STEALTH® C4™ Technology
The world's hardest rock climbs were made possible with STEALTH® C4™ and its still the favorite of many top climbers. C4™ provides high friction and excellent edging.
Niad VCS Women
Description
Climb after climb, the adidas Five Ten NIAD VCS Climbing Shoes deliver all-around performance. Versatile Stealth® C4 rubber edges, grips and smears across all surfaces, indoors and out. The form fit heel and medium-stiff midsole offer a blend of sensitivity and support for all-purpose climbing. The hook-and-loop closure offers easy entry and adjustment between sessions.
Retail price
US$ 150.00
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| Weight | unknown |
| Closure Type | 2 Velcro closures |
| Gender | Women |
| Volume | |
| Sizing Information |
UK sizes : 3.5-9.5, including half sizes  Five-Ten-Shoe-Size-Chart.jpg |
| Best Use (Highest Performance) | All-around |
| Asymmetry | Moderate |
| Tongue Details | not provided by the brand |
| Last Details | Shape: Arched (technical) Construction: not provided by the brand not provided by the brand |
| Upper Material | not provided by the brand Synthetic |
| Midsole Material | 2.0 mm full-length |
| Sole Material | not provided by the brand
Stealth® C4™
Rand: not provided by the brand |
| Footbed Lining | not provided by the brand |
Other Shoe Versions male female
No reviews yet.
Five Ten’s Anasazi line has enjoyed a cult following since the 1990s. The NIAD family—Lace, Moccasym, and the VCS—is a reimagining of that line. The VCS is the most well-rounded of the three options, occupying middle ground between the stiffer Lace and the softer Moccasym. It’s a beast of an edging shoe, with the kind of old-school support (read: a flat last coupled with a full-length, two-millimeter midsole) and precision you want on long, vertical face climbs and trad pitches. “I hadn’t climbed in Eldorado Canyon for a couple years, and I’m always surprised at how small the toe edges are and how much you have to trust your feet,” said tester Heather Weidner of the Colorado hot spot. “In the NIAD VCS, I was able to be precise in my toe placements. The stiffness of the toe edge made it easy to weight my feet without too much calf pump on vertical, technical terrain.” Another tester, Yosemite local Chris Van Leuven, described the toe as “chiseled,” and commented on how well it let him lay the shoe against offset seams but also stand on micro edges and granite nubbins.
The Anasazi, the predecessor to the new NIAD range, has been a staple of Five Ten’s climbing shoe line since 1992. The Anasazi line is a collection of truly iconic climbing shoes, so its only right to start this review off with a quick history lesson (sorry!).
Overall the NIAD VCS LV offers excellent build quality while preserving the much-loved Anasazi VCS's function as a high-performing yet comfortable all-round shoe. While aficionados of the Anasazi may have some bones to pick with the modified toe patch and toe shape, there are plenty of wins with the NIAD including a tighter heel on top of the classic combination of edging and smearing comfort. If you are a climber with a lower volume foot, or just a lighter climber, it is definitely worth putting your reservations aside and trying a pair on (in your street size!). Plus, the toe patch does offer something new to indoor climbers and tricksy boulderers, while the shape also means that this is now a shoe that may fit some people that the Anasazi didn't - myself included.
The ultimate test I set for the NIAD VCS was at Yosemite’s burly Arch Rock. Everything hard about Valley climbing is packed in here—endless cracks over stone so polished that it squeaks when you smear. I wanted to see how well they performed on Midterm, the squeakiest of the lines at Arch, a nails-hard 5.10 that begins with first-knuckle fingertip jamming with slick edges for feet. From here it widens to fingers, hands… all the way to a slick, flared chimney. That day on Midterm, my feet didn’t slip once—not on the nothing-there smears, nor on the heel-toe jams, nor on the highstep rollovers. I was amazed, and the NIADs performed flawlessly.
Five Ten Niad Shoes
Five Ten NIAD Shoe Review
