La Sportiva Futura vs Genius vs Skwama
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So I'm a big fan of the Futuras as an all-around aggressive sport climbing workhorse shoe. They're especially useful in the gym, where you don't have to worry about loosing precious edge to highly textured walls. Testerossas will always be in my pack, but I'm looking for a new pair to replace my aging and horrifically smelling Futuras, which have been resoled three times. Should I stick with the tried-and-true, or have you guys had good experiences with the Genius and Skwama models? Let's hear the pros and cons. |
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Instinct VS - Used them for 90% of this alpine season and love them. Technical slab to overhung diamond routes. |
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Well, are you looking to stick with no-edge shoes? That would make a huge difference if you switched to a Skwama or other brand shoe. The Genius would be a good option...laces will provide a more precise fit and the rubber coverage is much better. I've been super interested in the Futura, but the one major drawback IMO is the lack of extra rubber on top of the shoes for toe-hooking. |
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Both the Genius and Futura have rubber on theta of the toe for toe hooking. Neither shoe is nearly as good as on the Solution but still much better than the Testarossa. I use Futuras for gym climbing and Genius for steep sport climbing. I have found that the wider, more a symmetric toe box of the Genius (same last as the Testarossa) fits a little differently than the slightly narrower, less asymmetric Futura, but both work well for my foot. The Genius is a little more supportive overall and thus a little less sensitive. They both are far more sensitive than the Solution. I haven't had a chance to climb in the Skwama yet unfortunately so I can't comment on them. I can say that I much prefer the Futura and Genius to the Python which I loved for the first few months but I didn't find it to age well. |
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Ted Pinson wrote:Well, are you looking to stick with no-edge shoes? That would make a huge difference if you switched to a Skwama or other brand shoe. The Genius would be a good option...laces will provide a more precise fit and the rubber coverage is much better. I've been super interested in the Futura, but the one major drawback IMO is the lack of extra rubber on top of the shoes for toe-hooking.I should have been more clear. Yes, I realize the Skwama isn't a no-edge shoe, but just curious on early impressions of it overall. I would probably lean to a no-edge shoe, largely because I think they hold up longer with use in a gym. As far as toe-hooking, I would wager that I encounter a critical toe hook probably 1 out of 1000 foot placements, so this is not a big deal for me (unless I start getting real strong and repeating Dave Graham lines). That being said, I haven't found the rubber uppers to be a problem at all, so give it a shot. |
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It probably wouldn't help with the wear issue but the Skwama actually has no-edge wrapped on the inside and outside edges with a regular front edge. I get what you mean about wear, my Pythons will look brand new practically but the tip of the toe melts away quickly. |
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Had a go with a pair of skwarma's yesterday they seem quite stiff, maybe i'm used to my speedsters but they felt stiffer than my friends geniuses. |
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I love, love, love my Futuras. Favorite shoe by far. |
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I see no pictures sir. |
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I agree the Skwama feels like a softer modified Solution and not like a Python replacement which is a let down. I personally don't like the Skwama at all after trying them on in my size. Other people may certainly love them and everyones different about shoe preferences but here are my thoughts... |
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that guy named seb wrote:I see no pictures sir.I fixed the photos, linked from a URL that wasn't publicly accessible, whoops! Also, after wearing the Skwamas for another day, I have to say that they're pretty comfortable out of the box compared to Solutions, except for where the heel rand hits the achilles. The Solutions have a nice little notch made of soft leather there which the Skwamas do not have. At least for me, I think the notch helps keep my heel down in the heel cup a bit better, and definitely improves comfort. But the toebox/midfoot comfort on the Swkama is wayyy better out of the box, at least for me. Also, yes, the hard plastic on the edge of the foot opening seems like a terrible oversight and is not very comfortable for a "slipper-style" shoe. It hasn't bothered me as much as the heel rand yet though. The Skwama probably feels cheap because it is cheap...$140 for this much tech in a shoe means the cost savings had to come from somewhere. Heel rand on Skwama vs Solution Hard plasticy material on the side of the Skwama foot opening Solution soft sock/leather for comparision |
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I have worn all the shoes listed, Genius, Skwama, Futura, Solution, and Testarossa, and I feel that at least for me the Genius is the best all around performer. The fit of the genius is nearly perfect for me and is the right balance of sensitivity and support. It is a direct upgrade to the Testarossa in my opinion, pretty much everything I like about the fit of the testarossa, but with better toe hooking and lace placement that doesn't make the shoestrings wear out. The Futura I feel is a tad softer than the Genius and is probably the most sensitive, but for me practically performs almost the same as the genius, just slightly less good a fit as the laces on the Genius conforms to my foot slightly better. Of course because of the velcro it is more convenient for bouldering and generally is what I consider my outdoor bouldering shoe. The Skwama is an outstanding value shoe, great fit and peforms well although the toe box is a bit larger you do lose some performance, however that might just be a sizing issue. I probably could downsize to get tighter performance, but I do enjoy wearing it more because this gives a little bit more comfort than comparably sized La Sportivas. Honestly I would choose to wear these over solutions, they have almost the same performance, but better comfort and no strap breaking on you. Also on the plus side for Skwamas is that they are also fairly durable, considering it is my workhorse pair I've worn it the most it has endured quite a lot of use, due to it being a less expensive and more comfortable shoe, I don't feel as bad beating on them whereas I'm more careful about wearing the genius and futura as much in the gym . Also, because the Skwama is not no-edge it is cheaper to resole. I reserve wearing the futura and genius sparingly and for outdoor sends because they perform best but they are not as durable shoes and do not want to have to resole them too often. |
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I still don't get how people break those Solution/Futura straps. My Solutions are out for their first resole and the straps never showed any signs of wear. |
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Brutus Youn wrote: Interesting, I do the opposite. I feel the no-edge shoe is more durable in the gym. I guess when I want an edge, I want an edge, so I rarely wear my testarossa or other edged shoe in the gym. So, as a summary to the last year, I did end up going with the Genius. I still have no input on the Skwama, but I can agree with most of what is being said comparing the Genius to the Futura. I do believe the Genius has a slight advantage over the Futura for all reasons mentioned above (better fit in heel, lace-up ability, etc). I wear this shoe 80% of the time, and only whip out my Testarossa's when I really need to edge or especially on limestone. I prefer a stiff shoe on limestone, plus the Genius/Futura toe box is way too big for getting purchase on small pockets. For general overhanging sport/bouldering with reasonable feet (or smedging), the Genius is a great choice. In summary, this is not a shoe for everything, but it will get the job done on a lot of terrain. |
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Ted Pinson wrote: On the early models of Solutions the rivets that the strap runs through would rust easily and become abrasive, eventually wearing through the strap. They changed the material for for the rivets and it's much less of an issue with newer ones |
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evan h wrote: I hear you about the edge, but eventually edges do wear out fairly soon regardless and you have to end up either resoling a lot or just learning to climb with an edge-less shoe, so I prefer to do the latter. Yeah the no edge shoes tend to get beat up pretty bad outside, but for me the ratio of how often I climb in the gym to outside is so lopsided I like to reserve them for those occasions because I am most likely redpointing a hard route or problem that I care about. Also my gym has pretty textured walls and holds, climbing on them a lot I notice wear is pretty significant unless you have really quiet feet, it's a heck of an incentive to get better foot technique... I remember when I first started out my foot placements were so harsh my shoes started getting holes in less than a month, that gets expensive really quick... |
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Brutus Youn wrote: In which size do you have your Skwama's compared to the Futura's? |
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I'm not sure where people tried their Geniuses, but I'd like to add that the no-edge shoes didn't click for me until I used them outside. Indoor climbs just don't have the miniscule features where the molding properties of the no-edge shoes really give an advantage. The first time I took my Geniuses out I found myself standing on what in other shoes would have been blank-face smears. But indoors they're just a regular downturned shoe, the only difference maybe being they're slightly more comfortable. |
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Jesse van der Heijden wrote: I size Skwama's and Futuras the same, and Genius' a half size larger |
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Jesse van der Heijden wrote: I got them the same size, but Skwamas are slightly larger around the toe box compared to other LaSportivas, probably safe to go 1/2 Euro size down, unless you want a looser fit. |
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FWIW, I just got my first pair of Geniuses, and they fit great at size 40.5 -- extremely tight and need to be taken off pretty much immediately when not climbing, but for a high performance boot I wouldn't want to have gone any looser. I have worn Miura Laces for the past ~10 years, size 41 is comfortable but tight and what I wear the majority of the time, though I also have downsized to 40 for a little extra snugness. |