These are my first climbing shoes (La Sportiva Tarantula). Can you tell what are my weaknesses based on wear pattern and how can I improve?

Greek foot currently wearing UP Flagship, heel is too big and makes heel hooks slip. Toebox is also too tight and a bit painful on the regular model so I don’t think the LV one will be suitable. Love the shoe otherwise.

I’ve tried on in store: LS Skwama+Theory, Scarpa Instinct VSR LV, and Tenaya Oasi LV. All had too much space in heel.

Closest to best fitting is the Skwama, Skwama Lite actually fit the best but I don’t like the rubber. VSR LV had the most space in the heel I’ve tried so far.

Any suggestions?

I'm a fan of these longer, more in-depth posts, so, with more people posting about their history with climbing shoes, I thought I'd join in as well. Also added some important fit insights at the end.

My feet are medium-wide at the toes and narrow and shallow at the heels, with a medium arch.

I climb mainly indoors, but whenever I climb outdoors it is exclusively on granite or sandstone.

I've been climbing for 4 years, my climbing level is flashing v7-9, and most v10s take two sessions or less. I don't really project so I don't know what my max grade is.

I'll sort the shoes by brand. I'll keep the reviews short, but feel free to ask me any further questions. Star (⭐) is for shoes I currently use.

Evolv Zenist (4/5):

Great shoe, was one of the first shoes I owned that fit my shallow heel well. I understand why Zach Galla continued to wear it long after they discontinued it. Soft, medium-wide toebox, medium-narrow and shallow heel.

Evolv Zenist 2024 (3/5):

Bought this thinking it would be the Zenist but upgraded. Heel fit was worse, toehooks were genuinely impossible, and it even felt slippery on low friction volumes.

Evolv Shaman Pro (3/5):

Purchased this for outdoor climbing. It was my first stiff shoe in a long time, but it did soften up enough to use indoors. Painful break in, no noteworthy performances. Volume of the shoe was similar to the Zenist, but the different last wasn't as comfortable, and I didn't like how stiff the shoe was.

La Sportiva Theory Women's (3.5/5):

My first high end soft shoe. Unfortunately my model was really low quality, with stitches coming apart everywhere and the toehook rubber immediately peeling. It did fit my foot pretty well though, and I enjoyed using the shoe, though my footwork at the time was not great. I actually did notice more comfort in full foot positions because of the no-edge on the sides. Soft, medium toebox, medium width and depth heel.

⭐La Sportiva Skwama (5/5):

My favorite indoor climbing shoe of all time and my go-to for the foreseeable future. There’s a reason so many pros wear only Skwamas - they are the most versatile shoe for indoor climbing, and there is nothing I can fault them for when I’m climbing - my performance feels purely up to my own skill. Wide toebox is comfortable, the tensioning and midsole make edging easier than with soft shoes, and there’s truly no part of the shoe I genuinely dislike. Wide toebox, larger volume cup heel. The thing with the cup heel on the Skwama is that the P3 tensioning and stiffness of the cup heel mean that the heel works fantastic regardless of how much your foot actually fills up the heel - more on this in the takeaways section.

La Sportiva Skwama Women's (4/5):

I owned this before I owned the men's, and ultimately, on my model, the heel fit me better but the toebox wasn’t as good. I’m chalking this up to model-to-model variance from the shoes being handmade, since apparently these are supposed to be identical to the men’s Skwama. I also owned this during my soft shoe era, so I wasn’t as enamored by the do-all capabilities of the shoe. Loved wearing them though, and I have a vivid memory of a sketchy slab boulder on low texture volumes that I couldn’t do with the Zenist 2024 but was able to do after switching to these shoes. I also like the colors!

Madrock Shark LV (1/5):

My least favorite pair of shoes I’ve ever owned. The HV fit me decently (see my review for more), so I purchased these expecting a better heel fit. Something about the change in volume made wearing them the most unpleasant break in experience ever - the toebox was stiff in every direction and extremely low volume height wise, the weird tensioning made my foot cramp instantly no matter how much I loosened the inner velcro, the heel never felt secure, and the shape of the sole made every single hold feel bad, whether it was an incut foot on an overhang or a volume smear on slab. I gave it away very quickly. I know a decent amount of people like this shoe in HV, but I cannot come up with a single part of this shoe in LV that I like.

Madrock Drone CS (4/5):

I owned two pairs of these; the first one I downsized way too much and was a miserable experience. The second one I sized properly, and I really enjoyed wearing them. The rubber is super sticky for indoor climbing, and the Drone heel is the best fitting heel on the market for me. I improved a lot in these shoes, sent my first outdoor v10 in them (and had probably half my body weight on a heel hook on a crimp while doing so), and they still had lots of rubber when I gave them away. I went back to these after wearing Drago LVs, though, and they did feel a little odd. I could feel the plastic midsole, and they weren't sensitive at all. Medium toebox, narrow and shallow heel.

⭐Madrock Drone 2.1 (4/5):

I haven’t worn my current pair much aside from trying a couple v10s and v11s outdoors. These are my outdoor exclusive shoes since heelhooking on crimps is way more prevalent and necessary there. I do feel the loss of tension switching from Skwamas, but the toe is very precise and the heel is as good as ever. Similar fit to the Drone CS.

Madrock Remora Pro (3.5/5):

At first, I loved these shoes. These were the first real competition to the Dragos in my mind, and they definitely felt like it at first. Smears, even on full no tex, were amazing. I felt like I could claw down into footholds because of the softness. I loved the second strap covered in rubber. And the heel, although not the Drone heel, still fit me well and still had a “cheater edge.” After a couple months though, the shoe flattened out and lost its tension. Even though it was soft, I couldn’t claw into footholds as well and I actually lost a lot of the sensitivity from the shoe. I remember I tried it on a TB2 climb and couldn’t keep my feet on no matter how hard I engaged my posterior chain. I switched to the Drago LV and was able to keep my feet on no problem. A current USA pro climber who switched from these to the Skwamas also told me about how slippery they felt in the heat at the World Cup venues, which is ultimately why he switched. Wide toebox, medium-narrow and medium-shallow heel.

Scarpa Drago (3/5):

The Drago toebox is legendary for a reason. The moment I started wearing these, I felt a level of precision, sensitivity, and trust that I had never felt before. The heel fit was awful though, my heel would genuinely slip out on hard heel hooks even with the velcro strapped tight, and the m50 toebox rubber is definitely unforgiving if you have bad footwork. The toebox is medium-narrow but expands a lot because of the construction. Quite a bulbous, wide, and deep heel.

Scarpa Drago LV (4/5):

Drago, but with a better heel. I loved these, but they just felt too soft on enough climbs that I wanted to find a more versatile shoe. The heel also, albeit better, was still not a great fit and would slip occasionally. If I had to choose one soft shoe to wear, it would be these.

Scarpa Chimera (2/5):

My first lace shoe. Drago, but with a somehow worse heel. I purchased these to be a more supportive Drago for outdoor climbing, but ultimately nothing fit me right past my toes, and the heel was genuinely the worst heel I have ever had in a climbing shoe. Even laced down tight, there were huge gaps on all sides of my heel, and it would slip out super easily.

Scarpa Instinct VSR LV (3.5/5):

I was hyped for the first Scarpa heel that actually fit me. The VSR LV delivered, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the feeling of the tension nor the toebox, so I ended up selling it when I needed money. It’s a good shoe though, and I enjoyed wearing it.

⭐Scarpa Instinct Lace Women's (3/5):

Purchased these almost purely because of Aidan Roberts’ endless praise. The stiffest shoes I own, and I have yet to break them in properly. I bought these for board climbing mainly and outdoor climbing second, and my first TB2 session with them was excruciating. They are very tight and would cause my foot to cramp, and unlacing them to take them off and relacing them proved more than I wanted to deal with. I am not used to climbing shoes this stiff, and struggled a lot on smeary or large footholds. I see the potential though, and maybe one day I will brave them again. Medium to medium narrow toebox, medium-narrow and medium depth heel.

⭐Unparallel Regulus LV (3.5/5):

Regulus has a heel that rivals the fit of the Drone for me, so when I found this shoe secondhand for $50 I jumped. The toebox is a little narrow, but bearable, and the heel does fit me nearly perfectly, though the lack of tension means that if a heelhook ever pulls your foot straight up, the heel may come off. I wear this exclusively outdoors. I prefer the Drone heel for crimps, but appreciate the precision of the Regulus heel for when you need to heelhook a crystal on a sloper (quite common where I climb). I'm also not used to one-piece soles but the stiffness and support is appreciated on all of the crystal footholds present on granite. Narrow toebox, narrow and shallow heel.

Unparallel Vim (2/5):

Wanted a nice training slipper, but I definitely sized these too large. They were alright when I wore them, but at some point the heel just started pinching me so bad that they became unwearable. I definitely learned to appreciate a single velcro strap. Medium to medium narrow toebox, with a medium-narrow heel that always felt too deep because there was no strap to hold my heel in.

Unparallel Flagship Pro (3.5/5):

Got these when a friend who used to be top 20 in the US moved away. Enjoyed wearing them a lot, and they felt super soft for what I expected, though they were a little large and thoroughly broken in. The rubber was super sticky but also was so soft that, on some smears, I would feel my foot sliding not because of loss of friction, but because the rubber was deforming from the pressure. Heel fit was okay, a little too deep. Medium toebox, with a medium to medium narrow and medium-deep heel.

Takeaways:

Beyond all of the shoes I've owned, I've also tried on practically every high-end shoe from any climbing gym or outdoor recreation shop in an hour driving radius from me because of my original search for my cinderella's slipper. As I got better at climbing though, I realized that ultimately the most important thing is finding a shoe that you don't ever doubt, over a shoe that fits your feet perfectly. And, as much as I hate to say it, part of that is learning better footwork and pushing the limits of your trust too. Ever since I switched to the Skwamas for indoor climbing, there's not been a single climb or move that I could blame on my shoes, and it has been such a change in my mentality when approaching difficult climbs.

As for heel fit, I know many people in this subreddit are here to find the perfect shoe for their heels. Trust me, I was the same. Ultimately, heel fit does not matter as much as you think it does as long as the shoe stays on your foot properly. I used to have such a big issue with baggy heels and hated shoes that I could squeeze the sides of my heel and feel deadspace, but then I learned that for most climbs, that space meant more deformity, which meant more surface area of rubber on heelhooks. When I switched to Skwamas, I became liberated from the heel fit dilemma entirely since the cup heel and p3 tension system makes the heel an extension of your body practically regardless of the fit. Just buy shoes that fit you well in the toebox and that you trust on the wall, size them properly so they stay on your feet when you're climbing, and spend more time doing the sport than shopping for it!

Also, there are many people here that struggle with shallow heels. While, yes, shallow heels do exist, an issue many people overlook was an idea I never thought of until the more experienced members of this subreddit brought it up - the height of your arch affects the fit of climbing shoes a lot too, and many people nowadays have flattened arches due to lifestyle/footwear. Climbing shoes, especially the high end ones that people in this subreddit love, are tensioned to be downturned and curved. If you have flat arches, regardless of the depth of your heel, it will be difficult for a flat foot to fit perfectly into a curved shoe. This is where the illusion of the shallow heel comes from. So size your shoes properly, and work on your foot strength and mobility.

Shoes I'm looking at:

Scarpa Instinct S:

I don't board climb often, but Brian Squire and Lee Min Young's board climbing accounts really piqued my interest in these shoes. When I tried them on, they fit me SURPRISINGLY well - one of the best-fitting Scarpa shoes for me ever. I told myself I would buy a pair once I did my first v10 on the TB2, and I sent one in two goes my last session so maybe look forward to a review soon? I also was able to talk to Brian Squire about these when meeting him in person for the first time, and he has me thoroughly convinced. (No guarantees on the review though... I'm kinda bad at following through with my promises for posts on this subreddit)

Unparallel TN-Finity:

These seem like one of Unparallel's best shoes ever, and a stiffer Flagship with a better heel just sounds amazing.

-

Hope this was helpful, and, as always, I'll try my best to answer any questions!

edited to add the section about heel fit and correct some errors.

hey! wanted a sanity check before i buy anything

ive only been climbing about 2 months but my birthday is coming up and i wanted to get some new shoes from my wife and mom. i’m bouldering v5-v6 indoors right now and its mostly slab, maybe 55% slab with some vertical and a bit of overhang (have gotten quite close to some v7). i havent started climbing outside yet but i really want to, probably boat rock near atlanta which is granite slab and vertical stuff

right now im in la sportiva kubos and my one real weakness is tiny footholds. the toe folds when i put weight on a small edge and i just dont trust it, so im trying to buy support this time instead of comfort

the plan is a la sportiva katana for outdoors and a scarpa instinct vs for indoors, and keeping the kubos as my soft shoe for steep gym days. the katana appealed to me because its flat and a step stiffer than the kubo, has a full length midsole and xs edge rubber, and its built on the same last as the kubo so the fit should feel familiar, plus its cheaper at $179. the instinct vs seemed like the better indoor shoe since the heel looks much better for hooking and it handles steeper terrain, but it still has edge rubber under the toe so im not going right back to something soft

for reference i have egyptian toes, a narrow heel, normal width forefoot and pretty low volume feet

does this combo make sense or are they too similar to be worth owning both? would i be better off swapping one of them for a miura? and has anyone with a narrow heel had gap problems in either of these? also feel free to tell me if two months in is too early to be buying stiff shoes, id rather hear that now than after i spend the money. budget is around $220 a pair. thanks!!

Me: 6 foot 3, around 170lbs. I only boulder and have climbed a single V11, 12 V10's, 46 V9's, 96 V8's, and 145 V7's. I would say 95% of those have been in my current shoe quiver. I mostly climb on CA granite. I am generally a very leg-heavy climber.

My feet: Moderate to slightly wide with mild Greek shape. I've often been in this weird boat where really asymmetric shoes that fit my index toe comfortably leave a small gap between my big toe and the rand/never feel quite as well supported. I've got low volume midfeet and heels.

My current shoes: Instinct VSW (2 sizes) for nearly everything from board climbing to granite and even some of my best sends in Font, Instinct VSR LV for the cases where I want a bit more smear friction, Instinct S I owned and liked for certain smear-y climbing but haven't used much over the last year, Boostic I used for a single Joshua Tree project but probably the best overall fit (I hate the Booster tho that heel sucks), and I have a pair of VSW Lace I just haven't worn much. I have some Drago LV as well but every time I use them I feel that they glom on well but something about the shape leaves me feeling like I don't have enough support or power.

What I have used before: I loved the OG Five Ten Dragons and Teams and the Hiangles were OK but I find that that design often has a lot of rand bulge, which pushes the rand over an edge and makes edging worse. I did not really enjoy the UP versions of these shoes either for fit reasons (even the LV Regulus would bag out) or QC issues. I haven't tried newer UP shoes. I have used both Men's and Women's Skwamas and they were fine, but I felt they didn't last long enough to re-sole and lacked edging power. Men's Solutions had good toe box, but baggy heel. Women's had a better heel if I downsized enough, but the toe box felt a bit clunky. The Tenaya Mastia was awesome at first, but toehooked like shit and had a terrible build quality.

My problem: For whatever reason over the last 2 seasons I have been getting really raw toe knuckles and it can get quite painful. I have 2 sizes of shoes and the bigger size is nice for training and the summer, the smaller is great during the winter and notably more powerful feeling. At the same time the issue never goes away and yesterday I sent a climb fine but damn did topping out the slab feel fairly painful.

What I want: A shoe with lower volume mid foot, a nice snug low volume heel, and a tad more toe box knuckle room.

Hey, I'd like to ask for rubber recommendations for my Mad Rock Remora Pro HV climbing shoes. The obvious choice would probably be Vibram XS Grip 2, but I think that's kinda boring and want to try other rubbers for reference.

Also it's my first time resoling Mad Rock shoes with their 3d mold technology so I want to ask if the feeling of the shoes would stay the same or does it feel different.

gm peeps, im currently in the market for a new trad shoe, after quite a few pitches my TC pros feel too unreliable loose and "edge-less". I have them in a size 41 (Street 43)
I climb almost exclusively on Limestone, since im in one of the best multi-pitch locations in Spain for it (Alicante), sometimes the rock is water drop type pockets, some its crimpy, some is extremely polished smeary slopers...
Either way i was looking into the Katana Laces (women) in size 40.5 and the Miura VS same size, I dont really mind the velcro vs laces since i can just take them off while belaying so the time waste is pretty minimal, but i might be inclined into something with a softer rubber like the Vibram grip 2 that Katana have just to feel more secure on some sketchy footholds.

I'll pretty much just use them for the harder routes and leave the TC pros for the leisure easy days out, for sport i have a dream fit with my solutions in size 40.5/40.

Anyone in a similar situation that tried both or either and can vouch for one or the other?
EDIT: Forgot to mention that even tho i would love to test the fit on both i don't have easy access to either, so ill have to order one and return if they don’t fit.

Thanks a lot!

I just purchased my second pair of climbing shoes after my old marketplace pair of Mythos finally went out on me. I originally intended to buy the Skwama Lites, but the Kubos fit perfectly and are actually very comfortable right away. Anyone had these before and your thoughts on them? Primarily indoor bouldering doing v3-v4 but close to hitting v5

Hi! I was wondering if somebody has tried the Samba climbing ? Found them good looking but what's good/not good with them?

I've been through a big selection of climbing shoes now, and all have a heel that is too wide at the sides.

My latest pair - The Scapa Drago XT (example image above) fit perfectly everywhere except for the sides of my heel where its still got too much bagginess, despite the low volume being a key feature of them.

What shoes have similar traits to this, just with an even skinnier heel? Any information is really appreciated - thanks!

I must have the shallowest heels known to man, because I cannot find a single shoe that has no dead space below my heel. Ondra Comps are my current shoe, and the closest ones I have found, but there's still enough dead space for the heel to roll on really intense heel hooks.

Shoes I've tried:

• Madrock D2.one (HV and LV)
• Madrock Drone CS (HV and LV)
• Evolv Shaman (HV and LV)
• Evolv Phantom (HV and LV)
• Most Unparallel shoes
• Scarpa VSR (HV and LV)
• Most La Sportiva shoes

It doesn't help that I have a wide toebox, so I can't downsize too much in narrow shoes like Madrocks.

I was looking into getting myself some new shoes and have reached a fork in the road and would love some advice!
I’m intermediate/advanced and I climb almost exclusively indoors except for the rare occasion when I’ll boulder outside. when indoors I do a mix of ropes and bouldering, so I was wondering which shoe would be more suitable for a mixed type of climbing (mostly) indoors. Any advice or even other shoe suggestions would be much appreciated!

Hi there, I’m a relative newcomer to bouldering, but am going a lot and am improving. I recently brought some skwama lites as I didn’t want to outgrow my first pair, but I’ve climbed for about an hour and my feet are definitely feeling super fatigued, it feels like my toenails are pressed up against the end/bottom of the shoe, which causes most of the pressure to be put on that and therefore some pain and chipping, it also is causing a lot of pressure on the back of my heel, I know the shoe will eventually break in a bit but just wanted to check that I’m not wasting my time and should go for something more beginner friendly like the tarantula bouldering which has a more friendly fit. Any advice would be appreciated!

i’ve been climbing for around 2 months and have some kubos, but my birthday is coming up and i didn’t know what to ask for so ive decided to get some new shoes! i climb v5-6 slab but have recently gotten pretty close to sending some v7-8 slab climbs and i wasn’t sure which shoe would be better to get for slab (that being veloce or instinct vs).

thanks for the help!! :)

is there a difference between these two shoes? I looked at the specs and they seem identical other than color

Got inspired by the other post reviewing a bunch of climbing shoes they have tried so I figured I'll do the same going in order of purchase

Context my feet are relatively flat with a low arch, smaller heel. Medium width US9-9.5 egyptian toes (big toe longest)

Madrock Rover: 8.5/10 US9

Couldn't ask much more for a beginner shoe. It was comfortable the grip was good the heel stayed on pretty much everything I ever did as a beginner if I ever wanted a pair of beaters I would probably just get a second pair of these

Tenaya Mastia: 1.5/10 US7

After doing so much research online about what kind of shoe I wanted and what I thought would fit my feet this is where I ended up. I tried to love the shoe but it just never loved me back whenever I wore it without socks the blisters would be insane the material inside was not comfortable at all, quite coarse. The fit of the shoe was so much tighter than my Rovers being my first aggressive shoe I expected this however the strap just never at all felt like it could secure on my foot in the shoe as well as my heel not being locked in at all falling off at the first proper heel hook despite the forefoot being so tight. It would also cause minor discomfort along the outside edge of my foot from not necessarily the pressure it applied right there, but just the way the pressure was distributed on my foot.

I also once cleaned the shoes alongside all of my other shoes in lukewarm water and when I tried to wear them at the wall again the rubber was so slippery worse than rentals so I gave up on them.

Edit: almost forgot, they also came slightly defective where the left rubber was way thinner at the tip, and has completely worn off when the right one has about 70% left. I noticed this much later, too late for me to return

Madrock D2.1: 9.5/10 US8.5

My all-time favorite shoe the most versatile shoe if I could only ever bring one shoe anywhere this would be it. People talk a lot about wanting their climbing shoes to have a sock like fit and this to me represents that the most. The synthetic material that they use inside the shoes really feels comfortable against the foot. At the start I had minor discomforts in the heel where the tensioning was being applied to keep the heel secured but after a while this went away. Speaking of the heel it is so secure there are no other shoes that for me secure my heel better I think this is a combination of the shoe profile being relatively flat as well as the strap being quite high up on the ankle allowing it to get better leverage of the heel. I'm on my third resole of this pair and I don't plan on throwing them out until they are unfixable

Butora gomi: 7/10 US9

The gomi's are what I bought when my d2.1 needed to be resoled. To me the fit and purpose of the shoe is relatively similar to the d2.1 although with a slightly wider forefoot. But in pretty much all aspects it was just a slightly worse d2.1. the material inside was a bit coarser and not as comfortable, the strap didn't feel like it's secured my foot as well, and the heel just had a slight more wiggle room than in the d2. It also has the tendency to dye your foot a bit black.

Madrock Drone 2: 7.5/10 US 10 (I wear these with socks)

I bought these to be my edging specialist shoes and they have performed well for this use case. They are nowhere near as versatile as the D2.1 especially if you aren't a super heavy climber. They are also nowhere near as comfortable as the d2.1 as the upper rubber material is way stiffer so it conforms less to your foot. One of the advantages that people don't often talk about with this stiffer shoe is that you actually get a lot more power support on your heel hooks (in a similar way to how the stiff shoe helps support edging).

If I purely climbed on edges rather than having to smear this would be my Top choice.

Madrock Remora Pro: 8/10 US9

The remora Pro didn't disappoint me however I think I was expecting a little bit more. I didn't really find the extra sensitivity compared to the d2.1 that useful, and you have to wear the shoe much more relatively tight compared to the d2.1 to be able to get a similar secured fit. The heel also has a little bit more wiggle than the d2.1, much closer to the Butora gomi heel.

Due to the shoe being much softer and much more specialized for smearing on big macros I've found them to just not be versatile enough for me to want to bring them as my only pair to the gym. I would have to bring it in conjunction to my d2.1 or drone 2. Edging on them especially on slabs is just unnecessarily painful for no real gains (for me at least)

Shoes I'm looking at next

Butora ibex

Unparallel (not sure which)

La sportive hyper EZ

Furia air (just for board climbing)

I currently use the Scarpa Instinct VS, and while I REALLY like the shoe in terms of performance, the inside of both my big toe nails is constantly bruised. I have always had very wide feet, and always purchase my normal shoes in a wide version of the size.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good indoor bouldering shoe that is wider?

should i use the regular tight shoes used for rock climbing and attatch clampons to them or should i just use normal hiking boots and attatch clampons

ive been using the ocun diamond s for the past 3 months and have loved the softness. but climbing 2-3x weekly for 2-4 hr long sessions is taking a toll on them. i indoor boulder and climb at the V6 level, and i am on the lighter side being 63 kg. i also have a greek/roman foot so idk if that means much. but ive been looking at scarpa instincts, unparallel moccs, mad rock drones, and maybe the other ocun models. if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. thank you!!