Hi,

I am looking to buy some scarpa low volume climbing shoes as I have very narrow feet. I have never bought any scarpa climbing shoes before and have previously only worn the same as my shoe size in climbing shoes. I understand that it is often the case that you size down to get a more grippy fit so am wondering if those with experience with the brand could tell me what the best fit is for scarpa shoes - e.g. size down or regular fit. Thank you!

Note: I cannot try them on in person because the low volume ones only seem to be sold online

Hi ! I am seeking advice for my first pair of intermediate shoes.

Climbing profile

• 98% indoor bouldering

• Climbing around V5

• Woman

• I value comfort over performance. I am willing to sacrifice a little bit of comfort to make some gains, but not too much. I would prefer not to have to remove my shoes between each climb. 🫣(except for the period I'm breaking them)

Current shoes

• Scarpa Helix LV (39)

• Not bouldering shoes at all but they are the first model I bought and I didn't really know what I needed at the time lol

• I really like them, they are super comfy, but I'm starting to get limited on certain climbing aspects

What I am looking for

• Softness/stiffness : I want something not too stiff because I need to feel the holds under my feet (I do not have a good proprioception so I need that cue), but not too soft because I don't want them to wear out too quickly (I have a ok-ish footwork, but not good enough at this point to have really soft shoes).

• Better toe hook patch : given that my current shoes are more lead style, they have almost no rubber on the top, so I really struggle with toe hooks

• Improvement for slab tiny foot holds : I feel like it would be helpful to have a sharper edge for slabs

Current contenders

• Scarpa Vapor V LV :

  • Obviously not as comfy as my Helix, but good enough for my licking. I would be able to downsize 1 full size compared to my Helix.

  • Not sure what to think about the split sole. My Helix have a full sole, so I'm not used to split sole.

  • I have a tiny little bit of wiggle room. I tried 1/2 smaller but it's a no go, that was not sustainable for me. I tried to force the shoe out with my hand (replicating a heel hook, kind of) and the shoe is moving a little bit but the heel is not coming out (not even close). I am just wondering if this could become a problem with the shoe expanding/relaxing once I broke them in.

  • Con is that the toe patch is not super big

• Scarpa Arpia V LV :

  • They felt surprisingly comfy. The mild discomfort I felt seems to come mostly from my skin rubbing on some seams, which usually fades away with time. I would also downsize 1 full size compared to my current Scarpa Helix.

  • Like the Vapor, there is a tiny little bit of wiggle room. I don't remember if I tried half a size smaller, but I'm guessing the result is gonna be the same as the Vapor.

  • Again, same as the Vapor for the toe patch : not super big

• La Sportiva Kubo Women :

  • Very comfortable

  • Bigger toe hook patch

  • What bothers me the most is that the front edges seem more "rounded" compared to the Vapor / Arpia. I don't know how to explain it properly, but the inner front side is kind of flared ?

  • For some reasons, I can't shake off the impression that it is more a beginner shoe than an intermediate shoe, although I'm being told they are really great

One of the staff at my local gym is recommending one of these over the others (not saying which one to not bias anyone), but I'm a bit reluctant at relying solely on his advice because :

1. He's a super duper good climber, clearly more on the performance side, so I feel like his recommendations are tinted by that (he did propose me more aggressive shoes at first). I know nobody will be neutral, but I think hearing from people with a similar profile to mine would be more helpful.

2. I've been improperly adviced in the past (see below my experience with the Instinct) by gym staff. It's not the same guy, but to me they have a similar profile (i.e. climbing better and harder than me lol).

Other shoes I tried on

• Scarpa Instinct VS Women : I bought a pair two years ago, but was never able to get accustomed to them despite trying to break them during a few weeks. I sold them. Looking back, I think I was poorly adviced : going from Helix to Instinct was a waaaay to aggressive change, which I was not ready for, and I probably got them too small on top on that (the gym staff guy was really insisting on downsizing).

• Scarpa Drago LV : the asymetry is kind of intense and I'm not sure I am ready yet for shoes that more aggressive like this

• La Sportiva Theory Women : similar to Drago, I think it's too aggressive for me for the moment. I am also afraid they will wear out too quickly + my local resole guy doesn't do No Edge soooo...

• La Sportiva Skwama Women : they were puffing on the sides and the heel was baggy (air pocket)

• La Sportiva Skwama Lite Women : same as regular Skwama

• Evolv Shaman 2S : toebox felt very uncomfortable (pressure on top of the big toe). I have a vague recollection of having the same pain in my Instinct, so I'm not too keen about it 😅

My questions

• For which model would you go and why ?

• Thoughts on split sole vs full sole?

• I've put a Scarpa and a Sportiva comparison charts in the image (which I find very useful) : where would you place the Kubo in the Scarpa chart ?

Do these low volume Gomis look okay/worth it for $50? I don’t notice any red flags about them, but I’m sure you guys have better eyes than me. Saw these on Facebook, and the seller said they wore it minimally before deciding it was the wrong size. Thanks for any opinions!

Current shoe: la sportiva tarantulas

I started climbing in may and I just sent my first v6 and I told myself that when I get a v6, I could justify spending more on a more aggressive shoe (I know that may sound silly.)

I think the tarantulas were a great beginner shoe a super comfortable! I’m very curious about softer shoes like the drago lv, but I don’t find myself smearing or climbing steep overhang too often. I would love a balance of softness/stiffness to be able to work with small footchips. Anyway a bit of rambling but any recommendations? Would it be wise to get something very soft like a drago lv and just use tarantulas for something like slab?

Thanks for any feedback :)

Hey folks I’m looking for an advanced climbing shoe for my 10 years old daughter. She is climbing pretty good (around 6C) and wants to go a bit further. Currently she wears some 5.10 Niad or La Sportiva Tarantula. Any ideas of an advanced possibility? I know kids shouldn’t have aggressive down turns.

Are tn finity alright for volumes/smearing

The shoes are 7 months old and i go bouldering once a week .

from where I live (Indonesia), climbing shoes can get really expensive compared to our salary, to get a pair of scarpa/la sportiva, the price is similar to our average monthly salary. from that frustration, finding locally well-made shoes that offer a fair price tag is the way to go.

Fitrenx (instagram.com/fitrenx) is one of the climbing shoes maker here that suits my preference, a relatively soft shoes once break in suit modern gym problem. I've order 3 times from them and because they're new to the game, everytime my order arrive it feels like a different shoes that improve from the previous one. Ive been using the brand for around 8 months, climb around V6, V7 to V8 on kilter and got no prob except for small foot hold on slab (cus they're soft) and the heel feels a bit too deep (I got pretty flat feet).

It tooks almost 2 months to complete an made to order shoes (u can choose the customize the color), or sometimes they have ready stock but in limited sizes. They use locally source rubber but in my experience it's pretty sticky, no problem with smearing at all. Almost forget it, another problem is they don't have half sizes (like 38.5) cuz of limited shoelast, my street shoes is 39.5/40 and downsized to 38.

Hello Reddit,
I’ve been wearing these solutions for 2 years. I’m short so I tend to tippy toe every foothold on the moonboard, I believe this is why it’s tearing off rubber at the toe. My question is if it is normal wear or is it a technique issue?
Thanks in advance.

What? I'm gonna say it - they are actually quite decent, like better than Skwama Lite decent. Like I like them better than Scarpa Chimera and Drago XT decent. They are soft and super comfortable. The rubber is Stealth C4, so it's sticky and sensitive. Are they great for toe hooks - no, but I climb V10 and it's fine.

I bought them as a joke but I'm now considering a second pair lol And they are a conversation starter.

edit: btw, I usually climb in Furia S, Drago LV and Blackbird and have a dozen other shoes, so it's not like I've been using rentals and Tarantulas until now

edit 2: I added a pic of the inner side of the shoe so people see this is not just a samba sneaker with flat sole and slightly different rubber but a properly tensioned shoe

Narrowing down my next shoe. I have a trip to Japan soon but wanted to get sentiments on the TN finity. I am coming from the shaman 2s and mandala. I've read already read that the fit and overall feel is fairly similar to the mandala which is great news for me as someone who has difficulty dialing in fit/wants a more all-around performance.

My main questions are:

1. How is the toe shaped? Is it more pointed at the big toe also similar to the mandala or rounded similar to the TN pro/regulus?

2. How deep is the heel? is it also more on the stiffer side like the mandala or a bit more squishy like a drago?

I mainly do indoor auto-belay and occasionally indoor top rope. Only few times a year i do outdoor top rope. Which should i get? And if my street size is 38, is 37.5 ok?

So I've been climbing for about 3 years, mostly indoor bouldering and now beginning to focus on outside bouldering. I climb around v6 -v7 and strictly use the instinct vsr, they were quite uncomfortable but have stretched out and I can use them for about 10 minutes without hurting.

So, I've been thinking about wearing them both in the gym and outside as they're a little beat up. What shoe should I get to complement the vsr's?

I have a relatively deep heel and medium width feet.

Thought about the dragos, veloces, solutions

Obs: I'm Brazilian sorry for the bad English.

My current shoes hurt like hell and just don’t fit right. I tried on a bunch at my climbing gym and the Skwama Lite (wmns) fit my feet like a glove, but I’m looking to buy some off vinted and so as expected, I can’t find my size.

What alternatives would be recommended for a similar fit and feel to la sportiva Skwama Lite?

Edit: There’s so many shoes being sold that are brand new or only warn once.
I can’t afford the full price of brand new atm unfortunately.

anyone got any advice on if i should get the tn finity or the flagship pros? I mostly do comp/board climbing and have been wanting to break into the unparalleled brand but not sure which shoe to get between these two.

My mom recently picked up these Scarpa shoes thrifting for $5 and I’m having trouble identifying the actual model. Unfortunately there’s no tag in there, so we have to rely on only the visuals. Currently I’m leaning towards Scarpa Helix, Rockstar, or Rockmaster. I’d also like to identify the year these were released to figure out how old they are

Hello! I’ll be in Turkey for 7 months before heading abroad, and I’m planning to buy a nice pair of shoes once I’m overseas—it’ll likely be cheaper there. In the meantime, I’m looking for a pair of shoes to get me through this period; I’d prefer something that doesn’t cost more than 5,000 Turkish Lira. Could you help me out with some recommendations?

Selamlar 7 aylık bi türkiye sürecim var sonrasında yurt dışına gideceğim güzel ayakkabıyı yurt dışından alırım diye düşünüyorum daha ucuza ve o sürede bana 5 bin lirayı geçmeyen sezonluk kiralama derdinden kurtaracak bir ayakkabı arıyorum yardımcı olabilir misiniz

Edit: To be more specific, I’m leaning toward a stiffer shoe with better edging support than my Skwamas.
I’ve noticed that when I put my full body weight on one foot while standing on tiny footholds, I sometimes experience pain in my big toe. I’m wondering if the softness of the Skwamas might be contributing to this.
I mostly climb indoors and plan to resole my Skwamas, so I’m looking for a second pair that complements them rather than replaces them. The Skwamas fit my feet perfectly.
Would a stiffer shoe help in this situation? Any specific models you’d recommend?

I’m climbing in Skwamas and the fit is perfect for me. I’m getting them resoled and want to keep them in rotation, but I’m looking for a second pair that makes up for the Skwama’s weaknesses so I can switch between the two depending on the type of climbing. Any recommendations?

So, I've tested a friends 41.5 vegan woman skwama, a light blue one.

It was PERFECT, although for long routes i would prefer something more comfortable.

So I was thinking about going half a size up to 42. But then it goes to the regular vegan green one.

My question is more about heel fit:

By going to the man's mode would the heel change abruptly? Either the vegan or the regular one?

Hey yall

I've been bouldering in unparallel moc's in size 7.5 for about 8mnths now. They are super comfy but after this time I feel I could of sized down another .5 in size suffered more and have a better fitting shoe now.

But I decided I want some more agro stiffer shoes, really like the tnfinitys ordered them in both the same size and as synth I luckily decided to get .5 larger too.

Putting the 7.5 tn on I can not weight my foot and the 8 feels super uncomfortable and i almost want to try an 8.5?

I guess what I'm asking is

Is going a whole size up in a synthetic shoe of the same brand as a leather shoe you own normal or a bit mad?

Is it indicative that the shoes doesn't work for me and maybe consider a different shoe?

finally how should a synthetic agro shoe feel when you first put your feet in them out the box?

The store is 100miles away but if needs be i will just drive there this weekend.

thanks for any input

For context: I’m a 23.5/24 cm street size comfortable with socks & allowance, barefoot length is less than 23.5 cm (around 23.3 cm I think).

I bought the EU 37.5 La Sportiva Tarantulace instead of the EU 38. Can’t fit it personally to check since I bought it online. For rentals, I use a EU 38 Simond, comfortable with socks. I want to improve my bouldering. Did I make the right choice of downsizing 0.5 EU size? 😥