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5.10 Verdon Shoe Reviews

Chris Rice · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 55

Some information gleaned about climbing shoe fit "for my feet" from my experience.

Shoes I own
• Tenaya Masai – 48 3/8 perfect Trad Fit – couple years old – favorite shoe at the moment
• La Sportiva Muira – 46 – sport fit – four years old – toe shape hurts middle toe but edge super strongly
• La Sportiva Tradmaster – 46 – too big – fits OK with socks for alpine
• La Sportiva Mythos – 45.5 – tight sport fit – have been resoled a couple times - worn out now
• La Sportiva Katana – 46 – snug sport fit (relatively new)- what I usually wear at the climbing wall
La Sportiva Kaukulators - 46 - I climbed in these for years - my all time favorite shoe - many resoles but the leather finally just died - sad

Shoes from the climbing wall and how they fit me
• 5.10 Galileo – 12 – too small - very very tight sport fit – bad toe shape for me - slightly used
• 5.10 Newton – 12 – sport – tight but not terrible trad fit – nice toe shape - slightly used – could possibly break in to fit?? I may climb at the wall in these some more.
• Evolv Pontas – 12 – can barely get on – slightly used
• Evolv Defy – older – 11 – nice sport fit – very soft – well worn
• Unknown 5.10 shoe – 12 1/2 – trad fit – well used – red color non aggressive model?
• Unknown 5.10 shoe – 13 – snug trad fit – well used – grey non aggressive model – quite soft.
• Red Chili unknown model – 12 – sport fit - well used
• Evolv Rental shoe – 12 – nice toe shape but very tight sport fit - nearly worn out

Evolv Astroman – 47 – new - tried on from Neptune this summer – too small
La Sportiva TC Pro - tried on a 46 - had trouble getting it on - heel hurt badly - just too little and a horrible heel for my foot - I really wanted this shoe to fit - it just doesn't
I wear a size 13 to 13 1/2 street shoe

Thought maybe this might be of some value to someone.

Chris Rice · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 55

kerwinl - or anyone else
How are you liking the Verdon after having them a while? How much stretch did you get? Is the stiffness holding up?

Kerwin Loukusa · · PNW · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 135

I have worn them a bit more since my last post, a few more notes.

1. They stretched more then I thought they would, I went 1/2 size down from street, aiming for a fit that would work well on technical trad routes, I maybe could have gone down 1 full size.

2. They seem to have maintained the stiffness in the toebox/forefoot very well, but midsole has softened considerably.

3. I have yet to try them at my local crag (I took them on a month long trip around the PNW), I will chime in once I do.

Chris Rice · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 55
kerwinl wrote:I have worn them a bit more since my last post, a few more notes. 1. They stretched more then I thought they would, I went 1/2 size down from street, aiming for a fit that would work well on technical trad routes, I maybe could have gone down 1 full size. 2. They seem to have maintained the stiffness in the toebox/forefoot very well, but midsole has softened considerably. 3. I have yet to try them at my local crag (I took them on a month long trip around the PNW), I will chime in once I do.
Thanks - I am ordering a couple pair now with the intent to keep only the pair that fits best and return the other. Thanks for the feedback - it helped - especially the stretch issue.
JCM · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 115

Kerwin- Did you order them sight-unseen, or is there a place in Seattle that carries them? The Five Ten heel usually does not work for me, but it sounds like these may be better- I'd need to try them on.

Kerwin Loukusa · · PNW · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 135
JCM wrote:Kerwin- Did you order them sight-unseen, or is there a place in Seattle that carries them? The Five Ten heel usually does not work for me, but it sounds like these may be better- I'd need to try them on.
I bought them sight unseen after talking with the five ten rep. The heel on these shoes is much less aggressive and more comfortable then the anasazi line, less deadspace as well. What size do you wear, if your in Seattle maybe we can meetup at stone gardens (ballard or bellevue), and you can try mine on.
Kester · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 25

Some info on sizing:
I ordered a pair of Verdons in US9.5, I'm a 10 street shoe, 8.5 in Anasazi pinks, and 9.5 in Arrowheads.
The Verdons are way too big, they're 25mm longer than my old pair of Arrowheads.
My guess is you need to order Verdons the same size as pinks.

Kerwin Loukusa · · PNW · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 135
greenways wrote:Some info on sizing: I ordered a pair of Verdons in US9.5, I'm a 10 street shoe, 8.5 in Anasazi pinks, and 9.5 in Arrowheads. The Verdons are way too big, they're 25mm longer than my old pair of Arrowheads. My guess is you need to order Verdons the same size as pinks.
Is your foot on the narrow or wide side? I think this may effect how your foot fills up the overall volume of the shoe. For me with wide feet and climbing slightly less then vertical terrain, 1/2 size down is good for a fit that will perform well, but still be comfortable for more then one pitch.

I could envision going down another size to get more performance on single pitch routes.
Chris Rice · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 55

I ordered a pair of 12.5 and 13s to try on. Ended up keeping the 13s - it's for an all day trad fit. I wear a 13 street shoe. The 12.5s would have made a nice sport shoe fit for me. I do not downsize the way some do who climb much harder than me. Don't know how they climb at this point. The ends of the orange pull on tabs on both pair was rough as heck and I had to fix that - time will tell.

janjan · · redlands, ca · Joined Sep 2012 · Points: 60
Chris Rice wrote:kerwinl - or anyone else How are you liking the Verdon after having them a while? How much stretch did you get? Is the stiffness holding up?
I actually heard from some of the people from 5.10 saying that they aren't supposed to do much stretching because of the kind of lining that they have put in the shoe. Its good to hear some folks report a little stretch!

I just got one this week with a perfect fit (for multi-pitch crack climbing) on these when I sized them half a size down from my street shoes.

I got them as they were most similar to the Katanas but with a way more comfortable fit around my ankles... I really hope they will do well in toe jamming finger cracks.
Kester · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 25

I don't have particularly wide or narrow feet.

You guys must size your shoes bigger than me.

I guess the most useful comparison is with another rock shoe model. I'd go for the same size as you take in pinks.

Bill Kirby · · Keene New York · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 480
greenways wrote:I don't have particularly wide or narrow feet. You guys must size your shoes bigger than me. I guess the most useful comparison is with another rock shoe model. I'd go for the same size as you take in pinks.
Thanks for the sizing tip Greenways. I have a pair of pinks and are looking for a stiffer shoe. Do you feel the Verdons are stiffer compared to the Pinks?
Kevin Piarulli · · Redmond, OR · Joined Nov 2013 · Points: 1,678

Can anyone offer a comparative sizing between the verdons and la sportiva miuras?

Chris Rice · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 55
verticalworldtraveler wrote:Can anyone offer a comparative sizing between the verdons and la sportiva miuras?
My size 46 Muiras fit like a Verdon between 12 and 12.5.
Madison Richter · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2015 · Points: 0

Does anyone have a sizing comparison with the 5.10 Hi angles? I'm assuming they are fairly similar, but wanted to check to be sure.

janjan · · redlands, ca · Joined Sep 2012 · Points: 60

Details: my Verdons and Miura shoes are sized 10.5 and the scarpas are 9.5

The scarpas are a tad more snug and push on the inside of my big toe and bend it a bit towards my middle toe the most, but heel cup is snug. My other toes are curled but my big toe is flat.

The Miuras are snug as well, a tad more comfy curls in all but my big toe and also has some space in the heel. My big toe is also pushed a bit to the middle of my foot but not by much... There is more space atop my big toe knuckle in the Miuras than Verdons or Scarpas.

Here's some photos to compare! (Including my foot shape)... Top of my Verdons feel more soft and comfortable than either of the Velcro shoes of course.

Notice the extra rubber on top of toe on the Miuras versus the extra leather panel atop the toes of Verdons, this actually is better for the Verdons top toes allowing more snug flexibility. This may be why I feel way less pain atop my toe knuckle rubbing with Verdons versus my Miuras eventually having a more painful hotspot at the same spot because those Miuras having a stiffer toe box and top of toe. The liner may also help on the Verdons (there's a synth lining that helps with slipping my foot in and according to five-ten sales person it keeps it from stretching).

My feet and the shoes I've been wearing this year as comparison to 5.10 five ten Verdons

Another one that illustrates the shape of the shoes. I love the way these laces are arranged, the shape of the lace opening perfectly shows and snugly tightens around my arches below and metatarsals above. Thin flat laces create no hotspot or bumps and has helped keep everything predictable when in deeply twisted foot jams.

How the shapes compare five ten Verdons Miura VS and a random scarpa I don't know the name of...

All have great stiff toe sole support with the scarpas being the most stiff and (slightly upturned?) angle for smear/slab/edge. You can see how Verdons are comparable with their angle to Miuras (and in my opinion the Katanas as well)
Side view to show soles, Miura vs, five ten 5.10 Verdons, random scarpa

Now for the Heel View.
Heel cups and Achilles / ankle openings

The mix of liner, piping and that extra little leather that sticks up from the rubberized rear ankle wrap is so wonderful it makes me kinda emotional:
1- easy to slip my heel out of any of my snug shoes
2- no friction chafing/burns so far versus other shoes on my Achilles !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Out of all these shoes surprisingly my stiff lasportiva ankle opening/strap cuts into my Achilles at the top edge, hurts most and creates most chafing... Which may be caused by that little bubble space creating micro shifts that are not noticeable with 2 pitches or less but for anything more it becomes unbearable.. The Verdons Achilles reinforcement curves a little better and fits the shape of my ankle/heel way better!!

I hope this overkill beta helps folks more than confuses :)

Kevin Mokracek · · Burbank · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 342

Have used the Verdon a handful of times so far from slab to gym to sport. They suck at slab and slopers which is not surprising, very stiff under toe which prevents you from smearing and reduces surface area. i felt like i was wearing roller-skates when slab climbing. They are awesome on anything vertical to past vertical and for precise edging. These will be my go to shoes for micro edges, they made it feel like I could hang out on small edges all day. One of the recent issues of R&I or Climbing had a short review that said it was a great all around shoe, that is not the case and was not Five ten's intention. This shoe is meant to be part of a quiver of shoes, not an all around shoe.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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