UKC

Hi all

I'm looking for some new rock shoes for grit bouldering, so good for smearing and nice and sensitive are pre-requisites. Can anyone suggest a suitable pair?

I have wide but short, stumpy feet and currently wear Talons for steeper ground and Muira VS's for more smeary climbing. The Muiras are trashed now and I'm reluctant to buy more as three months of grit bouldering ruined them completely, which doesn't feel like great vfm at £125 a pair!

So, anyone suggest any suitable alternatves for a weird-footed grit boulderer?!

Cheers

hm

In reply to hoodmonkey:

Lots of people rate Anasazi velcros for grit bouldering. Scarpa shoes suit a wide foot, perhaps the instinct slipper. The instinct lace would be a bit stiff I reckon.

Crazy that you went through the VS's so fast, how often do you climb in them? Also, I use Talons too and if anything would say that they are very narrow at the tip. Do you have short toes?

In reply to hoodmonkey: evolv shamans, do everything once warn in! by far the best (fitting) shoe ive ever had, fantastic allround performance aswell for me!

In reply to cha1n:

Cheers for the advice. I've had Anasazis in the past but always had loads of dead space in the heel.

The VS's have seen probs 3-5 days a week of climbing but maybe only half of that outside on grit.

Yep I have unusually short toes but wide, high-arched feet!

Sounds like you have similar feet to me, I'd second the Shamans in that case.

In reply to sihills:

I've tried the Shamans and found the fit really good but was unsure how they'd be on grit cos they're pretty downturned...

In reply to hoodmonkey:

I thought the shamans felt like I was wearing a pair of wooden clogs on my feet. No sensitivity at all.

I don't think a downturn necessarily is a bad thing on smears, I wear my dragons on grit quite often. Either those or my Jet 7's/Miura VS.

In reply to hoodmonkey: I find them (Shamans) crap on the grit. Really good on edges and overhangs, but I can't smear in them for s@#t. Could just be my poor smearing though...

In reply to hoodmonkey:

If you can get hold of them, you'd probably get on with the old Scarpas. The stix (the works sell them) or the boosters (you get them on here and ebay sometimes). I have a mate with the same feet and he loves them.

They use vibram XS Grip rubber though which is softer than the XS edge that your miuras use, so will wear out faster than your if anything.

I'd recommend getting your Miuras resoled by llanberis resoled if the uppers are in good condition. I saw some of that resolers handy work yesterday and was very impressed. My miuras are what I use lots on grit.

In reply to cha1n:

Eh? Aren't they the super-pointy toe-down ones? Have you tried smearing on grit boulder problems in them?

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Yes and yes.

It's not the toe box that's downturned, it's the arches that are high in them. Most of Dave Macleods hard climbs were done in them. What's he done on grit, E8/9?

In reply to cha1n:

I actually got the Muiras re-soled by the place in Chester and found they lost their aggressive shape, which made em better for smearing, but lost their sensitivity cos the rubber was thicker.

In reply to cha1n:

Also the bottom velcro fastener perished on both Muiras so probs not worth another re-sole!

Was worth £30 the first time though as I got another six months out of them

In reply to cha1n:

Do you have any experience of the Instinct or Vapour? Are they similar to the older Scarpas you mentioned?

Thanks for all the info

hm

In reply to hoodmonkey:

Well this Llanberis guy seemed to do a good job of keeping the shape on the shoes that I saw. He even mentions it himself on his website; http://www.llanberisresoles.com/pages/faq.html#downturn

He also has 3.5mm XS grip which is a sensitive rubber. I know some of the other resolers use 5mm rubber which is a bit of a joke really. I use the women's Miura VS because they use XS grip which is really soft and grippy but it wears out a bit quicker!

In reply to hoodmonkey:

I've tried the Vapours but they didn't suit my long toes, so could be a winner for you. They are definitely wide at the toebox and narrower at the back. The instincts were good but you might find the toebox a bit high volume if your toes are very short.

I'd recommend trying the stix on, as I said they sell them at the works in Sheffield. They are quite cheap too. They seemed to offer more support in the arch but still smeared really well but the arches were a bit high for me.

In reply to cha1n:



one of the most sensitive down turned shoes ive worn once worn in ofcourse, after a few sessions mine lost a bit of the aggresive toe down ness, will happily chose them over any of my other shoes for the grit smears.

In reply to cha1n:

Yeah reading the website he sounds to know the craic a lot more than the other place, which only had the option of 5mm.

Still, as mentioned, the uppers are pretty trashed so a new pair of some kind is on the cards. Will defo keep the Llanberis place in mind though

In reply to cha1n:

Sounds like I need to try the Vapours and Stix then...