UKC

NEW REVIEW: Five Ten Quantum Rock Shoes

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 UKC Gear 02 May 2012
The Quantum's after a hard day's work in Hueco, 4 kbMatt Bird finds the Quantum rock shoes (very good) jack-of-all-trades but masters-of-none. If you are looking for something specific to send your project then you may be better looking elsewhere, but for good all-rounders aimed at harder grades he reckons you may be well-served by the Quantums, if you can take the smell...

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=4582
 ziggytang 02 May 2012
In reply to UKC Gear:

I bought some of these in Feb and have to say they are probably the best shoes I have climbed in. They felt so positive straight out of the box that I managed to boulder at my hardest straight away, and they didn't take much time to break in.

I have wide feet and actually found these to fit a lot better than the Arrowheads which to me felt very clumpy, heavy and uncomfortable. I bought the Quantums as the Dragons I bought didn't fit me well enough. The difference with the toe on the quantum is the rubber above the toe box has a gap in it which allows for a little more stretch than the dragons if you have long middle toes like me.

I actually think the heel is pretty bomber in these and haven't found that mine smell much at all, esp compared to my first pair of evolv pontas.

All in all a cracking shoe, but as with most shoes it depends on the shape of your feet and what fits you best.
 cha1n 02 May 2012
In reply to UKC Gear:

They heel is actually similar to the Anasazi LV, not blanco. It's much better fitting than the blanco/verde heel and in my opinion is a soft heel (you mentioned that you like sensitive heel). It's the best five ten heel I've used after the Dragon.

I agree regarding the smell though, I don't think the fabric breathes very well.
Smiler H 02 May 2012
In reply to UKC Gear: Are they closer in stiffness to the whites or the velcros??

They look good for the steep stuff! Maybe when I am climbing harder/steeper stuff...
 cha1n 02 May 2012
In reply to Smiler H:

Softer than both but uses stealth onyxx, like the velcros, so may have a similar feel to them.

Dispite what the marketing says they are closer to the dragon than they are an anasazi. It's 'kind of' an anasazi heel apart from it actually fits without any deadspace and is a bit softer.
 Birdo 02 May 2012
In reply to UKC Gear:

Hi all. Thanks for the comments and good points abound.

@ziggytang: I agree with the box-fresh comment- they are mad stiff straight off so you can bear down pretty hard on steep stuff. Good point on the toe box, they do not rub as much as the dragon's on the toe.

@Cha1n/ @ziggytang: Heel. Like I said, I knew this was going to split opinion and fair enough, if it works for you then awesome. It is a much better heel in my opinion than the anasazi's but there was still too much travel compared to say the instinct lace heel's which I felt were really good for this type of shoe.

@Cha1n/Smiler: They felt very much a midpoint shoe between the blanco's and the dragon's in terms of aggression. For stiffness, they were stiffer than the blanco's (initially) but are stiffer than the dragon's. Like I said in the review, you could get on the grit in them after a while and smear in them but they still held a bit of power in the toe when on steep stuff.

One more point. The photo of me on El Burro should be credited to Ben Grubb. He is pretty handy like with a camera and does a fair bit of bouldering shots so check his website out here: http://www.bengrubb.co.uk/
 cha1n 02 May 2012
In reply to UKC Gear:

There is no way these are stiffer than whites, even out of the box. Have you ever tried bending the whites with your hands? It's a tough thing to do when they are new but the quantums are easy to bend in comparison. The quatums are slightly wider in the toebox so chances are, if you found the dragon a bit narrow, you might get on with the quantum.

They are similar stiffness to dragons but the Stealth HF rubber of the dragons is more pliable and give much more feel. The dragon also focuses more power to the big toe so edging power is actually better in the dragon, even though it feels softer.

Having worn both shoes for about the same amount of time now, the quantums don't get much use but I do climb mostly on steep ground.
 RupertD 03 May 2012
In reply to UKC Gear:

I've worn these for a year now and have grown to love them as an all round shoe. For grit I'd still go for a Velcro (better for standing on pebbles and small edges) and for very technical limestone with poor feet I'd still opt for the stiffer Whites or a dragon. But for everything else they're perfect. in fact for very steep stuff I'd say they're better than a dragon as being less aggressive they work better on toe hooks.

The quantums are much softer than a White or a Velcro and are good straight out of the box. Less aggressive than a dragon and therefore more comfortable. The lacing means you can cinch them tighter if you need a bit more support.

The heels are fine for 95% of heel moves. After that it's like any other move, you need the right shoe for the job. The heels are perfect on some things and not so good on others, in which case you need another shoe in your bag. I've never found a heel yet that's perfect for everything.
 Birdo 03 May 2012
In reply to UKC Gear:

Hi again, thanks again for comments.

Blanco's. I'll bow to more common opinion on the stiffness point, having worn whites for a bit and then the quantum's I felt the quant's were initially more stiff but this could have been down to sizing (I went small on the quant's) or simply a poor recollection of my time with the blanco's!

Heel- @RupertD makes a good point, no heel is perfect (yet!) and it is different strokes for different folk. For me, I prefer the heel's on a pair of miura's or the scarpa instinct laces but footshape, sizing, wear and type of rock all affect the heel performance so worth considering before purchasing.

Thanks again for your views,

Matt

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