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ssyronical
Sport climber
Illyrium? Wind Ridge?
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Feb 17, 2006 - 02:41pm PT
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I graduated from: yaddayaddayadda who cares, they were nasty ...to anasazi velcros (soft and sensitive, but had to wear them so short I developed really serious problems with my feet ).....
and now I wear Acopa Aurora’s. These are ideal for someone with a narrow, small heel, high arch and long toes. They get very soft, which I like. After I found them I gave away about 8 pairs of shoes which, by comparison, were horrible, nasty, torturous insensitive tools of evil.
The ad is right: you WILL climb better if your feet don’t hurt.
Say... why don’t rock shoe makers design shoes for different shapes of feet, rather than, or in addition to different types of climbing? This would kind of cover the male/female thing, too.
And why do they rate shoes for ‘beginning’ ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’ climbers?....do they fit differently after you can climb 5.13? I thought those square board-lasted shoes I had at the beginning were the most painful, clumsy objects on earth, and they didn’t help me advance any faster.
(BTW Bachar, your website says Auroras are good for beg/intermed climbers...now why do you say that? In which case... I’ll be intermediate forever and happy about it. I’m pulling down pretty hard in a pair that are totally blown out and have holes in the toes, and my feet never never ever ever blow off. I’d say it’s the FOOT and what’s attached to it that’s intermediate, not the SHOE... And if you’ve got high arches and strong feet, you don’t need a cambered shoe, you’ve already got a good hook at the end of your leg....consider this when designing shoes for women, maybe?)
Wouldn’t it be great if someone did a real shoe ratings system for shoes with the foot shape indicated along with the stickiness, last type, stiffness, etc? It would be cool to find a little diagram on the outside of the box. That would save a lot of time. Not that I’m thinking of changing brands.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
boulder, co
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Feb 17, 2006 - 02:52pm PT
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John...thanks for the kind words. Nothing but respect, awe and admiration for you and what you have done for the sport of climbing.
Hope all is well and you are happy and healthy, later, Bob
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Feb 17, 2006 - 03:18pm PT
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ssyronical-
You're right about the beginning -intermediate-advanced thing. Some shoes may obviously be a little too much for a beginner but in reverse, I believe there should be no reason to give a beginner something that won't work on harder climbs. I guess we kinda fell into this stupid marketing "trap" where things get put in these so-called "categories". Most all our shoes can be easily worn by beginners as well as "experts". Beginners might not fully appreciate the B3 or Sidewinder (but then again their footwork may excel because of the advanced "feel" these shoes have).
Almost every model we have has a different last shape (minus: Aurora Velcro = Aurora Lace and Chameleon = Spectre shape) - different toe profiles, widths, arches, etc.. I think it gets to be pretty tough for stores to carry all these models so at a certain point, you can't have too many models (the climbing market just ain't big enough - like say the running shoe market). We also make some custom shoes when they get requested.
Much thanks for your compliments! and also for the critique as well. I'm glad the shoes are working for you. By the way, a lot of guys wear the "women's" Aurora - I won't give names however! Vice versa, many Women say they're too narrow!
Werner - Thanks for the verification! Especially coming from someone who didn't think I was me (or something like that...). Props to d'antonio as well!
cheers, jb
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Ed Bannister
Mountain climber
Victorville, CA
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Feb 17, 2006 - 07:19pm PT
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Favorite? as in most foot friendly? easy, Nike Lava domes with original stealth rubber and a generous coat of plasti-dip(thanks Russ) everywhere that wore hard. (Ok I had some ego in the lava dome.)
Edgeing? That old 5.10 green thing, the Micro resoled and randed with C4. made 11 edges seem easy for even me! wish I still had em!
First? aid in Pivetta Muir Trails, 1967, ouch. I was twelve.
Mixed- Kastinger Superlights fit comfy big for thin Neoprene socks, awesome!
Cracks? at the time I thought the Kamet Joshua tree was pretty good.
Best Made? LaSportiva Mariacher
Favorite Shoe Trivia? Eduard Bordineaux, dad owned a shoe factory. His son liked to climb, so the rich kid had dad make a shoe for him. EBs. and then there was Mike Sturm, buyer for Liberty who was the sole importer for EBs, he was also paid a comission as a sales rep for Bordineaux, pay went to his Swiss account which he drew from while in Europe twice a year buying climbing gear. Mike lived very well twice a year.
Best shoe combo? a friend can't do one section in one shoe, can't do the crack in the others, solution one of each.
Favorite shoe quote: "best shoes I ever owned." Ron Carson, with the first free pair of shoes he ever owned as he climbed in the needles
Favorite shoe AD? 5.10 and the steelworkers.
Favorite climbing shoe maintenence story: Think of a pile of shoes a foot and a half high, around 40 pair, a rag, a can of Toluene, and Tony. who freaking else?
Fovorite shoe selling story: Resoles cost me 17.50 and I sold resoled shoes donated to the shop for 25 bucks to get people into the sport. But a customer with no bucks kept eyeing a pair of Fire's so I offered them for what I knew he had, 15 bucks.
His reply was not thanks or great, instead he said how about ten? I said are you refusing the offer of this pair of shoes for fifteen dollars?...
Ya!
"The price is now 25 dollars." he left sceaming and swearing.
Sweet.
Favorite Shoe sales guy, Gerardo Clavo, Kamet, Madrid, toooo funny and a really nice man.
Favorite shoe guys in the US? Charles Cole, not necessarily all the people at 5.10 though, Randy Hankins, and Helmut Lennes at Climb High.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Feb 17, 2006 - 11:20pm PT
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t-rainbow
Yeah! We have two "Women's" shoes (one really - two variations). The Aurora velcro and the Aurora lace. Guy's with narrow feet like 'em too. Women with wide feet wear our other stuff. The Aurora Lace is NICE!!! The Velcro is too...
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Feb 17, 2006 - 11:43pm PT
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Thanks John.
fattrad... I was a member of REI before I moved back to Cali... so I never even thought of it, and beside, the Berkeley REI is another world.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Feb 17, 2006 - 11:53pm PT
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t-rainbow...sorry, we have no elastic slippers yet!
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clustiere
Trad climber
Durango, CO
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Topic Author's Reply - May 19, 2006 - 02:12pm PT
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Holey testerosas, super agressive down turned. In Durango I might actually use a pair, but the Venoms seem to fit the bill enough for now. Montrail seems to be making some interesting thermomoldable shoes.
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JAK
Sport climber
Central NC
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May 19, 2006 - 06:16pm PT
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Not much to report since I haven't been doing this that long, but:
1st Pair - Mad Rock Mugens. Didn't want to spend much, and they weren't much. Rubber was plenty sticky, shoe was plenty comfortable after broken in, very flexible, AWESOME heel cup. Wore out very quickly (~3 months @ 3 times a week climbing, mixed indoor and out) but this could be do to the fact that I was/am a new climber and was just beating the piss out of them with terrible footwork.
2nd Pair - Evolv Bandits. Excellent rubber, far better than the other types I have tried (Mad Rubber, Vibram XSV, Stealth C4). Much stickier than you would think for how hard it is. Imagine a sole that feels like an edger with a hard, fairly stiff sole, and add the stickiness of Stealth C4, and you have Evolv's Trax XT5 rubber.
Anyway, these shoes have a beefy instep and very focused toe, but are not cambered. They stretch VERY little, so be aware that how they fit in the store is roughly how they are going to fit forever. There is a teensy tiny hair's bit of give, almost unnoticable.
My only gripe is that the heel cup is tad deep, and there's a small air pocket in there. If someone could merge the Mugens' heel cup with the rest of the Bandit, it would be the ultimate sport shoe.
A little uncomfortable for long climbs, for that use:
1st borrowed pair - La Sportiva Mythos. Most comfortable shoe I've ever stuck my feet in. A little flexible, but if you have the leg strength (I do), you can make up for it and the increased sensitivity is nice. I plan to buy a pair of my own for long (all day) trad and slab work.
Excellent smearer, adequate edger. Wouldn't want to crack climb in them. Toe is also a tad blunt for my tastes, but I like to toe into itty bitty pockets, so your mileage may vary.
2nd borrowed pair - Five Ten Anasazi Velcros. Perfectly good shoe, but I preferred the design of the Mugens. The Anasazi has lasted longer of course. Stealth C4 is very sticky, but I'd say Mad Rubber and Trax are on par. Felt a bit pricey for what you got, but maybe that pays off in the long run in terms of durability - I only had them for a couple weeks before my buddy needed them back.
Ats all I got folks. More to come as I get more experience.
Bonus: Shoes I really want to try:
La Sportiva Miuras
Acopa Spectre
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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May 19, 2006 - 06:25pm PT
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After barefoot on warm SoIll sandstone I'd say my blue Sportiva Kaukulators. Thank god for ebay...
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atchafalaya
Trad climber
California
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May 19, 2006 - 06:42pm PT
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been climbing in ACOPA spectres lately, and love em....
La Sportiva MEgas are also on top of the list, as are the old five ten razors (green)
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atchafalaya
Trad climber
California
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May 19, 2006 - 07:02pm PT
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hey locker, not sure if you will be around Bishop anytime soon, but Wilsons has acopas, thats where I picked mine up. Good luck...
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JAK
Sport climber
Central NC
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May 19, 2006 - 11:32pm PT
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Acopa shoes just really appeal to me. They have a no-nonsense look to them that says "built to climb well and not sweating the flashy looks and spray". I like that attitude.
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Professor Fate
Big Wall climber
Vulgaria
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May 19, 2006 - 11:34pm PT
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Nike: Air Cinder Cones. Great for long routes in the Sierra's like Pallisades Traverse. Those and a pair of converse.
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Anastasia
Trad climber
Near a mountain, CA
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May 19, 2006 - 11:58pm PT
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If your looking for stores that carry Acopa shoes, just use this web address and it will give you the whole list of who carries them.
acopausa dot com /acopa.jsp?navigation=20
You can also order shoes through Acopa's website.
Note:
I once had a problem with the shoes because the rubber came up too high on the back of my ankle and pinched a nerve. I told them about it and they sent me another pair that were cut lower.
"They really are a great company."
I can honestly say that my Acopa shoes are the best pair I have ever owned.
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rockermike
Mountain climber
Berkeley
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May 20, 2006 - 12:23pm PT
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Anybody know the exact dates of the big steps in shoe technology?
My dad used these grey suede "kletershoe" (early '60s) imported by REI from Itally.
My guess is late 60s Royal came out with lugged sole RRs.
Then came the big break: EBs. (yea, look bad today but boy were they better than the competition, I think biggest one step improvement in all) Early 70s?. (remember to stitch on the leather ankle pads :) )
(Remember the red spiders -knock off of EBs I think. And somewhere along the way I had a pair of Couinard wall/free stiff soled boots. Can't remember the name but I wish I still had them. Good aid shoe but climbed up to 5.9 pretty well.
Then the fires (1980 date?)came out but I was about out of climbing by then.
Two decades later I came back to sport and have been through mythos, megas, ace's and a few other.
But the big steps to my mind 1)RRs, 2)EBs 3) Fires, 4) not sure but some slipper thing, maybe mythos? Everything else is just evolution, not revolution.
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clustiere
Trad climber
Durango, CO
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 30, 2006 - 03:39pm PT
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Pitons -any opinion
There is also a new la sportiva shoe any takers on that.?
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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Aug 30, 2006 - 06:14pm PT
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Hey JB-could you and Acopa make a groovy high-top? Seems like there's a lot of demand for it, and not all just nostalgia... (my blue kauks have been resoled umm 4 times and are dyin on the vine)
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clustiere
Trad climber
Rock Ridge/ Oakland CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 23, 2007 - 01:41am PT
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Testarosa, Venoms, Muiras, Baracuda (EH), Mythos, Gallileo (gym only)
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Wild Bill
climber
Ca
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Dec 23, 2007 - 01:46am PT
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All-time faves remain the Asolo Onsight. That green low-top one. For some reason they fit my feet perfectly. I had a pair re-soled TWICE, and they're still out in the garage somewhere. The second time I put on the old formula, hard Mega rubber.
Man do those shoes stink, like cabbage farts or something. I have another pair I still wear occasionally, resoled, but I savor them like sipping an aged liqueur - don't want to use them up all at once.
For new shoes, the modern Sportivas fit my super-wide feet well. But I'm ready to buy some of those Acopa things - they got a wide one?
B
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