Tag: climbing shoe review

equipment | La Sportiva SPEEDSTER

_Summary | The FUTURA without stability

La Sportiva | Speedster | evaluation

La Sportiva | Speedster | evaluation

To  be honest the heading is probably a bit of a harsh judgement but in the essence kind of true. The SPEEDSTER is indeed based on the same design as the FUTURA, but given the fact it’s a ballerina/slipper it lacks the added stability that the velcro gives its bigger brother. I cannot support some of the other testers coming to the conclusion that this is one of the most aggressive ballerinas ever made. In the contrary I think it’s a relatively tame version of a slipper, the problem is that even if you buy it tight, it lacks in stability what it tries to make up for in aggressive form. At least for me the compromise doesn’t add up. In addition it has the same design drawbacks as the FUTURA, particularly the lacking sustainability due to the ‘edgeless’ sole design. On the upside though the SPEEDSTER is relatively ‘cheap’ compared to the nearly 50€ thus 50% more expensive bigger brother. So if you can forgo the additional stability of a velcro or a lacing, and don’t want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a climbing shoe, the SPEEDSTER is a decent alternative.
 
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equipment | La Sportiva KATANA

_Summary | the best friend – comfy and reliant

La Sportiva | Katana | evaluation

La Sportiva | Katana | evaluation

This one looks a bit strange. The test summary seems to hint at a mediocre shoe, seldom hitting the top ten. That’s not completely true. The KATANA scores best notes in all the key basic feature categories: fit, comfort and stability. Key for the KATANA is exactly this great basic performance. You can wear it all day, in 30 degrees heat, or cold days where you need to wear socks during climbing. It’s the most comfy shoe I’ve ever worn, in all circumstances.

Bottom line: yes it’s indeed not the top performer across the board, but with a consistently strong performance throughout it is the companion you are looking for if you need reliability, stability, and if you need to worry about other things than your shoes. In short, if you just want to enjoy a chilled climbing day, are not looking for peak performance and climb in your comfort zone, this is the tool you need!

Material | mix of artificial leather with natural leather
Sole | Vibram Formel XS Edge (4,0 mm)
Price |
 ~112€
Shop | Bergfreunde | Sporthaus Schuster | SportScheck.CH (men)/(women)

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equipment | La Sportiva SOLUTION

_Summary | the godfather of rock – pure performance and aggression

La Sportiva | Solution

La Sportiva | Solution | evaluation

The SOLUTION is my all time favourite for routes where I need to focus and go to my personal limit. I would definitely not recommend this shoe for beginners: too unfomfortable, too much tension, very aggressive heel design, relatively hard in comparison to the FUTURA. As with the FUTURA the SOLUTION is not extremely flexible regarding the lacing. the critical issue with this shoe is that it, at least for me is not a sock-like fit, especially the back of the shoe only sticks to the heel because of the massive tension across the shoe design and not because the heel snuggly encloses your heel.

Bottom line: either the shoe fits right away or you better stay away. If it does it is probably the best LaSportiva you can get.

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equipment | La Sportiva FUTURA

_Summary | the new classic with style and aggression

La Sportiva | Futura

La Sportiva | Futura | evaluation

The FUTURA is a new Classic in the LaSportiva lign up. Although relatively new, launched in 2012, just take a sneak peek at the hard-movers in your climbing gym and you will undoubtedly agree it’s extremely popular. After launching a new edge-less sole concept in 2009 with the SPEEDSTER, the FUTURA is the velcro version of that model. In theory at least. Reality shows they are 2 completely different shoes. What the SPEEDSTER lacks in stability, sensitivity and performance, the FUTURA does not. It’s also a much more agressive model. The hefty price tag and the ‘in your face’ design have not limited its popularity.

The feature set clearly shows the profile of a shoe for the harder stuff: limited comfort, high tension, strong heel and limited performance on slabs. The key differentiator is the new sole of the FUTURA, which has the same rounded edges as the SPEEDSTER.

Overall the FUTURA convinces during bouldering sessions with sharp ledges, hooks and pockets.

I would not recommend it for Fontainebleau or Castle Hill, rather for Bishop or the Swiss/Austrian bouldering areas. You wont have much fun on slabs or structureless rock.

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