UKC

Going to get a pair of shoes resoled (cheshire) and when looking at the rubber options, one option stood out as a bit different. 

Davos brand rubber? 

https://davos.it/en/portfolio-items/climbing-rubber/

Anyone tried it? Is it any good? I found one mountain project thread by a guy who said he got his shoes resoled in it, and it was better than C4 in regards to friction. 

But that's pretty much all I could find out about it. 

Alright, guess I'll be the guinea pig. I'll get my TC Pro's resoled with this rubber, and see what I think. Just bought a new pair too, so will be able to do a pretty good comparison with the normal XS Edge rubber that comes standard.  

I'll report back.

If anyone wants to suggest a methodology for testing how good the rubber is, I'm listening! 

I'm certainly interested in how it performs. 

Just so I remember, the rubber that came with my TC Pros lasted from 12th of April, to 1st of September. 

Mostly gym use, with a decent amount of outdoor trips too. 

So that's a total of about 3.5 months. Damn my footwork must be sloppy, ay? 

That's 3 times a week at the gym (bouldering and lead), and probably averaging every other weekend for outdoor climbing I reckon. 

Okay, just took delivery of my resole from Cheshire Shoes. Initial impressions (this is my first resoling ever) is that they look pretty good! They fit basically exactly the same, and they've fixed the rand. I was worried the fit (most important to me, personally) would be ruined but not at all. 

In regards to the rubber, it is a fair bit thinner. Website said 5mm, but the PDF you fill out says 4mm. I confirmed when buying with the company, and they said it's actually 4mm and it does show when you put the new TC Pros and old next to each other. 

I would be very surprised if this resole in this thinner rubber lasts longer than the original rubber. 

My initial reaction in regards to the stickiness of the rubber, is that it's stickier than the XS Edge. It definitely seems to be a softer rubber. 

I don't really have any way to test friction in my flat, but I put one of each rubber on each of my feet, and tested the stickiness by just running my foot down my wooden bed frame. 

This test revealed nothing in regards to actual friction. Both seemed just as slippery as each other, and it's smooth wood so what did I expect?

One noticeable difference was that the Davos rubber left a very prominent black mark, and the XS Edge did not. This makes me think it is a softer rubber, and likely to be stickier on the wall. 

But if there's rubber on my bed, it's not on my shoe, so that doesn't bode well for its durability. 

I guess this is a bit of a Cheshire Shoe review too, so I'll post some pics of my new TC Pros, and the resoled ones, so you can gauge workmanship. They look pretty good to me, and I'm happy with the results for the £49 I spent. I couldn't get a better new shoe for that much. A new pair of TC Pros is double that, minimum. 

So here's some pics just of the resoled shoes:

https://i.imgur.com/8gCCq7a.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/rAhp8tI.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/xwqbrZc.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/RHCFuoz.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/o4gbPH5.jpeg

As you can probably see, it does seem they randomly shaved a lot more off one of the resoles than the other at the tip. That's kinda annoying, and it's significant and right where I want more rubber. You can see it more in this pic: https://i.imgur.com/79bU2rR.jpg

That will be the first shoe to burn through the toe. 

And here's some comparisons: 

Original rubber = https://i.imgur.com/Agu7tQI.jpeg

Resoled rubber = https://i.imgur.com/FrjYb2Q.jpeg

As you can see, significantly less rubber at the front (feels like more than 1mm less?), so I imagine these won't last long. 

Left new, right resoled:

https://i.imgur.com/8YjjSpe.jpeg

I think most of the difference in shape is simply the fact the old ones are nicely broken in. 

I'll next be in the gym on Friday. Will put a new and resoled on each foot, and try some scary friction tests on volumes. Pray for my shins. 

Out of interest, why are you climbing indoors in TC Pros?

The original rubber on my TC Pros has lasted about a decade so far, because I only ever break them out on the odd occasion I'm doing a long multi-pitch crack climb.

I wouldn't be looking to resole them with a grippy compound - that's not the sort of climbing they excel at.

I have a big toe that doesn't bend (broken it a few times, and followed bad 'gotta be tight!' advice when I started climbing), and causes all kinds of pain and trouble. I've tried dozens of different shoes, and these are the only ones that allow me to stand on small edges and not be in severe pain. They're basically the stiffest shoe I've been able to find. If someone can recommend a stiffer shoe, I'll give it a go. 

I had no idea what this Davos rubber would be like, as there's basically no info online about it. It could have been a harder compound. Turns out it's probably more sticky and softer, but someone had to take the leap ha. 

Tbh, in regards to gyms, I'm not convinced it matters what shoes you're wearing. The idea TC Pros shouldn't be worn indoors, doesn't make much sense to me. The shoe you can wear for the longest, without pain, is going to have you climbing more and improving more. This is doubly true in the gym. And it's ankle protection has saved me big time on a few slab volume climbs.. 

I do come across the odd person who comments on my shoe choice when outdoors bouldering, or in the gym. I think its mostly misplaced.

There's a complete crusher in my gym, who wears £30 Simond shoes..

Then I see people leading 6a in ridiculously downsized solutions they have to take off after every climb. Strikes me as dumb. 

Just wear what's comfy, and you'll see performance gains because you'll climb more. 

I'm just making this thread because I couldn't find out any info on this rubber, and I know lots of people do care about this kind of stuff. Personally, however this rubber is, it's not going to change my grade in the slightest. If I was climbing 8a, I'd have a differing opinion. 

As an aside, I've noticed there's a new model of TC Pros being released in a few months. I am so nervous they're going to change the fit. Took me so long to find a shoe that didn't cause pain. 

Might have to buy like 5 pairs! Hopefully they'll be clearance priced at least..

And sorry, this might have got a bit rant-y.. But I get asked that a surprising amount. 

Fair enough - I was just curious... Not because I think there's wrong wrong with using them any way you like, just that they're rather expensive and often hard to find for sale so I wouldn't want to wear them out in the gym.

I normally use old, baggy resoled shoes indoors and keep the good ones for when it really matters outside, so totally with you on the comfort front 🙂

I'm only on my second pair, but they seem relatively well stocked at the £110-130 price range from what I've seen? Pretty pricy, but as you suggest I'm going to just beat the crap out of this one pair and keep resoling them and using them in the gym. 

Then I'll have my new fresh pair for trying hard outdoors. 

Doubt I'll be able to make them last a decade like you have, though! Fingers crossed they've not messed too much with the formula for the new model of TC Pros. But given that they now look much much more downturned, I'm not holding out hope for my toe. 

I don't want to go back to tarantulaces, but they're literally the only other shoe that doesn't hurt my toe. My main issue with them was a very thin rand, though. It was pretty ridiculous how quick they'd get a hole, and it seems like a common problem online that is wrongly attributed to them being a newbie shoe. Maybe that flaw in design could be fixed with resoling? 

I can't comment on the the tarrantulaces but in general you want to get the resole done before the rand starts to show any significant wear.

First impressions having climbed with the Davos rubber.. It's a fair bit stiffer, I think. So slightly worse for smearing on an already stiff shoe. 

Also, there's this 7a+ I've been repeatedly attempting in my gym. Getting there!

Anyway, probably tried it 20-30 times now. Never had a foot slip. 

First attempt with new rubber, and had a foot slip. 

All my attempts to actually do a side by side comparison, came back inconclusive and I couldn't really tell which was more grippy. 

But that foot slip makes me think it's a less sticky rubber. The stiff nature of the rubber maybe backs that up? 

Anyway, that's my initial impressions. I'll update in a few weeks after climbing some more in them. 

Currently, I think I should have just got them resoled in XS Edge as they came with, haha. 

Yeaah, and the foot slips keep coming. Foot slips are super rare for me, it's almost always my arms that give out. Yet I've had quite a few with this new rubber. I'm a big believer in a well waited foot, not slipping. But this rubber is making me question it.. 

I'm ready to give a verdict. 

Don't bother with this rubber. Just go with the established brands. I'll be resoling these with XS Edge next time. 

I'll report back if they last like 6+ months or something that might be worth mentioning. But as it stands, it's a two thumbs down for me. 

Could it be that you're not used to it, or that it's not operating at its optimum temperature? I know some rubbers are better than others at 'summer mediterranean temps' and worse at 'uk winter' temps and vice versa.

Oh, stiff shoes - La Sportiva 'Cliff' model from the later 90's (white upper) was very stiff on the inside edge. Dunno if it's still available.