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Euroford
Trad climber
Louisville, CO
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May 18, 2010 - 04:17pm PT
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yeah, i still like my spires as well. go figure.
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PAUL SOUZA
Trad climber
Clovis, CA
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May 18, 2010 - 04:26pm PT
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I've had the 5.10 Grandstones for about 2 months now and I LOVE them. I had the LS Mythos for a year and they stretched out a lot. I saw the TC Pros, but wasn't going to shell out the cash or them. I was able to get a pro deal on the Grandstones. The edge well and will hopefully stretch out a little more so my toes feel better.
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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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May 18, 2010 - 06:24pm PT
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I have several 5.10 shoes and they're great. I wasn't aware that the build quality was going downhill. I even was able to get a split sized pair of gallieo's after asking for them from a local shop in Denver.
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EdBannister
Mountain climber
CA
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May 18, 2010 - 07:26pm PT
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Designing and manufacturing is not a simple process. Even if those who are your contractors are doing their level best to produce the best product possible.
Charles used to have his shoes made in Italy, the original Vertical, and then the Micro were made there. And, Charles knew a lot more back then about rubber than about shoe manufacture... but Charles is no slow learner,
there might be only a handfull his intellectual equal here.
but, there are a few variables..
leather comes off of cattle, they are variable, and the thickness and nature of the leather varies with which part of the cow the leather came from. Top grain? thick from the back, too thick for climbing shoes, great for mountaineering boots, so Galusser leather is a great tannery for mountaineering boots, but for climbing shoes? nah. simply too much money.
so.. goat leather?
or a panel of nylon trampoline?
and then you get those little old ladies who take cut parts home and come back with sewn uppers with eyelets, they did the labor carefully, maybe, but Maria sewed on the left of all the lines, so her 42s fit like 41 1/2s,
and her Mom sewed all on the right of all the lines so her 42s fit a bit big. and she was drinking a bit at home, so when she ran out of factory thread, she used what she had at home. AAAAHHHHH that's actually my experience with making climbing shoes in Spain. but.. In Spain, or Italy, they at least are trying to do it right... If you have products made in China, well...it's a nightmare if you care about quality.
Norbert Olberz the single owner of Sport Chalet had some "Climbing Shoes" made in China, he was careful to spec everything, rubber, leather, eyelets, sewing, last, everything, or so he thought... the rubber in the sample was allowed to cool slowly, but the production stuff was seemingly flash frozen, hard as nails and nowhere close to sticky. and, as the shoes were pulled out of the box and tried on, the first pair of laces broke! both of them! and all the rest, Norbert had forgotten to spec the strength of the laces. The Chinese, of course, had no fault, he had not made a specification about strength. horrible people to deal with, no ethic for function or implied strength, just what they can shelter the ego for, thats it.
edit: Sport Chalet eventually sold "Skateboarding Shoes.. for 9.88
I've made a lot of products in Europe and Asia over 30 years. In Europe you will hear from a manufacturer, we can make it easier, or better, or our QC could be better if we do this.. is that ok? but, you will never once hear that from China. Instead, all odf the sudden a new lot shows up, and the labels are delaminating in hot weather because the incentive of CHEAP has caused them to shave one fourth of one cent on production costs by substituting adhesives, contrary to spec, and they claim no knowledge of it, meanwhile the manufacturer of a medical product had to scrap over a thousand units at 90 dollars selling price.
Charles makes shoes in the Orient, not sure where right now, but it is nearly impossible to have consistent quality without an employee onsite at all times. they cheat, substitute, have no ethic for quality or function, and are generally frustrating to deal with.
so, after all that, buy the shoe that best fits your foot, and that varies model to model, not just brand to brand, try them on, each pair, for 20 minutes in the store or you will not know.
the best made shoe may not fit you best...
or some routes may require you to wear two different shoes...
and there are a lot of things to do to new and old shoes to help them best perform.
and own at least two pair if you climb often, just so your shoes are not a warm, moist, habitat.
so, cut Chales a little slack, that is of course unless you are smart enough to fabricate an incredibly long molecule that results in a rubber as sticky as stealth, or, tenacious enough that you could be poking aroud the specialty rubber warehouse and recognize something as good as C4,
Charles...is both, and a very nice guy as well.
Ed
edit: anybody have a pair of size 10.5 Micros? never should have sold'em
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Old5Ten
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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May 19, 2010 - 02:30am PT
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FiveTen Lynx, best all around shoe ever made. Desperately trying to keep mine alive after many (six +) resoles...
Old5Ten
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okie
Trad climber
San Leandro, Ca
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May 19, 2010 - 09:10am PT
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Moccasyms= best thin crack kicks ever. But not really made to withstand the abuse. And I did have a pair of their shoes fall apart when I pulled them out of the box!
QC is horrible at 5.10.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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May 19, 2010 - 02:02pm PT
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Do people really think that your feet do not change with age? That your foot is the same shape and size as it was 10 or 15 years ago?
Seems pretty well established that most peoples' feet get wider/longer and the arch flattens with age. So maybe it ain't the shoe, maybe it's YOU.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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May 19, 2010 - 02:47pm PT
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Didn't 5.10 make the UFOs? Or do I have that wrong?
Weird man. 5.10 = UFO . There is a story there and a conspiracy.
I do want to say that 5.10 does indeed make the best rubber. Great stuff. I'm gonna resole my dress shoes that I wear with coat and tie, for impromptu buildering sessions. You never know when the mood is gonna hit you. Got to be ready at all times.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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May 19, 2010 - 11:32pm PT
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I worked for years at 5.10 and Boreal.
THATS ALL I'VE GOT TO SAY ABOUT THAT.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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May 19, 2010 - 11:32pm PT
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For now.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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May 21, 2010 - 12:38am PT
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Climbing shoes are like a box of chocolates.
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 21, 2010 - 06:25am PT
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"Seems pretty well established that most peoples' feet get wider/longer and the arch flattens with age. So maybe it ain't the shoe, maybe it's YOU."
Oh Will.
Point I was trying to make was back in 2002 when I started climbing I bought a pair of 5.10 Spires. And hadn't used them until this last weekend. And they fit like a GLOVE. After 8 years. No changes in my feet, shoe, etc. Just perfection.
Yet over the years with 5.10 they changed up the sizing so much that the Anasazi's I loved no longer fit with that same precision. I used to be able to order Anasazi's online and know they'd fit perfectly. That stopped happening. The fit was completly off.
I might give the new white Anasazi's a try but I want to find them in a climbing store first to try them. And no one around here carries them. For $153 I want quality and can't risk it anymore ordering online and hoping they didn't change the sizing on me.
Still brilliant rubber, but sizing changes have made me use other brands. I still have a pair of Anasazi laceups from about 2008 and the fit is terrible. It's the right shoe size but the heel is too big.
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland
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May 25, 2010 - 08:30pm PT
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Great rubber, shitty durability, I use to blow out my 5.10’s within a few months, eventually I ended up coating the inside and out with seam grip and now get about two seasons out of them before their trashed.
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maxdacat
Trad climber
Sydney, Australia
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May 28, 2010 - 09:07am PT
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I keep buying 'em so they must be doing something right. Never had an issue with durability (same with sportivas) so i do wonder about some people's footwork if they start blowin out shoes.
On a side note - bought my first pair of 5.10's in 1989 which had pink laces and a green rubber half sole - ring any bells?
Sideside note - i tried some evolves but the construction doesn't feel as good as 5.10 far too soft and flexible out of the box.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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May 28, 2010 - 10:55am PT
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eventually I ended up coating the inside and out with seam grip and now get about two seasons out of them before their trashed.
I see you coated both the stitching and the fabric between the stitches. Which do you find abrades first ?
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland
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May 28, 2010 - 06:48pm PT
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The fabric abraded first on my camp four’s.
Coating the fabric is a bit overkill but when
there is so much stitching coating everything seems the way to go.
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go-B
climber
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May 28, 2010 - 07:20pm PT
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Watusi, cool no laces or resoles need!
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Rankin
Social climber
Greensboro, North Carolina
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Mar 12, 2014 - 09:15pm PT
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Years ago Five Ten gained a bad reputation, and deservedly so, for poor workmanship. But the shoes I'm looking at these days are much, much better. Still not like Scarpa, but enough of an improvement to check them out.
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ruppell
climber
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Mar 12, 2014 - 09:44pm PT
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Years ago I had a pair of Anasaazis that delammed in the first day I used them. So I asked my local rep if there was anything he could do. He brushed it off and said to take them back to the gear store. That kinda pissed me off.
So, the next Saturday, everyone is hanging out at the Deli getting breakfast before going to the cliff. There's a least 20 local climbers there. Who should pull up but the rep. In my deepest Look At Me voice I chime
"Hey, I figured out why there called 5.10"
"Why" the rep sheepishly replies.
"Because 5 of every 10 pairs go back to the factory."
About 2 minutes later a got a voucher for some new shoes. lol
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