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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 17, 2010 - 10:40am PT
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I know someone here has the answer.
Reason I ask...I first started climbing 8 yrs ago in 5.10 Spires. Beginner shoes. After about three months in got talked into LS Mythos. Then moved on to Evolvs when they started up. Then back around to Five Ten Anasazi lace ups which I wore from '04-07. Golden. Then they started mucking with the sizing and quality.
Long story short...I pulled out my first pair of climbing shoes - my 5.10 Spires - to climb in the Alabama Hills this past weekend (saving the new Mythos for Tuolumne/Portal granite). And they killed!! Perfect fit, great rubber. An 8 yr-old "starter" shoe did better than the last pair of Anasazi laceups I had in '07....where the sizing was off, the heel too big, and the quality worse than years past.
What went wrong with that company? Anyone have stories?
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Reeotch
Trad climber
Kayenta, AZ
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May 17, 2010 - 10:48am PT
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The only thing I ever liked about 5.10 shoes was their rubber. Their shoe designs usually suck. I only climbed in Sportiva or Boreal shoes for most of my climbing career (25 yrs.)
However, I do like my Mocasyms!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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May 17, 2010 - 10:58am PT
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What Reeotch said.
i have The Sportiva foot, however,
But quality control has always been an issue at 5.ten. Even fro those with wide feet.
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Chinchen
climber
Anacortes, wa
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May 17, 2010 - 11:03am PT
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I like my Jet 7's a lot....
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Scott Cole
Trad climber
Sunny California
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May 17, 2010 - 11:21am PT
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It might have something to do with the company's management. I've had a number of different 5-ten shoe models over the years; every pair self destructed, and every time I returnd them I got additude from the boss.
The rubber is ok, but the quailty of the product negates any benefit the rubber might provide.
Scole
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Brian
climber
California
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May 17, 2010 - 11:31am PT
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When the Boreal Ace's were green and black, I didn't use anything else.
Messed with a few other things, but after several years I'm using 5.10 (which I once badmouthed loudly and frequently, after some Guide Tennies delaminated on my first wall and the rep [a friend, and in jest] said, "they made it out of the box without breaking. Wattya want?").
I tried to go to LS Miuras, but I can't get a good fit.
Now I'm in the new, white Anasazi lace-ups. They are brilliant shoes for vertical, just over vertical, and just under vertical climbing. Feels like cheating.
Moccasyms are also great all-arounders. I have a friend who is a committed LS customer and more or less a resident at the Creek. Even he says it's stupid to use anything other than Mocs there.
So, while I have had other problems with 5.10 over the years, I have to say my experience is the opposite of Flouride's. Seems to me and my feet that they have finally, *finally*, gotten their shite together.
(Maybe I've just had a lucky run with the quality control?)
Brian
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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May 17, 2010 - 11:32am PT
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the 5.10 shoe that I used, the Newton, was a nice shoe which got discontinued, and has recently been reintroduced. Liked that shoe, and the rubber....
I also use and like the Guide Tennie, the rubber on the sole is good for about 250 miles of walking on pavement, usually the uppers take a beating on approaches (but I haven't been approaching much lately). The laces have an annoying habit of breaking at the upper most eye, maybe the way the rivet gets placed... not sure why the lace material is breakable... replaced with nylon cord.
Not sure they went wrong, just a large variation in the quality of the product.
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mooch
Trad climber
Old Climbers' Home (Adopted)
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May 17, 2010 - 11:38am PT
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Haven't gone back to 5.10 since they did away with the Ascent slippers. Simple and versatile. NOT a crack shoe for sure! But they performed well in all other conditions. Sadly, they are so blown out that a resole is out of the question. My all-around trad shoe to cover hard edging, friction and cracks is this beauty.......LOVE EM!!
Unless 5.10 gets their act together, I'm stuck on my Technos.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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May 17, 2010 - 11:42am PT
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My recollection is that 5.10s had a reputation for poor quality way before you started climbing 8 yrs. ago. I always found it odd that Charles put so much effort into producing a sticky rubber but then slapped it on poorly made boots.
Maybe because the market's so captive and the rubber's so sticky you don't have to make a good shoe. I never used 5.10s because they never really fit my foot well, so for me it's never been an issue. I just wish that the manufacturers would stop changing models so quickly. I find something I like (Mega SGs, Boreal Vectors, etc.) and it's only around for a year.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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May 17, 2010 - 11:51am PT
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I've had fine luck with several generations of 5.10, especially the old velcro Anasazi and its predecessor the UFO (wish they still made those). Right now I'm happy with the comfortable V-mile as my all-day shoe. I guess this means I like their velcro models.
I still have a pair of 1st-gen gray Five Tennies, they're falling apart but I hate to give them up. Several newer versions didn't last or fit as well.
I've tried out various other 5.10 shoes at the store and found they came nowhere near fitting my foot. Sportiva and Scarpa have often been better, but right now I'm hating a pair of Sportiva shoes that pinch my foot in just the wrong way, after two pitches.
So my own experiences have been all over the map. Still like C4 best, though.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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May 17, 2010 - 11:55am PT
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Maybe I'm paddling against the current, but I sure like my Moccasyms. They fit well from toe to heel and they are well made (in the sense that I wear out the rubber long before anything goes structurally wrong with the shoe).
And finding myself in sudden need of an approach shoe this spring, and being a thousand miles from my usual source of second-hand goods, I actually sprung for a pair at a climbing shop. Guide tennies. Which I'd heard bad things about, but they fit well so I took em anyway.
Since then I've been wearing them every weekend, not only for approaches, but spending the day in aiders scrubbing new routes. They're super comfortable, work far better than I expected in my aiders, and so far aren't showing any sign of falling apart.
Can't speak for any other models, but the slipper and the approach shoe have worked really well for me, and have stood up to abuse.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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May 17, 2010 - 11:59am PT
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I liked my newtons a lot but when i ordered a new pair in the same size they came at least a full size smaller?? WTF. I was informed by the sales person that 5.10 changed all their sizes. Seemed like a boneheadded move to me. These days my favorite shoe is the mad rock flash. Its the cheapest shoe on the market, fits my foot perfectly, climbs well and resoles well.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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May 17, 2010 - 12:01pm PT
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I agree with Ed Hartouni. LOVE my Newtons. best shoe for me ever, have had a pair for about 11 years now. I baby them. They fit like paint and are stiff enough--- so many aren't stiff enough. And they show absolutely no signs of delaminating, ripping, etc. They keep their shape like no other shoe I have had, and this would be 47 years worth of shoes. Meanwhile, I also climb in Acopa's JB and another model of theirs. Oh, and a pair of Kaukulators that have stealth put on them.
Still, for bigger climbers and climbers in bigger cracks, we still need a stiffer and higher shoe than any offered by any company that I know of. Doing offwidth in current-day shoes is very close to ridiculous compared to how it used to be. Way too flexible for big cracks (viz. 3">>) Kaukulators started going there, but still needed to be higher.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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May 17, 2010 - 12:08pm PT
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Shoes I'm using now:
La Sportiva: Kaukulators (from scuffy b's used shoe sales lot) for offwidth and crack climbing
Acopa: Aztec (2nd pair in the mail) for routes that need more sensitivity, and nuanced foot smearing, and are able to be all around all day shoes, Tuolumne Meadows shoes...
Acopa: Legends, just got these and I have to say I'm looking forward to using them outside, these are great edging and crack boots! stiffer midsole region and very plush... I suspect these will be my Valley shoes before too long, and for those edgier TM routes
Acopa: Chameleons, used to be outdoor, but these have sagged a bit in two years of hard use and are now relegated to the gym
Five-Ten: Guide Tennies for approach work well for me up to about 5.5 if you don't have to depend on the edging
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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May 17, 2010 - 12:18pm PT
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Selling shoes for a long time, I've found its more important to climb in shoes that fit your foot than ones that have "performance."
The design of the last of a performance shoe is built around getting your foot close to the edge and all buckled up; that will change from one person to another (i.e. from a man in a man's shoe to a woman in a man's shoe - ever wonder why women fit so well in mens shoes that are full to-the-toe lace ups?)
Find somethign that fits, regardless of brand/style/whatever, and you will probably climb well in it.
Thats what Acopa would always say, you will climb better if your shoes are more comfortable.
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 17, 2010 - 12:19pm PT
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Before leaving JTree I went into Nomads and tried out shoes...the 5.10 Gambits were horribly sized. I ended up getting La Sportivas which I hadn't worn for years.
The Anasazi lace-ups that had done me so well for so long no longer fit, for a couple of years now. And they are really hard to find in stores. I order them online and they don't come close to the fit they had a few years back.
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MeatBomb
Gym climber
Boise, I dee Hoe
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May 17, 2010 - 12:24pm PT
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flouride What went wrong with that company? Anyone have stories?
The spire is still available AFAIK, and the rubber is still the best. Maybe your foot changed as you got older, in a "kankles" sort of way?
To add, unless you are climbing moderately hard routes and need the precision, any shoe that fits well will be the best shoe for you. Someone climbing 5.10 and under could probably do just fine in a tennis shoe resoles with C4 rubber.
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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May 17, 2010 - 12:29pm PT
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The lilac Anasazi lace-ups are great, the greens ones a little less so. They seem to be a little baggy. Here's a video I saw recently of Steph Davis on Salathé, sporting the lilac Anasazis http://www.highinfatuation.com/salathe.html
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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May 17, 2010 - 12:30pm PT
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I understand your frustration.
I fell in love with Asolo run-outs and went rhgouh about 4 pair of those before they were unavailable.
Then I loved my 5.10 huecos. The first model improvement was ok. At one point, I resoled the same pair twice. Fit well, performed well. I was losing partners from the smell of these trusty old friends. Remembering that my previous favorites were discontinued, I bought two more pairs and put them in the closet. Apparently the size/shape isn't quite the same as the earlier shoe. I have tried to break them in, to no avail. They'll probably go on consignment.
So many boots have a downturned toe, and that just doesn't work for my wide feet with lots of character. I am currently collcting another array of shoes I hate.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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May 17, 2010 - 12:33pm PT
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Before leaving JTree I went into Nomads and tried out shoes...the 5.10 Gambits were horribly sized. I ended up getting La Sportivas which I hadn't worn for years.
This is a dead giveaway that your foot is more "Euro style", long and thin as opposed to short and stubby. The Gambits fit my foot very well and for the most part, I cannot wear Sportivas (although there have been exceptions... Tao, Mythos, TC Pro). Five Ten shoes are not generally a euro fit, although the VMile seemed to be more euro when I tried them.
Been through the whole gammut of Five Ten for the last twenty years. Verticals, Five Tennies, Razors, Huecos, Altia, Ascents, Coyote, Gambit, Guide Tennies, Camp Four...I'm a Five Ten guy through and through. As with everyone else, I had my favorite. I REALLY wish they still made the Hueco. That was a great shoe.
The only real problem I've had with shoes falling apart were the early to mid 90's five tennie models. I have a pair that I've had at work for over ten years. I only wear them when I bike to work in the summer, so limited wear and tear. I'm on my third tube of Barge cement to keep them glued together.
Edit: Check it... the Five Tennies that have been through two and a half tubes of Barge.
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