Anyone know a durable pair of climbing shoes?

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anonymous123 30 Nov 2017
So the last two pair of shoes I've spent about £80 on (each) - a pair of Saltics and 5.10 Anasazis. After <2-3 months of climbing (indoors 2-3 times a week) they've both acquired holes.

Has anyone bought a pair of shoes that last reasonably long? Am I living in dreamworld asking this question? It would be great to find a durable pair, however, I know there will be a tradeoff between durability and performance. I usually wear mid stiff shoes (tight, but not 'f*ck, I can't wait to get these off' tight).

Cheers in advance.
 1poundSOCKS 30 Nov 2017
In reply to anonymous123:

> Has anyone bought a pair of shoes that last reasonably long?

Unfortunately not, I climb quite a lot and seem to go through shoes really quickly. Best solution I've found is to get older shoes resoled before the toe goes through and prioritise my climbing, i.e. warm up in an old pair and use my best ones for when I need them most.
 Jon Greengrass 30 Nov 2017
In reply to anonymous123:

Where are you getting holes on your shoes? If they are wearing out as fast as you say its probably your footwork that is at fault.
 johncook 30 Nov 2017
In reply to anonymous123:

5.10 seem to be wearing out very quickly relative to other makes. Perhaps there has been a change in manufacture or materials.
My climbing partner has had the same problem with her 5.10's and switched makes and does not have the problem so it is not her footwork!
 1poundSOCKS 30 Nov 2017
In reply to Jon Greengrass:

> If they are wearing out as fast as you say its probably your footwork that is at fault.

Not necessarily. I just went through a pair of Booster S in a 7 week trip. If you're climbing steep overhanging routes, a lot of twisting on the toe happens and it does wear the sole through quickly, especially on rough rock. If the OP is climbing a lot on steep plastic, this might happen too.

On the other hand, if he's climbing slabs/walls and the hole is in the front of the rand, you might have a point.
 tmawer 30 Nov 2017
In reply to anonymous123:

I don't know which shoes have a hard rubber but the shoes that have worn out the quickest for me have had lovely soft sticky rubber. Now using evolve bandits which are wearing rather better but I'm minimally less confident in them, but at the grades I climb they feel a workable compromise.
In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

I had a similar issue with some boosters, for me i worked out it was climbing on our local conglomerate, so now use an older resoled pair on it.
 jonnie3430 30 Nov 2017
In reply to anonymous123:

Buy the Simond ones from decathlon for indoor stuff, 40 quid. If the shoes are worse, it makes you stronger for outdoors when you use normal shoes.
 bouldery bits 30 Nov 2017
In reply to anonymous123:

I've found 5.10 moccs to be basically bomb proof.
In reply to anonymous123:

I've had 2 pairs of La Sportiva Blue Maize over the last 12 months, one tight pair, the other pair less so.

Although this is a technical shoe the fit is ok for wide feet (me).

The radical down curve on the toe takes a little getting used to but once you're over this they are as good a shoe as any I've had over the last 30 yrs.

But here's the durability bit - the rand at the toe is really thick and the edges on mine have survived incredibly well. Usually I get through 2 a year but both pairs of these shoes are still going strong after 10 months.

Not sure if this model is still being made, maybe you can get end of line stock on line. Otherwise I think the Solution is the equivalent new model

anonymous123 30 Nov 2017
In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

I have been doing a fair amount of overhanging climbing, perhaps I need to work on my footwork, though.
anonymous123 30 Nov 2017
In reply to anonymous123:

Cheers for the comments, all.
anonymous123 30 Nov 2017
In reply to Jon Greengrass:
On the 5.10, right where the big toe reaches the end point, above where the lower rand/sole/thing meets the upper. Although, I'd say my footwork is better now that it has ever been and I've never had any similar issues. The Saltics have formed a hole at the split between lower/upper.
Post edited at 22:23
In reply to anonymous123: As has already been suggested, perhaps don't spend £80+ on shoes for the bulk of your indoor climbing.

I've not spent more than perhaps £50 on any climbing shoes for over a decade, although I've always worn very popular mid-range models in a common size (Evolv Defy or Pontas in a UK 7). Thanks to that, at least half my pairs have been picked up second hand, nearly new for £20-£30 and the rest when they've been on sale.

As has also been mentioned, since I've always got several pairs on the go I wear the older or less technical ones for the bulk my climbing and try to keep a better pair for the hardest routes or problems.

Not spending too much originally, means it makes less sense to get them resoled, so I'll just get a few extra weeks out of them on easy routes even after they start to get holes.

However, despite all that, I'm also currently in the same position of being highly irritated with two pairs having just gone through recently...






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