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(a rip off of "good for the body is the work of the body, good for the soul the work of the soul, and good for either the work of the other." h.d. thoreau)

so i'm feeling the ills of this paper chase and i'm skimping when and where i can.. but my last pair of shoes just blew threw and that was my last pair of decent shoes. now i've come to the point where i've got to sack up and buy a new pair.. but i'm having a really hard time justifying shelling out big bucks to buy a pair of high-end climbing shoes. in the past, buying something cheap, mad rocks or just larger shoes that were loose, was fine. but recently i've been on some routes that have had me wondering if i wouldn't appreciate a better shoe, that is one that doesn't roll over small nubs and that i can trust to actually stick where i place them.

what do you think? should i sack up and invest the money on a high-end toe cruncher (eg: muiras) or should i suck it up and deal with the low-end suite of climbing shoes (eg: fiveten coyote, madrock phoenix/flash)? i've found some sales but not for my shoe size (eu: 40.5-41) so figure i'm paying retail..

Good shoes help. How much depends on the route and the climber. I can tell a big difference between my Katana's and my muiria's/testarossa's. Esp. on project level stuff with tricky/small feet. So, sack up and buy a nice pair. Just make sure they fit you well, regardless of brand. Then wear your crappy shoes to warm up and doe easy routes, and break out the good shoes for sending.

If you really want your shoes to last, try Eric's idea of wearing a different pair for every single route you do in a day.

If you know what fits and what sizes you're looking for, you can sometimes find some great deals on eBay. N00bs wear them twice and quit climbing = 1/2 price.

evolve, makes some of my favorite shoes, and they are not to expensive. The predators are my favorite steep climbing shoes.

paul, for the longest time i saw you climbing in shoes with your big toe sticking out of them.

remember? you refused to get new shoes.

now you find that you like whole shoes instead of holey. i say experiment.
buy a pair cheap and a pair expensive. which do you end up liking best? which last longer and why?
then you'll know the right answer for you for the rest of your life.

I could have got you a pair of anasazi velcros for like 40 bucks...the shop in Vegas had a mega sale, I think they do it once a year to get rid of inventory, next time it comes around I will let y'all know. It was well worth it, I got a nice pair of 5-10s for around 30 bucks....can't remember which kind they are, but the Manimal has em and he has been wearin them for a LONG time...

The sales are there if you look, I know people that bought a shit ton of the on sale shoes in Vegas and were going to sell them on the net, discounted but still making a profit.

Get a good pair, I hate climbing in Mad Rocks - I don't trust the rubber and I hate slicking off stuff, when I tell my foot to stick, I want it to STICK.

OR, just chalk up your tootsies and climb barefoot.

meetVA wrote:paul, for the longest time i saw you climbing in shoes with your big toe sticking out of them.

remember? you refused to get new shoes.

now you find that you like whole shoes instead of holey. i say experiment.
buy a pair cheap and a pair expensive. which do you end up liking best? which last longer and why?
then you'll know the right answer for you for the rest of your life.

haha.. man.. i forgot about those days. but now that you're reminding me of them, you're reminding me that you can deal with just about any shoe so long as you use it well.

as for the experiment: if i had the kind of money to buy both, i would just buy the good pair. as it is, i don't..

i think i'm just going to get a pair of coyotes and see how they work out (the fact that they're new makes me feel like i'm splurging..). i figure if nothing else, one day when the perfect shoe for me comes along, i'll be able to use it really well.

Evolv Rage, $69 +shipping slippers. Fit to street size.

I will say it again paul, evolve. They are even sold at miguels.