risk permanent damage to your feet.

Words of wisdom here. I never really did the super tight shoe thing, but did wear shoes which were very snug for many years. After 20 years of climbing, my big toes suffer from tendinitis which can be debilitating at times. It’s all fun when you’re young, but keep in mind youth doesn’t last forever. And if you want to continue climbing well into your later years of life, then every precaution you take in your youth, will be to your advantage in those later years. And you’ll want all the help you can get, trust me.

Shoes don’t need to be super tight, precise fit is more important. I have a pair of Tarantulaces, snug, not tight. Can wear them all day. Have done long descents with them. Climb .12+/13- in them fairly often. Not my first pick for the hard stuff, but not horrible either. Point is, shoes aren’t as important as people make them out to be.