Rock Climbing Gear

Evolv Optimus

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 5 - Before I went and tried on a pair of the Optimus, I was skeptical of a shoe this aggressive not having the usual asymetric and pointed toe design I was used to. Granted, the toe on this shoe doesn't fit the smaller pockets the way some other shoes do. But, after climbing for a couple of weeks in them, I've found that they will grab, front-point, edge, and smear on every other feature imaginable.

The way the cambered last fits your feet, the stiffer synthetic material than Evolv normally uses, and having rand rubber all over the last means not only does the shoe have an agressive design, but it STAYS that way. There is almost no give in the design. Be careful how far you downsize with this shoe, otherwise it's gonna be very painful. I tried on both this shoe and the Prime version (velcro), and these have a bit more snug fit to them. Ie, they aren't going to bend at the ball of your foot anywhere near as much as the Primes.

Being 6'3 and 210, I'm soooo glad Chris and Evolv decided to go with a stiff midsole on this slipper. It really makes a huge difference in not only supporting hard edging on the tinier features, but it makes it easier to use your legs to pull, instead of your feet, on the steeper stuff.

The one thing that really makes this shoe stand out, in my opinion, is that unlike aggressive down turned toe shoes like the agro/predator/talon, you can still smear with this shoe when necessary.

As with all of my Evolv shoes, the fit and finish is great, and I expect these to hold up as hard as my others have from them.

This replaces my predators as my favorite super-aggressive, bouldering shoe.

Mammut Mirage USA

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 4 - I have used this harness 3 times since purchase and overall I think its an excellent, comfortable harness with few downfalls. The main thing I do not like is the fact that the rear straps from the leg loops to the belt are not perfectly centered, its a little to the right(for someone a little smaller it wouldnt be like this but the way the harness is designed is that way). Other than that its very comfortable and fits very well. It doesn't dig into you at all during belay or rapelling. I would definately recommend this harness to someone else and its definately a viable competitor in its price range!

Fury

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 4 - I wore the Fury's on a week long climbing adventure into the Zion backcountry. They performed great as a hiking boot and as a climbing boot. The rubber is really sticky. I even had to kick steps into steep snow, which the Fury's did with ease. I would suggest these boots to anyone looking for a beefy approach shoe. These boots are a little on the heavy side and are also sized small. I normally wear a street size 10.5 and bought a size 11 in the Fury's.
I also have a pair of FiveTen Guide Tennies. The Guide Tennies are a better climbing shoe, but the Guide Tennies do not hold up to extended hiking (the soles delaminate very badly). I have been very happy with the performance of the Mad Rock Fury's.

Aztec

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 5 - I believed I found shoe-topia for my feet. The shoes is very comfortable out of the box and climbs everything really well up to easy 5.12s, except maybe for really thin crack. It edges well and sensitive and soft enough for thin smearing. The unlined leather molded to the feet after a couple outing. The shoes last is more suitable for medium to wide feet. Mine is more on the wide side with slightly longer second toe and narrow heel. I went with 1/2 size down from my street shoes, as recommended by John Bachar. I wore a thin sock and it fits perfectly for all day outing. The construction is solid and so far the shoes shows little sign of wear after 2 months of climbing on the almost weekends.

Similar shoes I used for all around climbing were: Fiveten Heucos & Southwest, Sportiva Focus, Evolv Bandit & Demorto. The Aztec is my favorite follows by the Demorto.

V-Mile

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 4 - Well, you can read what is above about stats and performance for these shoes. I have been a fan of Five-Ten for 10 years, and have owned and climbed in everything from Red Chili, Boreal, Montreal, Scarpa, Evolve, MadRock, and LaSportiva. I have, however, always come back to Five-Ten due to what I consider the best climbing shoe company around. So when I ordered my V-Miles a few weeks ago I was super excited to get a new shoe.

These shoes fit well out of the box. There wasn't that uncomfortable toe-cramming feeling that the toe box wasn't wide enough for my duck feet. I was surprised to see that the tongue was attached only on one side of the shoe. They climb well, the Onyx rubber is super sticky and this being my second shoe with Onyx I wasn't the least bit concerned about rubber performance.

The thing I didn't like about these shoes is that instant comfort fit. I can see these shoes becoming a bit sloppy in the coming years as they get past that ever familiar break in point. These shoes are definitely not high-performance shoes, but shoes to wear all day.

The EVA cushioned heel is super comfortable and gives enough support that you don't feel every rock you walk on. In a pinch you could easily walk off a long climb in these and know that you won't be as sore as your partner.

Flash

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 2 - I bought one of them because of the price. When new they was not that bad. After some use the velcro come out every time I step on a small edge. I gave two star because they fit well

Red Chili Spirit Velcro

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 3 - I have had these shoes now for a few months. For the gym and vertical sport climbs there great, but the rubber is too soft for slab climbing. I took them out for a few days to do some multi pitch granite slabs and the rubber on the bottom took a beating. My friends were climbing with La Sportiva shoes and had no problems smearing. While I had lots of problems. After the day we compared shoe bottoms and it was obvious that the rubber on the Red Chili�s had been sanded off by the granite. Obviously if the rubber will not stay attached to the shoe there is no way the shoe is going to be able to stick to the rock.

Phoenix

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 4 - this was my second pair of climbing shoes and at the time I bought them I was doing very little climbing and knew very little about how to purchase climbing shoes. that changed about a year ago at which time I started climbing about 3 times/week. mainly indoors. although there was learning curve thrown in these shoes performed just fine for me at that time. as I got better(and subsequently my footwork), I gradually grew unimpressed with the MadRubber. keep in mind this was primarily indoors. I eventually had them resoled with C4 and that problem was solved. I've since bought a few pair of higher end shoes and use those outdoors but still stick with these on the indoors walls for the most part. they're a good shoe to tear up on artificial walls when you're learning footwork and/or training...save the rubber on the performance shoes.
I bought these in the same size as my street shoe. I could have gone down a full size because they have definitely stretched out. but with laces they still wrap up reasonably tight.
overall: very good beginner shoe or scrubs to train in

Talon

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 5 - Climbed with it less than 10days, so far work great for me on the steeply route. as others said, not for slab route where you will felt weird and uncomfortable stepping with this shoe. The shoe is very comfortable even got it � size smaller, minimum air pocket on the heel, the only shoe so far that makes me feel secure with heel hook especially with lace tighten on. The rubber so far has not let me down yet, maybe too early to make conclusion.

Smearing = fair
Edging=poor
Steeply hold, especially pocket=excellent
Heel hook=excellent
Toe hook=not tested

Anasazi VCS

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 5 - I bought theses a little over a month ago and have climbed in them about a dozen times. I'm impressed with them so far. I went down 1 size from my street shoe for the VCS's and even if they stretch a little(which they're not suppose to) they'll still be a good fit. I can heal hook hard in these and even if my placement is a little off these seem to compensate by staying on the rock. edging and toe placements are alway secure. smearing is subpar compared with the level of the other abilities of this shoe, but that could change with a little more break in time. I'm no rock shoe connoisseur and havent been climbing regularly for all that long but I'll venture to say there's probably not much on the market that will equate the VCS/V2

X Chalk

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 1 - Got a sample of the X-Chalk last year at the King Lines film tour. At first I thought this stuff was great. It smelled pretty good and it did make your hands feel nice when you used it. But on a trip to Smith with some friends the smell just got to all of us. Now all I associate that smell with is being sketched out on the long Smith runouts. That and the fact that the stuff got on everything and took forever to go away. Plus looking at it from a health perspective the stuff is a very fine particulate and the scent just shows you how much of it you are inhaling. Plus at work we used to use clove oil to anesthetize fish for tagging and measuring. I noticed that my nose and hands would tingle after using that stuff. Not really what I'm looking for. Really curious to see what the MSDS is on that stuff. I'll stick to superchalk...if it dries you hands out too much cut in some regular stuff. Really just can't take the smell.

X Chalk

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 1 - After reading some of these reviews I wanted to give x chalk a try and so i ordered some. My card got charged and I have not seen it yet even though I ordered it nearly 3 weeks ago...

Miura

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 5 - Been wearing this shoe for a couple months and I love it. They have almost molded to my foot. Whenever I drop my heel in they create a suction sound, they fit so good. Break in period sucked, but now they're super comfy. I'm down a size and a half from my normal street shoe. They stretched probably half a size for me. Just don't drag the laces, that's they're only down fall. The lacing system is cool, but the laces don't hold up to being dragged across tons of rock. They edge on everything, smear well after break in, and stick to the rock like suction cups.

Black Diamond Black Prophet

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 4 - I got a pair of these brand new as my first tools. I've climbed up to WI4 with them and I like them a lot. They are definetly knuckle bashers, especially around buldges . . . takes some getting used to. They do have some more heft than the newer tools, but are by no means 'heavy.' On less-than-vertical ice they're your best friends if you prefer a leash on your tools. However, I would avoid them for mixed climbing.

Coyote Lace-up

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rating: 4 - Got a pair as my first shoe, sized a 10 (I'm normally a 10.5-11). 10 months later they are a perfect fit and amazingly comfortable, but I wore a hole right through the sole, just below my big toe. I have pretty normal feet and I do 90% gym climbing, so this is disappointing. performance wise they have been pretty good, but after a year of climbing I find them starting to hold me back. I would recommend them to any beginner, but I wouldn't buy it again now that I'm climbing harder routes and going outside more.