UKH

Hi you lovely people. 
 

I moved over from 5:10 Anasazi Velcro after the adidas purchase and was convinced to go to unparallel rise Velcro - as same people behind them . 
 

the shoes fit great as the feel is great. BUT. I seem to be going through the toe rubber way quicker than ever before. Been through way too many shoes last year. Barely get 3 months out of them. 
 

climb 6c/7a - 2 or 3 days a week inside and outside every couple of weeks. 

Am I being paranoid and this is normal usage. Or has anyone had the same issue with the brand. A friend at my gym is having the same problem. He even complained to them and got told he has to talk to the seller not them. 
 

thoughts? 
 

I have wide feet, so any other brands you could recommend. I’m pushing on to 7a+/b this year.  
 

thanks. 
 

tim 
 

In reply to Timhlondon:

I was a massive 5.10 Blanco fan, so bought the UP lace as a replacement. I wore out the toe rubber on two pairs within 6 months last year. A great shoe, fits perfectly straight out the box, but the rubber is absolutely shocking. So they're just not worth buying and resoling 

In reply to Timhlondon:

I have several friends saying exactly the same, although I just ribbed them for needing to improve their footwork. Maybe the toe rubber is just really really thin  

In reply to Timhlondon:

I bought a pair. They immediately went baggy and loose so got demoted to indoor wall (ab)use only. They've lasted me ages and still have plenty life left. Which is mildly annoying because I wouldn't mind an excuse to get rid and buy something that stays the right size.

In reply to Longsufferingropeholder:

I had a similar problem with Katana Laces. Felt good in the shop, but then in real life it turned out they just didn't suit my feet at all. Took me ages of wall endurance mileage to beat the damn things to death.

In reply to Timhlondon:

Pretty much identical story from me, I loved the shoe but it just wore 2 or 3 times as quick as other makes I own, I've subsequently moved on to various scarpa models.

In reply to Timhlondon:

You can get them resoled at LLanberis Resoles, they will use the scarpa or la sportiva rubber so if you like the fit then that might be a goer?  The rubber on the Scarpa Instinct VSRs is really good so might be a good solution?  You'd need to send them before you go through the toe otherwise they have to do the rand and the final product is never as good as a simple resole.

Caveat, not had any unparallels done yet but have asked about them.  When he does my instincts they are better than new (I find instincts also go through the toe fast).  

In reply to Timhlondon:

Also a former Anasazi user - then switched to Scarpa Vapor V which were decent once broken in but they wore through the "tip of the big-toenail" area on the rand, then at the recommendation of a shop salesperson I tried Sportiva Qubo, which wore through in the same spot even quicker than the Scarpas. It's probably down to my dodgy footwork, and increased indoor mileage, but in the past I've never had this problem of blowing through the toe-rand while the rest of the sole is still in great nick. Are modern shoes generally thinner there than they used to be?

(Tangentially, if anyone has any suggestions of how to protect this spot on the rand from premature wear I'm all ears!)

In reply to Timhlondon:

Not quite the same issue, but I bought a pair of UP Lace two or three years ago. After a year of not particularly heavy use (but just out of warranty!) the lining in one of them ripped. There is now daylight showing between the upper and the rand. 

The rands themselves appear to be OK although I sense that the sole is wearing more than I'd have expected.

I bought these to replace a pair of Scarpas which (with a couple of resoles) had lasted more than a dozen years.  I won't be bothering to repair the Unparallels.

They seemed to be good shoes and I was initially pleased with them, but I do get the impression there are some quality issues with them.

In reply to Timhlondon: No great solace or solution here. I have the same issue in pretty much any shoe and am lucky to get your 3 months if using a shoe as my main one though I’m counting it in days - so maybe 25-30 days climbing, mainly routes indoors and out. The key wear point is at the tip of the toe and I do favour a very asymmetric shoe which may be part of the issue. I’m mainly wearing Scarpa Boostic, old Stix and a pair of Instinct Laces but have Ocun Jetts, La Sportiva Solutions and various other shoes. I do rotate a lot of shoes and try to warm up in older/less favoured shoes but really notice wear when away on a trip. I’m seeing little difference between the original sole and resoles and am lucky to get a couple of trips (maybe 20 days climbing) before I need to consider a resole. My Instinct Lace barely managed 12 days and then it was that decision time whether to resole or wear them to the death. When I get a resole I always ask for Edge rather than Grip and 4mm rather than 3.5.I’m not noticing a significant performance difference but I seem to be getting a bit more life out of a resole - maybe. I slip on my good original sole shoes for insights and harder red points though. Another thing I find is when I decide to wear a pair of shoes to the death they do seem to last for quite a while and I’ve just finally chucked a pair of Stix that went beyond saving but then worked as a route then warm up/wall shoe for nearly a year. They were a pretty cost effective. I do find textured bouldering walls hard on shoes as, even with hopefully good footwork, there seems more dragging or bouncing of my shoes. 
I don’t recall this being as big an issue in the past but I maybe obsessed less about my footwork then😏
 

In reply to Timhlondon:

I had a pair of these, never wore them inside, no bouldering, they only barely lasted a summer (end may-september) of pretty fair expected use; a verdon trip, uk few pitches a week and 2 weeks in alps. Super sticky for that period but damn. Many my pals have experienced similar much quicker wearing than other brands. 

In reply to Timhlondon:

I got some Unparallel UP Lace in 2019 and they're still going strong, despite having been demoted to indoor leading shoe. I don't particularly love them, and the liner fabric has wrinkled, but the rubber seems fine. I always thought it a sturdy, well-made shoe, especially compared to sloppily made Anasazis from the same period. Perhaps standards have slipped?

In (older model) Katanas, by contrast, I always seem to split the rand near the big toe where it gets a little wrinkle when I really edge on something. Same weird split in two pairs, and did it to an almost new pair trying hard on a limestone sport route. I think it must be the exact way they fit me that does it. Shame, because, once they've been laboriously broken in, I love climbing in them. My main pair of trad shoes is consequently holey, and has been for about a year.

I also love the Tenaya Oasi... but after almost a year of bouldering in them inside and out, the rubber is getting so thin toward the front that I know they will go before long. I think that's just an inevitability, though, of them being so incredibly sensitive.

In reply to Timhlondon:

Useful discussion.

I've recently worn out a couple of pairs at the same time; Anasazi LV velcros & Defy velcros. My current best pair - Anasazi Pro LV are looking pretty poor so just thinking about pulling the trigger on buying a pair of Rise LV.

I thinl it is still worth giving them a go. I can always go back to some Evolvs if they die excessively quickly 

However I don't really expect shoes to last too long if I wear them for the entirety of every indoor session, so generally I just find the cheapest possible pair from eBay that remotely fit and just use them for warming up and as much as possible indoors apart from the the hardest routes or blocs that I need to project. My current warm up pair are currently some Evolv Elektras that cost me the princely sum of £20.

In reply to spragglerocks:

I hade some unparallel laces re-soled at Llanberis. They worked as good as new and the resole lasted much longer than the original.

In reply to Timhlondon:

Just for an alternate perspective on UP quality: I’ve got a pair of Sirius and Vim, I really like them and the build quality has been fine. I climb on my board or at the wall 3 or 4 times a week and get outdoors a bit over the spring/ summer mostly on limestone and a bit of sandstone. No unusual wear or holes. The Sirius in particular are just like the old 5.10 dragons, bought them a couple of years ago and they’re still great. I rotate with scarpa and la Sportiva, which are  beautifully made/ stitched but also have their issues like the crap Velcro scarpa use which rapidly loses its stick and the pull closure system sportiva use on the futura/ solution which is very flimsy. Vims I bought just before Christmas for a board/ woody shoe I can get on and off easily, I rate them and the fit has stayed good, they haven’t stretched. Just my two penneth etc! 

In reply to harold walmsley:

Second this. 

In reply to Wyre Forest Illuminati:

How is the Vim compared to the TN Pro? They look *very* similar. 

I love the TN Pros, but the wrestling bout to get them on is enough of a pain in the arse to stop me getting another pair (probably a good part of my warm up mind).

In reply to midgen:

In the same size, the Vim is a LOT harder to get on than the TN Pros........

(The heel is slightly different too imho)

In reply to midgen:

I’ve no experience with the TN so can’t really comment. I’ve sized the vim in an 8, which is my street size and they fit really nicely. 8 in a Sirius is a bit tighter and harder to get on. 8 in the original dragon is a squeeze. Could maybe have gone down 1/2 a size in the vim but genuinely don’t think it would have made much difference to the performance, the heel is really snug and they haven’t stretched as they’re not too small, so despite being a slipper and quite comfy they’re still secure even on heel hooks etc. I like them a lot, they’re a mid stiffness sort of shoe so I swap into a furia s or futura for a bit more feel but the vim is a great all rounder for me and very convenient/ easy to get on and off. 

In reply to spragglerocks: thanks Spraggle - will definitely do that. I’ve been saving them up - before they go through completely - and plan to send a batch of 5 to get redone at same time.  That way I can then just keep rotating them and sending two at a time for resoling. Seems like the most cost efficient way and can then see how long the leather lasts  

In reply to Wyre Forest Illuminati: thanks Wyre. This is super helpful. What is fit on the Sirius and Vim’s.  I have wide fit feet