To be clear, the Quantic is certainly a cut above more than half of the climbing shoes on the market, and I’d take it over most other brands. It’s just not my favorite of Scarpa’s sterling lineup of climbing shoes. I found the Quantic to be a bit too stiff for my taste, which led to a lengthy break-in period. The thick straps made the shoe feel just a bit too clunky. And it feels as if the shoe is lacking some of the more aggressive tensioning other Scarpa shoes have, which delivers the..." go to full review
When it comes to performance, the Strange has been designed to deliver the purest power in EB’s line-up. The shoe’s profile is typical of the EB range, favouring aggressive asymmetry over modest downturn to pump power through the toe, but it’s the more pronounced point at the tip of the shoe that gives the Strange its edging focussed focal point. Featuring a full midsole (a 1mm plastic insert that sits between the fabric and the rubber) and further reinforcement under the toe, the super..." go to full review
Quite simply, the Nitro excels at toeing in on steep walls, toeing around laterally distant edges (“dragoning in”), yarding on pockets, and even (though there aren’t many of these on the MoonBoard) smearing on big, compy volumes. And it performs these tasks equally well both inside and outside. I tested the Nitros on Little Cottonwood Canyon’s granite boulders, where I found them high-performing on steeper and more gymnastic climbs. For instance, they served me well on the classic V8/9 ..." go to full review
The Wildfire Edge is also encompassed by a web of laces—the "climbing lacing" system. This system reminds me a little bit of La Sportiva Mythos climbing shoes, where a lace runs around the heel and down through the front. Supposedly this allows you to tweak the fit from front to back, but I have a hard time discerning how much of a difference this makes. Having so many exposed laces also leads me to believe that this might be the main point of weakness for the design, as it is for the Mythos..." go to full review