Shoes - Wiki

Intro

It’s very important to get the right shoes for yourself. There are many factors you want to keep in mind when finding a pair of shoes that works well for you, and you can find a pretty good guide to these considerations here.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are many other shoes out there, and we emplore you to do your own research on some other brands and models. These are merely some common/well known selections

Beginner

Shoe	Description	Velcro/Lace	Price	Pros	Cons	Comments
Evolv Defy	Great value shoe, one of the top selling in the country. Sensitive, flat, and comfy.	Velcro	$89	Comfortable all-day-long fit, breaks in fast, sensitive, good heel-hooking, great value, nice look	Loose fit, toes curl up out-of-the-box wears out fast, not best for extreme edging	A great shoe for beginners or those looking for a dedicated gym climbing shoe.
La Sportiva Tarantulace	Mostly flat, but subtly downturned shape that is comfortable, crosses over to any style of climbing, and still provides impressive performance.	Lace	$80	Inexpensive, leather upper, comfortable fit	Not super specialized or technical	These were my first pair of shoes and they lasted me a solid year. Good starters since they are cheap and better than rentals, then you will probably want to move on.
La Sportiva Finale	Comfortable indoor and outdoor shoe, decent all around	Lace	$99	Comfortable, sticky rubber, excellent introductory shoe. Can wear them for hours.	Not super durable, and low precision. I’ve also found that the orange version stains my heels orange.	These are a lot of people’s first shoes, and for good reason. They’re pretty great cheap all-around shoes but are certainly geared more towards beginners.
La Sportiva Nago	An all around lace-up shoe designed for comfort and performance.	Lace	$99	Slightly more expensive, better version of the Tarantulace for gym/all-around climbing, focus on vertical/slab	Turn feet red, not specialized/technical	Another great beginner pair as they last a while, especially for the price.

Bouldering

Shoe	Description	Velcro/Lace	Price	Pros	Cons	Comments
La Sportiva Solution	Drastically down-turned; hooks, grabs, edges and smears on any feature you can find.	Velcro	$180	Very popular, aggressive, solid all-around shoe for bouldering. Easy velcro	Relatively expensive, I’ve heard they don’t last as long as you’d like	A lot of people wear these so there are probably a lot of opinions on them. I have never worn them, so ask around if you’re interested.
Evolv Agro	One of the most aggressive (down-turned) shoes available	Velcro	$165	Very downturned, great for overhanging climbing, toe/heel hooks	Painful to wear	If you wear these, you better be climbing hard
Five Ten Hiangle	Soft, down-turned, but designed for comfort. These shoes can also be used for sport climbing	Velcro	$165	The most comfortable uncomfortable shoe out there	I’ve found them to not be the best for heel hooks	These are aggressive shoes but, but are still soft and comfortable. I think these are a great first pair of aggressive shoes, and I plan on using them for a long time to come.
Scarpa Instinct VS	The Instinct VS spans the performance arc from slabby boulder problems to overhanging gym routes	Velcro	$175	More stiff than Hiangles, allowing for solid/comfortable heel/toe hooks.	A bit more insensitive than the softer options	Alex Puccio wears these, you have no excuse

Sport

Shoe	Description	Velcro/Lace	Price	Pros	Cons	Comments
Evolv Shaman	Engineered comfort and performance with more toe rubber for toe hooking and an inset front strap for better medial side toe scumming.	Velcro	$160	Comfortable, aggressive shoes, good for bouldering and sport. Great for all types of routes/problems	Soft rubber, less sensitive	Solid shoes; they last long, are aggressive yet comfortable, and I have only heard good things about them, although have never worn them myself.
La Sportiva Miura	A high performance lace-up climbing shoe for edging control and pocket climbing performance.	Lace	$165	Less downturned, so great for edging on slab/less overhanging routes	More limited in terms of bouldering, severely overhanging routes	Durable and this model has been around for awhile, standing the test of time. Jack of all trades.

Traditional

Shoe	Description	Velcro/Lace	Price	Pros	Cons	Comments
Five Ten Quantum	Comfortable, performance shoes designed by the Huber brothers (who have made difficult, big ascents all over, including on El Cap)	Lace	$185	Excels at cracks, multi-pitch romps and, especially, steep edging.	Expensive	I own these shoes. It took me a LOT of effort to get them to fit comfortably. But now that they do, they are literally perfect fits and have allowed for amazing performance over full-day multi pitch climbs. These are also great for single pitch and sport. They are a bit specialized, but these really are great shoes if they fit you properly.
La Sportiva TC Pro	The ultimate technical, big wall, free climbing shoe developed in collaboration with La Sportiva athlete Tommy Caldwell	Lace	$185	Ankle protection for cracks, great at both edging and crack climbing.	Specialized, best for vertical, big/long routes. Expensive	Basically the trad guru shoes

All-Around

Shoe	Description	Velcro/Lace	Price	Pros	Cons	Comments
Five Ten Anasazi Lace-Up	Low-profile, synthetic, comfortable, and flat toe profile	Lace	$150	Can wear them all day, great for cracks, edges, but also maintain performance on boulders/sport climbing	Bad for overhanging bouldering problems	I had these shoes and loved them, they fit perfectly and since they are synthetic maintain their shape well. Along with the Quantums, these are my favorite shoes for all-around climbing. **There are many other versions of the Anasazi’s (Blanco, Guide, etc.) and they are all great, I have experience with these and they are generally considered the best all-arounders.
Five Ten Moccasym	Slipper-like, comfortable, flexible, and highly sensitive shoe	Slip on	$125	Cheap, very comfortable, and last a long time. Great indoors and out	Not as high performance and can stretch up to a size due to there being no lining	I know people who have worn these for over a year without having to replace them, they will do you well if you’re looking for cheap, comfort, and ease of use.