UKH

Hello,
 

I’m aware there was a thread on this last year that has been archived.

 I’m looking for advice on rapid toe wear on my climbing shoes - It appears that my right foot, at the very tip of the big toe wears through the rubber after about three months. This never happens on the left - so I end up getting new shoes but with one still fully functional! The right toe wears very quickly straight through the rubber and into the material below.

 I do climb a lot (usually outside up to four days a week) and have tried five ten, scarpa and la sportiva shoes of different types and it happens again and again!

I’ve got folk to check I’m not doing some weird toe drag up the wall and I’ve worked hard on my foot work - my partner only needs new shoes once a year! So I’m not sure this wearing out is normal? ... does anyone experience this, or have advice on either a shoe type that is long lasting or getting just the rubber replaced on the bottom of the shoe (I.E is it worth it, does it change the fit of the shoe?). I’d like to stop being so wasteful! 

A bigger foot? My left is bigger than my right, tend to wear through the toe on that shoe quicker.  Would love it if you could buy close fitting climbing shoes individually...

This happened to me, but that's because I tended to drag my left toe up the wall!  I've more or less stopped doing this now.

You can get a single shoe resoled.  That's what I did.

Is one of your legs stronger than the other because of an old injury? Is your core strength equally balanced? I would normally associate wear on the tip of a shoe with indoor use and dragging, but that tends to be just above the tip. My shoes wear most at a point around 1cm back from the tip, exactly underneath the tip of my big toe.

3 months isn't great, I buy a pair a year and pretty much always have. The pair I use at the wall (mostly, they've actually done a lot outdoors too at all grades) have been going 10 years and only been resoled once!

Morphology or one sided technique I'd say. If it's you...

Can't do anything about morphology, except cuting toe nails. But maybe, you could buy slightly larger shoes. Some shoes when tight I find the toe rand bulges over the sole when weighted. This gives a wear point on the toe rand as you place your foot fine, weigh it, it bulges and there's friction as it all settles, then off you step, next move. Repeat. Fwiw I think this caused issues with my feet sticking on little edges on harder routes in the past, with some shoes. White anastasis for example.  I know others do fine in these shoes, it's just my opinion/ explanation. 

If you can't change the morphology, I guess pay more attention to your feet. It can't be a bad thing...

Three months is not great but not that uncommon, unfortunately. Some people just seem lighter on their feet/toes! I used to sell climbing shoes and would have at least a couple of people with similar questions every month. Climbing 3 or more times a week seems to be a common factor. Didn't notice one particular brand or model with that problem. However, you're the first person with the wear only affecting one shoe that I've heard of!

The reply about body mechanics might be worth looking into further. People do seem to favour a dominant hand/foot in most sports. 

Getting the one shoe resoled is the best option. You could ask the store you purchased them to return under warranty, you might get lucky.