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Climbing Shoe Performance Over Time

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 afx22 23 Aug 2016
Hi All,

I've been wondering how my climbing shoes performance varies through their life cycles....

There's the obvious phases of;
> new shoes
> break them in
> nice and stiff with squared edges
> soft and rounded edges
> falling to bits / worn through

What do sponsored climbers do? When do they choose to change their shoes? (where cost of the shoes isn't an issue).
 JackM92 23 Aug 2016
In reply to afx22:

For me cost is an issue so I buy new shoes when my toes poke through the ends.

On the sort of routes I climb, it doesn't seem to make a difference
 JIMBO 23 Aug 2016
In reply to afx22:

Have more than one pair on the go. One breaking in, one for stuff where it's important and another for training or stuff where it doesn't matter.
 Michael Hood 23 Aug 2016
In reply to JackM92: I did some of my best leads with Scarpa Superatz with holes filled with shoe-goo.

Don't knock the holes in the ends

 Steve nevers 23 Aug 2016
In reply to Michael Hood:

I find I change shoes more often by the smell!

Have several pairs, a couple that it's only possible to wear outside in a high wind, and a few down turned pairs that are now so floppy they are great for smeary slabs now.

Also use a holey-toed pair for DWS, as the drainage is handy. (I've convinced myself of this)
 AlanLittle 23 Aug 2016
In reply to afx22:

You’re missing the „resole & repeat“ bit from your lifeycle. I generally do that once with shoes I like. It took one and a half sets of soles for my sized-up multipitch Miuras to get comfy enough for their intended purpose.

> What do sponsored climbers do? When do they choose to change their shoes?

I recall somewhere reading Tommy Caldwell saying a fresh pair of Miuras is good for about 20 pitches of 5.15 granite micro-edging.
OP afx22 23 Aug 2016
Interesting stuff. So, saving money tends to trump any loss in performance (if there is any).

I like the idea of having a couple of pairs on the go so I can choose ones in the best condition when I need them.

I'm yet to try having them re-soled. I'll give it a go with some worn out Vapour V's that I have kicking around.

 Andy Farnell 23 Aug 2016
In reply to afx22:
I've got about 5-6 pairs on the go at any one time. A couple for indoors, some for bouldering and some stiffer ones for routes. When the shoes for outside get too soft/worn out beyond top performance they become the inside shoes.

Well, apart from bargain bin buys from the interweb which go straight to indoors.

Andy F
Post edited at 18:17
In reply to afx22:

There's also the novel hybrid approach which can be interesting, resoling with a different rubber. I'm currently resoling Sportiva Testarossas with XS Edge which works really well.
 AlanLittle 23 Aug 2016
In reply to afx22:

> Interesting stuff. So, saving money tends to trump any loss in performance (if there is any).

Oh no. The resoled ones are for mileage / indoors / warming up. I always have a newish good pair on the go for redpoints & onsights I expect to find challenging.
 zimpara 23 Aug 2016
In reply to afx22:

State of wear doesn't change performance for me.
2
 galpinos 23 Aug 2016
In reply to afx22:

I quite like soft and sensitive shoes (and spend most I my time on grit) so tend to get a decent life out of shoes. As others have said, a few pairs in various states of wear/resole help.
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