Climbing
“These are a true quiver-of-one rock shoe that delivers excellent performance in an easy-to-wear package,” one tester raved. “For anything but the hardest of routes, these shoes will shine.” Four testers wore the Stonelands on everything from granite cracks to limestone pockets, and from slabs to just more than vertical in California and Colorado, and they all gave high scores for the comfort-performance ratio. “This shoe would be my go-to for long routes of any grade, and as an ‘I only have..." go to full review
Saltic’s unlined synthetic Vampir goes for edging power over smearing and sensitivity and delivers well on that promise. The shoe sends quite a bit of power to the big toe for frontpointing and features a stable platform along the inside edge. That ability to stand on the inside edge comes in quite handy when your feet are turned out on a thin, vertical face. Keep in mind, however, that you won’t want to subject the shoe to dime edges on less-than-vertical terrain — it’s strictly vertical..." go to full review
The Bufo V Machine lives up to its name, delivering quite well on the promised performance. It excels at smearing on steep features, with excellent sensitivity that doesn’t come at the expense of edging ability. Its compression molded, ribbed heel rand excels at hooking and the toe has just enough rubber for toe hooking and scumming. The shoe was also the easiest Velcro to put on. The receiving ends of the Velcro straps sported large patches for angling the straps precisely for an optimized..." go to full review
The Evolv Rockstar is a lined, synthetic-upper shoe aimed at the all-around female climber. Our testers agreed that Rockstar accomplishes that goal admirably. Said one tester, “I’d certainly recommend this shoe to a beginner who’s serious about improving, or an advanced climber who needs a comfortable, all-around shoe.” The shoe’s moderately soft midsole helps it strike a strong balance between edging and smearing, with good sensitivity overall. Rand rubber is abundant around the shoe,..." go to full review
The Guru is a well-built, high-performing yet comfortable shoe, well suited to intermediate sport climbing. The tongue is connected to the shoe with comfortable, form-fitting elastic for a precise fit, and the Velcro straps cinch down tight without cramping your foot. Like the Bara, the Guru has Saltic’s air-outlet system, which makes it smoother to put on.go to full review
The Phoenix is Mad Rock’s take on a trad-climbing rock shoe, with the addition of its aggressive heel cup. While it’s a comfortable shoe that you can wear all day (and smears well), the Phoenix comes up short in crack-climbing performance — the lacing extends too far down the chiseled toe, leaving no room for an adequately protective toe rand. And unlike most trad rock shoes, the Phoenix is unlined, meaning it will quickly stretch out.go to full review
The very downturned, moderately asymmetrical Feroce is a high-performance shoe for vertical to overhanging terrain. It comes equipped with a slightly pointed toe and a very thin (3.5mm) Vibram XS Grip sole, making it highly sensitive. The Heinz Mariacher-designed Feroce is an excellent edging and jamming shoe, due to its stiff midsole and three Velcro straps, which offer near lace-up-quality tightening. Testers found that the “hooking rail” (a unique rubber bar wrapping the heel) effectively..." go to full review
An entry-level shoe, this comfortable Velcro version of Red Chili’s Durango is built on a flat, slightly asymmetrical last that our testers easily wore all day. A thick (5mm) RX1 rubber sole provides longer wear than most shoes, while unlined leather uppers readily stretched up to a full size. Our testers gave the boot solid performance marks in each discipline, and found it to edge and “jib” well, especially when new.go to full review
This women’s Velcro is built on a trimmed-down version of the Spirit’s flat, asymmetrical last. The Spirit Lady comes with the “Impact Zone” foam-padded heel and sole, both of which our testers liked when bouldering. Red Chili’s 4.2mm RX1 rubber coats the sole. Testers also praised the shoe’s comfort: the unlined upper stretched somewhat, but the three straps did a great job customizing fit. Designed with a sharp, low-profile toe, the Spirit Lady excels at edging and pocket climbing, and its..." go to full review
Built with a straight last and chiseled toe, the Hybrid is billed as Millet’s all-purpose shoe. The Hybrid’s medium stiffness meant very able edging and frontpointing on small footholds, while the unlined leather upper and padded tongue kept it comfortable and allowed for stretch. Three Velcro straps that extend close to the ball of the foot offer better-than-average adjustability for a Velcro, and extra rubber atop the toe made this a great thin-crack shoe; the sole is Millet’s 4pt GRIP 4...." go to full review