UKH

What currently is the stickiest rubber/shoes available? I'm thinking in terms of pure slab smearing.

In reply to johnl:

Xs grip 2 maybe? Though some indoor/competition shoes are now using even softer rubber I think, though i may be wrong on that point.

In reply to johnl: grip 2, but you need the shoes clean.. not clean like at the climbing wall , but really clean. Put them through the washing machine 

In reply to johnl:

No doubt in my mind - Stealth C4. Better than the later Stealth Onyx. Better than anything.

In reply to johnl:

Personally I found stealth C4 rubber to be the stickiest 

In reply to johnl:

Stealth C4 without a doubt

In reply to johnl:

Someone tested the coefficient of friction of climbing rubber and found Evolv trax xt-5 to be best. C4 was next to last. It might be a bit out of date by now though.

https://www.liveabout.com/rock-climbing-shoe-rubber-3972252

In reply to apwebber:

The shoes you and I buy are a balance of friction and wear resistance. With climbing becoming Olympic and all that involves, I see a future with short life very sticky shoes geared towards comps. Stored in an oven at the correct temperature, wiped down with alcohol by a lackey before the climber starts.

There is precidence in marathon running, Nike, I think sold (maybe still do) a 70 mile shoe. 

In reply to johnl:

About the stickiness of stealth C4.

I could agree with the people who say C4 is the stickiest but then we are both wrong.

What I know and feel and even hear! there is a big difference in Stealth C4 now. The American C4 was sticky. But the new C4 stealth (Chinese) is in fact … quite hard and less sticky (N=1). One can even hear the new C4 placing my foot. Reference is my old American Pinks and my new Chinese Pinks.

Properties of the new rubber can be found on the Internet, if you search well, what I did once.

Easier to find is information of the rubber used by UnParallel shoes which seem softer and may be stickier then the old as well as the new C4.

https://www.unparallelsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Unparallel-Rubb...

By the way; the CE mark – as we know – says the product is conform the Conformité Européenne. Not to confuse with the Chinese CE “symbol” what means Chinese Export.

I think the shape, stiffness etc of the shoe plays also an important role how good a shoes smears or edges.  

In reply to RR:

Most interesting. Perhaps I need to come into the modern age. I must investigate the Unparallel shoes you cite. Do all their shoes have the same rubber, do you know?

In reply to johnl:

My experience is that belief is the stickiest rubber. If I really really believe it will stick, it will. 

In reply to bouldery bits:

"If I just believe it, there's nothing to it. I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky."

In reply to Martin Bennett:

There are two rubbers; rubber hard and rubber soft. Have a pair of the uprise (Anasazi Velcro) with rubber hard. Were horrid out of the box and I didn't trust my feet at all. The edge on them is very sharp when new. They now feel great. I have been a long time five ten user and then once the quality deteriorated (Adidas), wore Scarpa Vapours which I think are a good shoe, until the latest redesign which I don't like. 

I bought my first pair of five ten anasazi (which were turquoise) in Montana in 1994 and was amazed at how much better they were than the boreal shoes I was wearing at that point. 

For all day and alpine rock, it was and still would be hard to beat the ascents which were just totally brilliant. I would love for someone to start making something like this again.

James

In reply to johnl:

Thanks guys, having used Stealth C4 and XS grip I have to say XS grip was my preference but the Evolv trax xt-5 sounds interesting, I'll have to give it a go.

In reply to johnl:

Softness of the shoe is equally important as rubber in my opinion. 

If you're looking for pure savage slab smearing ability on mingy sloping nothings, consider some of the new age comp shoes. 

Scarpa Furia Air, Sportiva Theory - super soft to cope with the demands of extremely delicate, friction dependent climbing. 

Just imagine what Johnny could have done in his prime with a pair of those on. It's almost unthinkable. 

In reply to johnl:

Stealth Mi6, absolutely no doubt.

Unfortunately you will be lucky for the soles to last more than a couple of months. For almost as good stickiness but much more robustness, I had my soft LS Katanas resoled with Boreal Zenith soles. I was convinced when the guy at my local shop demonstrated the stickiness by pushing the soles of two shoes together, and could lift one with the other...

CB

In reply to MischaHY: I know that on a lot of the youtube stuff he's wearing mk2 ballets but I recall seeing him in a pair of Kalme/Calme Linse's which were also very, very sticky.  You could routinely squeak a pir up and they'd stick together.  Same as Clog Ron Fawcetts (also made by Kalme) They didn't last very long though..

In reply to cb294:

That was exactly the demonstration that sold me my first pair of climbing boots that weren't EBs - Asolo Canyons. This would be very nearly 40 years ago.

"Plus ça change . . . . . " eh?

In reply to johnl:

I'm sure I saw an interview somewhere that said they had gone too soft and sticky on a rubber in development and had to dial it back as they were seeing the beginnings of knee injuries. Something to do with people moving their legs but their feet were staying still. Could have just been marketing rubbish. 

In reply to james mann: they have just launched a third rubber RA which has a harder shore hardness that they are using on the NewTro range which are more of an edging limestone shoe.