[cha1n]

So Dave Macleod has advertised the release of these on Facebook today:

http://www.scarpa.co.uk/climb/boostic/

Stating that he's now "using them for all training". He said the same thing when the instinct was released and saying (I'm paraphrasing); the instincts are good but not as good as the stix. His comment makes me think that these new shoes aren't up to scratch, although he has stated in the past that he's not a fan of velcro shoes.

Anyone tried them on? What do you think?

Can you draw comparisons between them and the boosters/stix/instincts? I liked the stix/booster toebox but found the heel too deep. The boostic appears to have the instinct heel which I thought was a decent heel, but a touch wide for me.

I also noted the use of XS Edge as opposed to XS Grip 2, which is usually used on performance models of various brands. I accept that XS Edge is a more durable rubber to XS Grip 2 but I didn't like what the Edge rubber did to my Miuras if I'm honest. I switched to the womens model of the miura just so I could use the grip rubber.. Thoughts?

Either way, it's too late for me. I have a new(ish) pair of Dragons to wear out before I can even consider these (though the dragon is amazing, so I'm unlikely to change) but the masses should know if they are something revolutionary!

(Yes I'm bored. Day off and I'm injured)

[Jaspersharpe]

Either way, it's too late for me. I have a new(ish) pair of Dragons to wear out before I can even consider these (though the dragon is amazing, so I'm unlikely to change)

Is the right answer.

[thrashhard]

First of all, i´m from Austria so please excuse my english.
I´m a Huge fan of most Scarpas and have used several pairs of Instinct LU´s, Vapor Lace and Velcro and so on.
But the Boostic looks awful and XS Edge is bullshit. In my eyes the boostic is nothing else than a Feroce minus one velcrostrap and with shitty rubber.
If you love the Booster and the heel doesn´t fit go for the Rockette. I had the same problem with Boosters and the Rockette fits like a sock. Even better than instincts or vapors.

PS: If the Dargon is awesome why change to something you don´t even know? Never change something you like.

[teghead123]

Having tried them on and climbed in them i can honestly say they are definately worth trying. The fit is brilliant and the front end of the shoe feels lovely and stiff (which i believe was macleods only moan about the slippers). The xs edge rubber is mega on limestone edges (pretty sure its the same as the sportiva testerossa). cant wait till they arrive in the shops and i can wear a pair in properly,

Liam

[cha1n]

That's what I feared. Sounds like an edging shoe to me, probably ok for routes.

Testarossa uses xs grip (I've owned a pair in the past).

[thrashhard]

I´m a routeclimber but xs edge isn´t doing it for me. The grip feels like i´m standing on plastic bags.
Maybe if you´re a heavyweight but with ~63 kg you can´t get any grip with the edge sole.

[Gus]

I've been using the boostics for the last month or so and I really rate them.

I'm a self confessed stix lover, and had a bit of a nightmare when they stopped making them, I ended up with a secret stash of them that just about got me through until the boostics arrived.

I liked the instincts, nice and sensitive, but they weren't as down turned, and the slippers weren't as secure or as durable.

The thing I really liked about stix were the sensitivity, for this I preferred them over the boosters which felt a bit more solid. In this way the boostics are just right, I think they achieve what the name suggests ie. a combo of the stix and boosters, which is great.

I've used them on the lime and for training, but also on the grit a fair bit, they felt great on west side story and it's not like that doesn't need good feet!!

Totally don't agree that they feel like some of the more punter models (feroce etc), the toe box feels pretty similar to the stix/boosters  and has plenty of down turn for steepness and edging. The heel is a little different but still works and the velcro keeps it  ice and secure! The rubber on the toe is awesome and pretty much as good as sportiva solutions for toe hooks (ie. feels like you're cheating!!)

All in all I'm well psyched and relieved I can stop worrying about running out of stix!!!

[thrashhard]

my opinion of the boostic was just what i thought about it when i saw the pictures in the net.
never seen the boostic in nature so i can´t tell if it´s really like the feroce. but it looked pretty similar.
sounds like a good shoe. but it´s somehow hard to imagine a shoe with a XS Edge sole which is going up to the heel is as soft as the stix which only has that halfsole of xs grip rubber.

[BB]

How do they size up compared to the stix and the booster?

[teghead123]

same sizing as instinct slipper, im half down from the stix

[Lopez]

I've been using them for a bit now, and so far the feeling is that they are short of measuring up to the Stix.

 Problem is, the Boostics are nothing like the Stix/Booster/Mago. I was just talking yesterday with a couple of different people about it. It seems common practice in the industry to hail shoes as "the evolution of" to attract loyal users when they are not so. Bit like the Katana Lace and Miura VS being 2 versions of the same shoe and nothing to do with the original Katana or Miura.  The Boostic is a completely new shoe in itself.

So, loyal Stix users, don't expect this to be an improved Velcro Stix. 

 The Boostics are narrower than the Stix/Boosters, and fit bigger lenghtwise, so those of us with wide feet who could wear Stix out the box now have to endure a bit of pain. They squeezed my feet so much at the beginning that i'd get calf cramps for the first couple of days.
 I got my Stix size on them and feel like i should have gone half size smaller. So that's half to one size below street size. (Climbing Works recommends going 2 sizes down from street size. Either they wear their street shoes too big or have found a way to warp the space-time continuum).   

 The toe box volume is similar to their 'parents', but the profile is completely different. They are pointier towards the inside, in fact, ridiculously pointy (in Scarpa context), which even though it'll probably work beautifully in pockets and cracks, it lessens the awesome edging performance the Stix had. The geometry just doesn't seem to work right, and that's what i'm still trying to get used to. I couldn't find fault with the one sported in the Stix/Mago. The problem is, they seem to lack a micro-edging-zone™.

 You see, in the Boostic the pointiest bit is at the far inner side of the toes, and from there the edge runs pretty much in a straight line to the instep. So basically you lose that inner edge on the side of the big toe unless you position your foot so the ankle is rubbing against the rock. Also, as most human's big toe tip is not positioned on the far end of the feet, this 'extreme offset' (I'm gonna ™ that as well, shoe manufacturers please contact me through here with offers) creates some dead space in the most critical area of the sole. The alternative is to 'front-point' with the toe, but since the big toe is isolated from the other ones due to the pointiness, you'd better start cranking big toe squats if you want to use this shoes in anything slate-like or nubbins grit slabs that runs for more than a few moves.

 My other gripe with them is the 5.10 style stash pocket in the heel cup. I mean, if i want to take my house keys with me when i'm climbing i'll put them in my trousers, i don't need a bunch of dead air in the shoe's heel when i'm trying to make it stick to that heinous heel hook.  All said though, the heel is still an improvement on what was the biggest shortfall on the Stix.

 Now that i got that off my chest, i still think the Boostic are an amazing pair of shoes. Stiff enough to offer good support on anything you can put your paws on and keep their shape nicely, yet excellent sensitivity/feedback through the sole.
 They work beautifully in steep routes as well.
 The midsole material feels remarkably like that of the Stix, so excellent for anything but smearing.
 The fit is excellent and relatively comfortable, and the quality and attention to detail is classic Scarpa top notch craftsmanship.   

 All in all, unless you are expecting a beefed up Stix this shoes will feel awesome. However, try not to use the Stix as the yardstick or you'll feel disappointed. If only they could have kept to their plans and do an improved Booster/Stix spawn...

Some photographic messing about:

Sizing and last comparison. Both size 41


Sole last comparison. Notice the Stix more rounded and positive inside edge compared with the Boostics negative angle.


How my toe sits in the shoe

[thrashhard]

hows the fit compared to the instinct LU ? and is the boostic more pointy on zhe big toe?
if the boostics are stiffer and more pointed than the instinct i would definitly try them.

[Danny]

Just seen this thread, so I thought i'd bump it in case anyone can offer any more useful feedback.

I have had a similar experience to Gus with regards to stashing multiple pairs, except that I bought 3 pairs of Boosters. The last pair is just about to die. Sad times indeed. These shoes are amazing. I even emailed Scarpa to see if they had any more knocking about.

Anyway, I tried the Instincts and they're the best of a bad bunch with regards to my foot shape and the current market, but not a patch on my beloved Boosts. So, I may order myself a pair of these Boostics to see how I get on...however, I'm not hopeful based on this thread.

A friend of mine in a similar predicament has had his Boosts resoled in C4. Feedback is that they're prime. This could be the solution for all you Boost / Styx lovers out there, either that or a petition to Scarpa.

[Muenchener]

The Booster is still listed as a current product on Scarpa's website, so either the website is out of date or your petition needs to be directed to the UK distributor (whoever that might be)

[Danny]

I think it is a UK thing:


http://www.scarpa.co.uk/climb/

http://en.scarpa.net/prodotti//booster/

[thrashhard]

why don´t you order them from germany?
they are cheaper than in the UK anyway and the postage can´t be that terrible high.
there are lots of shops over here which will send them for free even to UK.
paypal makes it easier than ever before to pay in foreign currencys.
i think you´re wearing the boosters for a time now and scarpa is really really true to their sizing. you can´t fail.

[cha1n]

and the boulder shop guy who parks up in Bas Cuvier delivers. http://www.bouldershop.fr/chaussons2.htm I don't know how anyone could tolerate the heel on the stix/booster, I found there to be so much deadspace.

I actually had a look at some boostics the other day as someone I was climbing with had a pair. They seemed about the same stiffness as the Instinct Lace-up but the heel was narrower (better imo) and had slightly better rubber coverage. I think they'd make a good limestone shoe but not sure that there's many reasons to choose them over the instinct lace-up which has the same stiffness, better rubber and you can pick them up new, for half the price of the boostic.

[Danny]

Seems like a good idea - I'll have a gander. I take it the Styx is discontinued everywhere?

[cha1n]

No Danny, you can buy the stix from the climbing works for £70. http://www.climbingworks.com/shop/footwear/climbing/scarpa-stix/

[thrashhard]

some people don´t like lace-ups and heavier people prefer xs edge.
i don´t like the edge rubber but if you compare the scarpa range to the sportiva, scarpa has no high end shoe with xs edge rubber and needs to satisfy "other" customers with a edge-high tech shoe.

if the heel of the booster is bad for you try the rockette. it´s a "womens" shoe but it´s definitly wider in the front than any la sportiva or the anasazis.
I bought a pair of rockettes off ebay. they were so cheap i bought them blind without having them ever seen in real life before and lucky me they fit perfect. i never bought the booster since the heel was shit but the rockette is the opposite.
i went up a half size since i thought they are womens shoes and are maybe bit smaller. la sportivas womens shoes are always 0.5 smaller in the same size (womens 39,5 = mens 39).
i should have gone with my regular scarpa (mens) size because now they are a bit too wide for such a soft shoe.

other than the booster i think the stix is still available in the UK but not in the rest
of europe. Its at least not on the european scarpa site

[cha1n]

I did see you mention this. My feet are too big to wear rockettes as they never made them up to the size I'll need (e.g. I'd wear a 43 in the stix if the heel wasn't so poor). I actually wear the same size in women's la sportiva as I do in the mens (I wear a 42 in men's and women's Miura VS).

[weakdave]

Can you give details of any German websites that post free to UK? I am trying to get hold of some Magos but cant find my size in UK.

[weakdave]

Can you give details of any German websites that post free to UK? I am trying to get hold of some Magos but cant find my size in UK. If they dont do Magos there either, do Boosters fit the same size as Magos?

[thrashhard]

the rockette is definitly wider than the miura and streches a lot more.
because of that half sole thing they get pretty much longer with the time. the miura is a toe killer to me and isn´t getting any bigger lenght wise it only make some space for the toes.
a rockette 40 is about what a 39 miura would be to me not painful but super tight. a shoe i don´t have to pour(?) off the moment i get to the top.
the rockettes in 40,5 are now (2 months later) still perfect for climbing but they are too soft and are really more a gym shoe.
i still always wear them because of comfort but i always notice that i have too much weight on my arms because the shoes are too soft for smaller footholds and i don´t trust them to stay on.
i also noticed that i often don´t takes the small footholds and try to stand on friction elsewhere instead because the shoe does that a lot better.

Can you give details of any German websites that post free to UK? I am trying to get hold of some Magos but cant find my size in UK. If they dont do Magos there either, do Boosters fit the same size as Magos?

can´t tell you that because i never had magos.
http://www.bergfreunde.de/scarpa-mago-kletterschuhe/?listtype=search&searchparam=scarpa

€ 125 must be about 100 gbp ?
free shipping over € 100 (even to the UK)

[Danny]

Boosters do fit at the same size as the Magos.

[Paul B]

how are these as an all-rounder?

I've been wearing an old pair of whites for Trad limestone type stuff and my achilles just can't take it any longer. I'm not quite sure how they can still be so painful despite being a weekend away from the bin, but they are!