UKC

The Genius is the latest shoe in La Sportiva's No-Edge range.

Having never used a no-edge shoe before, and being of a somewhat ignorant nature whereby I believe an edge to be a desirable thing, I was interested to see how the Genius fared in reality (rather than just marketing hype).


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In reply to UKC Gear:

I tried them on and found them a bit too asymmetrical for my liking so will be sticking (geddit) to my Katana velcro and lace quiver.

In reply to UKC Gear:

good review, but looking at the pictures at the bottom of the page, have sportiva never heard of toe down shoes?

In reply to mwatson:

I could well be wrong here but I think they were the 1st to develop down turned shoes

In reply to SGD:

Indeed, the red ones - Mirage I think. I bought a pair in maybe 98? They were bizarrely comfortable for me although they didn't actually make much difference to my climbing! Mine have got some holes in them now but I still wear them on the wall sometimes.

In reply to UKC Gear:

How do these feel compared to the Boldini no-edge shoes?
Had a pair of them and they were great, but a total ballache to get at a sensible price in the Uk.

In reply to Steve nevers:

I haven't used the Andrew Boldrini shoes I'm afraid so can't really comment, that said there may be other users who have - if not with the Genius then either the Futura or Speedster.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I suppose resoling is a non-starter with these jobbies?

In reply to troglodyte:

Nah, you can resole them just like normal shoes. You just won't get no-edge dealio, but a normal shoe afterwards.

In reply to UKC Gear:

What is the sizing like? Should I get same size as Solutions or?

I have been using Futuras for a couple of years now and they are definitely my favourite shoes for, limestone, quartzite and steep sandstone sportclimbing. I think I even prefer them to the Genius as they stretch a little more so I can size them smaller for an even more precise fit after wearing in. On granite however they don't work well and sharp crystals can easily tear chunks out of the thin and soft rubber. I get them resoled here in France by Christophe Cabrol at 'Chamonix Cordonnerie'. He is an authorized La Sportiva resoler and just replaces the whole 'no-edge' piece of the shoe so they come back as good as new or better! About 35 euros a pair + postage.In reply to UKC Gear:

I downsize the Futura about two and half sizes and the Genius 2 sizes. In reply to UKC Gear:

In reply to HeMa:

They can be resoled (and keep their no-edge) no problems.

There's currently no re-soler in the UK for this unfortunately, Feet First are likely to be able to offer this sooner rather than later. Get in touch with them for updates.

In reply to Carney:

Downsize from what? I don't even get the same size trainers every time.

In reply to Lyon Equipment Ltd:


OK. good to know.


This was actually rather what I ment. I didn't even know no-edge resoles were offered (somewhere on the globe).

In reply to Lyon Equipment Ltd:

Im sure the bloke at llambaris (sorry about the poor spelling) said he could do them edge less

In reply to Lyon Equipment Ltd:

Not quite true, I've resoled many Futuras and have started getting the Genius in too now. And yes I do them edgeless. (Llanberis Resoles)

In reply to torquil:


I can vouch for this - Torquil resoled my Geniuses a few month ago with a new edgeless sole and did a cracking job.