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Mega is a great all around comfy trad shoe that can take serious abuse. You can wear them for days on end. After they break in they are almost as comfy as a tennis shoe. I have tried many trad shoes and settled on the Mega. I now own four pair. They were selling for $50 recently on clearance.

La Sportiva Trad Master's kick ass.

Good God.

1. People have different sized feet
2. People have different shaped feet

Thusly, my perfect shoes may not fit you as well and vice versa.

3. Face climbs and crack climbs lend themselves to different requirements in shoes.

Sometimes I plug gear with Katanas, sometimes I wear Mythos. There is no right answer and there's a chance neither of these will be good for your feet. See your local shoe salesman for an explanation.

4. There is a search feature, this has been discussed before. Even though it's about as stupid a question you can ask when not sitting in front of a rack of shoes, people have in the past been more than happy to chime in.

That said, the venoms are your all around best bet for trad climbing. Feel free to verify on arecee.com.

Amen, charlie!
But... wait... without redundant threads like this how can we ever hope to break up the monotony of the work day?

While I agree with you Charlie, my boredom and being at work mandates that I add my opinion. Also there is some value in revisiting topics like this since new shoes do come out.

Anyway, this is what you should do:

-First, try on some shoes to find which ones feel the most comfortable so you can wear them longer ant your toes can take more abuse. Don't drop down in size much or at all (foot jams are no fun with curled toes).

-Second feel the rubber and look at the style, picking out the features and stick that best suit what you think you will climb (ie more rubber around the toe box for jamming or stickier rubber that may wear out faster).

-Lastly buy the shoes with the coolest name, because that's what really matters. How much of a bad ass you feel like when you climb in them is what will make you send. For example I have the 5.10 Gambits. In thoes you better believe I rock out like a bad ass, staff carrying, card throwing mutant, cajun... oh I climb in them too.

Often I purchase shoes based solely on the recommendations of old men on climbing forums. I can't remember ever finding a pair of shoes any other way, especially not by ever trying a pair on. And I certainly don't find the opinions of others who have experience with gear that I haven't used meaningful. I actually prefer to make completely uniformed choices. And I always enjoy thread redundancy. It's not like new shoes are ever made. Though if they are, they are certainly not worth talking about on a forum, let alone climbing in. And who could expect a shoe that jams and edges at the same time? That's just crazy talk. Reading your post Charlie, I see the light. I'm going down to my local retailer and trying on every pair in stock. Then I'll find the perfect shoe made just for me and my cute little feet! Hopefully it's Testarosa, Kumo, or Muira, otherwise I guess I'm outta luck. That is if I can ever hope to find my way out of this confounding napkin holder.

Thanks to anyone who posted useful information. Anasazi laceups for $75 sounds good. Still wondering if anyone's ever worn the Techno though. Except those are made in Italy so I doubt they'll solve the exchange rate problem that Muira's have.

5.10 pitons

kidney_dave wrote:red chili mescalitos....

Only if you like garbage shoes

RRO wrote:

512OW wrote:I roll with who ever will pay to have their logo on my feet. If you would like to purchase space please send all inquiries to my secretary, pigsnuts.

nice

i guess sponsorship is like crack--a little wouldnt do it so a little got more and more just trying to get a little better say a little better than before

Its the truth. Besides, I can climb 5.12 cracks in flipflops.

I love my Mythos! Leather uppers that conform to the shape of your foot after they get broken in. Not the most technical shoe around, but great for all-day trad routes.

Advice that's useful only if your foot happens to be the same shape as mine.....