UKC

“Some layback... but I'm a jammer”

UKC Gear Reviewer Toby Archer tests the Cliff 5s from La Sportiva.

"The La Sportiva Cliff 5s were something of a revelation..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=2334

In reply to UKC Gear:
Just an additional note about La Sportiva rock shoe sizing. I am uk size 8 in normal shoes. Boreal rock shoes fit me best in either a 7 or 7.5....

...but La Sportivas fit me either in a size 6 or even 5.5!

I'm 11 in normal shoes, but was down to 9.5 in my Mythoses. Now using Evolv Defies and ended up with 11, even a 10.5 was too tight!

In reply to sebf and Alun: Thanks for the input chaps - glad to hear it's not just me, they clearly have their own sizing system going on!

In reply to UKC Gear:

This was my experience of them as well. As I asked in this thread (http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=360739&v=1#x5258916) I was looking for a good all round shoe for UK trad as I was finding jamming excruciatingly painful in anasazis. I got a pair of these in the hope that they would make for more comfortable jamming but fully expecting them to be pants at anything resembling technical face climbing.

I did feel a little bit bumbly and I can't say I was full of confidence when I first set off on a long route at my trad limit in them. Pleased to say though that I was very pleasantly surprised, not only in terms of jamming comfort (the stiff sole and more neutral foot position is a god send here) but also edging and smearing.

Would urge anyone looking a less technical shoe for UK trad, giving less bunched toes for less painful jams, to give these a go.

In reply to TobyA: Not really, i think they just size exactly like normal shoes, so you'll have just as much space in them as you would in your street shoes if you get the same size.

In reply to @ndyM@rsh@ll: Hmmm, I see your logic. So the inside length of my Cliff5 is exactly the same as the inside length of my Trango and Nepal Extremes, but I just wear woolly socks in them and want to be able to wiggle my toes?

In reply to TobyA:

I don't think that's quite right either but it is probably much closer to think of them as trainer sizes than rock shoe sizes.

Incidentally, do you know for sure that the rand is 'sticky' rubber? I never got around to asking Sportiva about it but as a rule rockshoe rands are never in the sticky sole rubber. It is too expensive and usually too stretchy to do the job they need a tensioned rand to do.
Iain

In reply to IainWhitehouse:

Not sure if the sizing on these is the same as the old Cliff Blues? Anyway, I've used Sportiva's a lot (they fit my feet bettter than 'owt else), and for sizing:

My street shoe size 43

Muiras 39.5 (v.tight)would never do this to my feet these days tbh
Barracuda 40 (tight) 41 (thin sock, mtn routes)
Katana 40 (v.tight) 40.5 (tight)
Cliff Blues 41 (thin sock)

Nepal Extremes 43.5

Go figure!

In reply to TobyA:

Not im my experience. I'm 44.5 in barracuda, miura VS and Nepal extreme evo. In the latter I'm wearing thick socks so that must be factored in.

In reply to Dan Middleton, BMC:

It was pretty close when they first brought them out. The extra padding in the heel made them feel slightly different but they were the same size give or take a whisker. I haven't stocked them for some time now so they could have been changed since.
Iain

In reply to Dan Middleton, BMC: By the way: 40-41 in sportiva is prefectly average for a 43 foot. The 39.5 in your Miuras is tighter than most get them but probably still inside normal bounds - it's about what I would expect to wear as a size 8 (42) foot.