Climbing Shoe Guide - 12+ Bouldering Shoe Reviews

What climbing shoes should you be wearing? This is a big question, especially since climbing shoes can make a difference in your ability on the wall. Noah goes through over 12+ pairs of climbing shoes he's worn since 2016 and shares his personal experience with them as a boulderer. His 8+ years of coaching, routesetting, and now retail management at a climbing gym give him great insight on this topic.
TIMESTAMPS:
1:05 La Sportiva Miura VS
2:36 Five Ten Dragons
3:57 La Sportiva Solutions
5:20 La Sportiva Solution Comps
7:12 Tenaya Mastia & Indalo
8:50 Mad Rock Shark 2.0
10:20 Mad Rock Drone
11:00 Mad Rock Redline
12:02 Scarpa Instinct
13:12 Scarpa Drago
14:28 La Sportiva Futura
15:04 La Sportiva Theory
Thanks for watching + supporting us! Leave any questions in the comments.
Featuring: Noah
Thank you to Paige Benner for editing this video!
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We're Colorado-based climbers, Brooke + Noah! | Our channel shares everything from climbing tips, an inside look at routesetting, simple techniques to get better at bouldering, and advice for short climbers!
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ABOUT US:
Noah has worked in the climbing industry for over seven years and has held the roles of head coach, routesetter, retail manager, and event coordinator. He is currently the retail and event manager at The Climbing Collective gyms in Northern Colorado.
For the past seven years, Brooke worked as a freelance content creator and social media manager. When she isn’t climbing she spends her free time turning her hobbies into businesses (a habit she is trying to break).
#climbingshoes #bouldering #climbers

[@123024119]

Great video, good to see someone giving their experience on a wide range of shoes from various brands, thanks for sharing!

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

Glad you liked it!

[@cisca__]

Amazing video, would love to see other people reviews

[@glitch8949]

Been on the hunt for my second ever pair and hopefully I find the one right for me. I feel like I overthink what I want instead of just going for one

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

We felt the same as newer climbers! Sometimes you have to learn from experience what shoes you like/don’t like.

[@evanrossow6150]

Honestly just going to need to try quite a few to find what you like

[@Jaredstthomas]

I did a massive amount of research for my first few pairs just to realize I had no idea what I actually liked until I tried them. Thought I’d want a super stiff slightly downturned shoe for most of my climbing, now I use a super soft moccasin for almost everything. I’d say find something that fits your foot well and give them a try

[@ericahubert1609]

just got the scarpa instinct womens. I didn’t even know they were coming out with the vsr. I can’t wait to try those ones next!

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

We’re excited to try out the womens VSR as well!

[@bk_nor]

currently in love with the tenaya indalo. ah you mentioned them lol, good point about the closing system. gonna have to give the la sportiva sulutions a try for sure. heard only good things.

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

They’re awesome! Definitely give them a try.

[@heavyarms39]

Nice and informative! I rock the blue Instinct VSR for indoors and it’s really soft and comfy and teal Instinct outdoor

[@Smudger-jg6qw]

got the VSR LV recently and they are honestly amazing, although i will caveat by saying they’re only my third pair so don’t have much to compare to. super comfy and the tighter heal is great aswell

[@MaloBezard]

Nice review ! It's nice to see such an extensive set ! To me, the shoe that comes the closest to what you're describing as dream Franken-shoe would be the unparallel TN pro, have you ever tried those ?

[@ryanl_98]

love the review! i’ve been looking for new somewhat stiff shoes and you’ve covered some i was thinking about. just wondering do you have a narrower or wider foot?

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

Narrow! Thats why I typically prefer wearing low volume/women’s shoes.

[@TheKidFlash]

My first pair was the black diamond neutral and it was perfect. Really good starter shoe and I like the basic black and white color scheme. Recently got the Evolve Phantom's and its starting to work pretty well. The first couple sessions were excruciating. I couldnt really climb cause the pain it was causing was unbearable, but now theyre starting to break in 😅

[@jacksonwhitcup1185]

Theorys are still my favorite outdoor bouldering shoes and all around shoes, but I've never put on a solution in my life. Curious to try. I've enjoyed the women's VSR as well so far. (If you happen to be a size 41 I accidentally ended up with an extra pair of em)

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

@@jacksonwhitcup1185 haha unfortunately a bit big on me. Glad to hear you like them!

[@dannys7773]

you should try La sportiva Skwama, very comfortable, something between theory and solution comp. i love them. maybe if you can chose to wear solution outside and drago inside they wont be that usefull but imo its the best all purpose shoe. it also have womans version whitch is even softer so maybe somthing just above drago hardness wise

[@vladart591]

Try the Drago XT & VSR LV!

[@vladart591]

My current two pairs are the Instinct VS (True to Size) & Drago (Down 1 Size). My next two pairs of shoes will be the Instinct VSR LV & Drago LV (Maybe the Drago XT).

[@climbwithus3993]

I once saw somebody climbing barefoot!? Thoughts about where this would land in the tier list, noah?

[@climbwithus3993]

Low water arete 🤭

[@bendingriver7101]

I liked the review! In the future I'd recommend you talk about the anatomy of your foot at the beginning and how that informs your decisions! Id guess, based on your review, you have fairly skinny feet. I'm a fucking hobbit with wide ass feet so i kind of look at this review as a good list of what to avoid for me (I HATED the Solutions so much. Killed my feet and neutered my performance). Still i appreciate your insights!

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

Fair point! Thanks for the feedback!

[@andreagavazzi8276]

Could you elaborate further on the DIY resole for the Miuras? I've got a very worn-out pair of Skwamas, and I'm trying to save them with tire patches, but I'm not happy with the results. Your method seems very effective, though!

[@scottwangkl8882]

No Evolv? How dare! Just kidding, but the Zenist Pro LV are almost the perfect shoe for me, though I still want to try the Shark 3.0 (but it’s so hard to get)

[@Kova4a]

The Furia S are definitely my favorite by a lot - they are more sensitive than my og drago and drago lv, while somehow being snappier at the same time because of the IPR active rand. And to be honest people exaggerate how fragile they are, I get just as much time out of them I get with the dragos. And if you want advanced, then try the Unparallel Leopard ii - even the Furia Air aren't that soft, nothing on the market comes close. They aren't really technical though - you get unsurpassed sensitivity and stickiness on slab but everything else is all you, so you do need very strong feet and toes

[@zacchary2961]

Hey Noah! Thanks for the insightful video. Was wondering if you could elaborate more on the indalo as you mentioned the lace system got in the way sometimes. Is there any other reason you put it in B tier? And would you say that its 90% similar to the mastia?

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

Yeah they’re very similar. I just felt that the Mastia was better overall for most bouldering situations. A lot of this revolves around the Indalo lace system not being as good for toe hooks which I do a lot in the gym/outdoors.

[@Lucroz94]

I have worn for a full year both Indalo and Mastia (and resoled them twice). They share the exast same last (overall shape/construction/platform). The only difference is the toe box. The Indalo are more oriented for Egyptian foot shape (more pointy to the big toe) when the Mastia are more rounded and fit more Greek shaped toe box. I have wide feet but very narrow heel so the toe box of the Mastia is still the best I've ever had and become just house slippers but still perform well AFTER you burn through the horrible original rubber (I just hate XSGrip 1). The heel never worked, way too baggy. I still use them as my burner/comfy shoes. The Indalo being narrower give me more power through big toe especially while sport climbing and with more overhangs than the Mastia so I'm usually good for everything (indoor/outdoor) with these two ! So yeah, they both fit relatively close, the heel is the same, the rubber is the same. Never had issues with the closure system of the Indalo but I suck on toe hooks. They stretch quite a lot tho so take them very tight at first.

[@Asdfghjkl-ls1or]

No skwamas?!

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

We’ve never worn the Skwama’s! Though we’d be open to trying them in the future if you guys want us to test them out.

[@Moonlightfire88]

Is the women’s version of shoes because of narrower foot?

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

For some shoes yes, but others no. It’s different from brand to brand!

[@MrAlfredkwok]

tried many shoes and only find Drone CS LV fits my tiny heels

[@scskmsd23]

why would you not be advanced enough for the furia and furia air?

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

I’m only half joking but the Furia/Furia Air are *really* soft shoes. I tend to prefer a bit more stiffness compared to what these offer. Would love to try ‘em one day!

[@gregspauldini3139]

The solution comp for me is the perfect shoe. Does everything well. Scarpa just never worked with my feet, plus I don't think the quality is up to La Sportiva.

[@ConnectiveClimbing]

Solution comp is 🙌🙌

[@bulujeegar9184]

Dragons in B tier, these kids...

[@MrStillfree69]

Women's model is not only about the volume, depending on the brand. For example, La Sportiva specifically says Men's and Women's because the latter are slightly softer. The idea is that an average woman weighs less, so the shoe should be softer to create the same level of sensitivity and stiffness for a climber. E.g. a 70-80kg men should have the same feeling in a Solution Comp Men's, as a 50kg women in a Solution Comp Women's