Are "shoe farts" the sign of a bad shoe fit?

Hi all. I'm looking for new shoes currently. I really wanted to like testarossas, but I couldn't get the toebox to be anything but painful. Then I tried on solutions, which were real comfy for what they were. However, the shoe seems to have an air pocket in it somewhere and farts whenever I get on my toes. For example, if my foot goes from un-weighted to edging, as soon as I place weight on that toe the shoe will release a nice little *poot*.

Does anyone have an opinion about whether or not I should care about this? I only had about 5 minutes on a demo wall with the shoe, so I can't form any personal opinion.

Edit: Should mention I currently us the katana lace, which fits like a glove with no farting. However it's too flat to do some of things I want it to, which is why I've been looking at solutions/testas.

For me testarossas don't, solutions dont, otaki's do. No effect while climbing one way or the other. The sound generally comes as a result of the motion of releasing forefoot pressure then replanting the foot with heel pressure, a very uncommon sequence while climbing, mostly this happens upon lowering off a pitch, ending a pitch, or jumping off a boulder problem. None of which require critical footwork.

In order to get a shoe fart the shoe must fit almost like a glove. So it's actually a good thing. If the toebox fits well that is probably the most important aspect of the shoes. A few years ago I switched from the testarossa to the solution as well. I've been very happy with it.

maybe look at lacing patterns to help lock the heel down. Runners do this a lot and it really helped me with dialing out air pockets.

fieggen.com/shoelace/lockla…

^^^. Umm. It's a Velcro shoe. Her Dee der.

Doh... never mind then

I've had shoe farts in my Mythos, Solutions, and Vapors. I think for me it's because I have high arches, I'd guess there's air somewhere in there for you but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad fit

The clearest sign of a bad fit is hot spots and/or dead space. For example, no matter how hard I try, I cannot get a good fit out of LS Miura VSes. At size 45, my toes are absolutely crushed (painful), but I have to pull the back strap all the way down so that I'm almost stepping on it or else I have huge air pockets on either side of my ankle. Same thing with Instinct VS - either my toes are crushed, or my heels are loose. If you can't size the shoes down so that you achieve a "glove-like" fit without causing pain, the shoe is not a good fit for your foot.

Fart when edging=loose space in mid foot.
Fart when walking=poor fit in heel
In both situations a better fit can be achieved by down sizing (you often need to down size more than one would expect example:ondra is size 43 and sizes his shoes down to a size 37 to get the best fit) but if down sizing still fails you find a different shoe.

I don't think downsizing 6 sizes is realistic for most climbers. As with most things Ondra...only appropriate if you are Ondra.

Especially in a stiff shoe like the Katana! I made the mistake of downsizing too aggressively (46/47 to 44.5) and had to give up on the shoe after it was giving me permanent joint damage.

Ted Pinson wrote:I don't think downsizing 6 sizes is realistic for most climbers. As with most things Ondra...only appropriate if you are Ondra. Especially in a stiff shoe like the Katana! I made the mistake of downsizing too aggressively (46/47 to 44.5) and had to give up on the shoe after it was giving me permanent joint damage.

I down size as much as ondra and it's fine, it's really just about getting the pain tollerance but after that you get a perfectly fitting shoe, the numbers for ondra where from his dawn wall push, he wearing Katana laces maybe you need to just stop being such a wuss. ;)

I know, but who knows if he actually does that normally (probably, but in Pythons which are much softer). It's not a matter of pain tolerance, it's a matter of permanent damage.

eveningsends.com/climbing-s…

trainingbeta.com/how-painfu…

Seems like shoe farts with movements like walking are a sign of pretty poor fit. Had a pair of too-big Otaki’s that had small slip with heel hooking. Downsized to an appropriately snug fit of the same and the shoe fart with walking went away—only able to get a very subtle noise with purposefully rising up to tip toes rapidly (trying to get the sound). But they were much improved without any slipping on heel hooking (or edging and any other aggressive movement). Same with a properly fitted Butora Acro. Only very subtle noise with aggressive/purposeful tip toe movement trying to get the noise to work on solid ground. 

Seems like shoe farts with movements like walking are a sign of pretty poor fit. Had a pair of too-big Otaki’s that had small slip with heel hooking. Downsized to an appropriately snug fit of the same and the shoe fart with walking went away—only able to get a very subtle noise with purposefully rising up to tip toes rapidly (trying to get the sound). But they were much improved without any slipping on heel hooking (or edging and any other aggressive movement). Same with a properly fitted Butora Acro. Only very subtle noise with aggressive/purposeful tip toe movement trying to get the noise to work on solid ground. 

It just means that you have sweaty feet and you're not wearing socks.

that guy named seb wrote: I down size as much as ondra and it's fine, it's really just about getting the pain tollerance but after that you get a perfectly fitting shoe, the numbers for ondra where from his dawn wall push, he wearing Katana laces maybe you need to just stop being such a wuss. ;)

If youre downsizing 6 sizes, then either you're  lying or you're ignorant about your real street size. I wear a size 9 and guarantee you Lebron's foot isnt going to fit in my shoe. If adam ondra wants to walk around Brno with 2 inches of dead space at the front of his size 43 street shoes, thats his prerogative--but that doesn't mean it's his actual street shoe size.

Clea T Royal wrote:

If youre downsizing 6 sizes, then either you're  lying or you're ignorant about your real street size. I wear a size 9 and guarantee you Lebron's foot isnt going to fit in my shoe. If adam ondra wants to walk around Brno with 2 inches of dead space at the front of his size 43 street shoes, thats his prerogative--but that doesn't mean it's his actual street shoe size.

If you think euro shoe sizes and us shoe sizes are the same gaps you're mistaken. Shoe brands vary sizing dramatically, your 42 might be the equivalent of a 44 1/2 in another brand

that guy named seb wrote:

If you think euro shoe sizes and us shoe sizes are the same gaps you're mistaken. Shoe brands vary sizing dramatically, your 42 might be the equivalent of a 44 1/2 in another brand

Thanks, im familiar with euro sizing. In this case we're talking about La Sportiva and it follows almost the same pattern as US sizing. 43-37 translates to 10-5. If hes judging his shoe size by a company that has weird sizing then again, its not his real shoe size. You can have your foot measured at any shoe store and get your size if you want an accurate measurement. My guess is that he oversizes his street shoes while downsizing his climbing shoes, thus the dramatic difference.

I think that's just a sign you have an awesome heel fit.