[JamesD]

the strap on one shoe snapped off a long while before the rubber died,

not worth the money in my opinion

(although the strap-snap could be down to my sweaty feet causing the eyelet to rust and saw through the strap, I have seen this same thing happen with others).

same for mine when I had them

came to the same conclusion

yep - that happened with mine too....

if I were to get another pair of sportivas they'd be muiras not solutions...

But would you buy them?

Assuming they fitted, or would you go with another brand.
I am finding this thread really interesting, with the anecdotal feedback, and various peoples experiences of these shoes.
Personally I am really impressed with the build quality of my Scarpas, I almost bought some slightly cheaper Boreals as well since the fit was similar, but these felt a lot more comfortable and the guy in the shop said the rubber was far superior as it was the same rubber as used by higher end La Sportiva shoes. Considering I am now up to around 4-5 months of heavy indoor usage, and I am a pretty damn big guy as far as boulderers/climbers go
(98-100kg generally speaking), I can see no visible signs of wear, the edges have gone a little bit, but no doubt that was from my first month or so of shockingly poor footwork and dragging my shoes down the wall when downclimbing  I know now just how much damage that does and learnt my lesson, so my next shoes will get treated a lot better!

[205Chris]

Anyone had any problems with the rubber on Sportivas (specifically katanas) recently? I never minded splashing out the extra £££ over five tens because they fit me great and the rubber was good, but seen two pairs recently where the rubber's disappeared in a matter of weeks.

I've had a few pairs of Katanas now and to be honest if I get 6 months use out of them I'm normally happy. I agree that the rubber does seem to wear down faster when compared to 5.10.

I've had a pair resoled with 5.10 rubber before and they were awesome. At about £30 to resole them it makes the starting price a bit more bearable. Shame that feet first seem to have stopped using 5.10 rubber for resoles.

[bobber]

I've had katanas with the new rubber (without the imprints) and ive previously had them with the old rubber. this time they were stickyer but wore out really quickly so im going to try a resole with 5.10 rubber

also the red chilli matadors work really well for me but rub and bruise a tendon by the ankle on one foot. there is a visible difference between the shoes where it rubs (where the tongue is stitched in) so im going to try a mod and see if it helps

[shark]

the strap on one shoe snapped off a long while before the rubber died,

I gather this is a regular occurence and worse still Sportiva do not accept it as a return.

[sjw]

I've sent three pairs of katanas back on the trot because the rubber has delaminated at the toe after a few months and I'll be switching to five ten after this pair go through.

My girlfriend's katanas rubber peeled away at the toe in under two months of barely any use. She sent them back and rather than refund them as she requested, they sent them back with some 'shoe goo' on them and told her to deal with it. Fairly grim sportiva experience allround; it's just a shame that they are only shoe she's found that fit her.

[mrjonathanr]

also the red chilli matadors work really well for me but rub and bruise a tendon (where the tongue is stitched in) so im going to try a mod and see if it helps

Wouldn't it be better to try a rocker?