[Sasquatch]

I know quite a few people who seem to like them for heel hooking, but IMO, those folks are generally rubbish at heel hooks.  The one good thing is because of the hard heel, if it's a painful placement, they can be wonderful. 

This is all with the old colutions as the new ones are narrower and don't fit my feet anymore. I've got a pair of Instinct vs' on order and wil be testing them in squamish for a week, the home of heel hooks.  I'll let you know how they do.

My preference for an in between shoe is the Miura VS.  Awesome heel, and great performance on all but the steepest stuff. 

[cha1n]

I disagree with the solutions having a decent heel for heel hooking.  I think they're generally crap at heel hoking evn though they're my favorite shoe.

On any marginal placement they're rubbish.  They have a hard heel cup that doesn't mold at all.

I didn't say they were good overall, just that they are good on painful spikes. I see a lot of people's heels pop on plastic but not so much outdoors when there's good friction. I don't wear them so can't give that much info on them, other than what I found in the few weeks I owned them. Personally I don't like the vibram rubbers, all the 5.10 rubbers (apart from mystique) I've found to be superior to any of the vibram rubbers. Saying that, enough people smash out hard problems in them so you can't argue with results.

I think like Doylo is saying, there must be a reason why most downturned shoes have shit heels. I found the Sparpa VS to be a bit wide for me but I get the impression that the shoe would suit a high volume, wide foot better than my weird shape feet.

[scottygillery]

i hate this thread.

[Sasquatch]

I didn't say they were good overall, just that they are good on painful spikes.

I'd agree with that.  The heel stiffness takes away sensitivity which can be either good or bad depending on the person.

Personally I don't like the vibram rubbers, all the 5.10 rubbers (apart from mystique) I've found to be superior to any of the vibram rubbers. Saying that, enough people smash out hard problems in them so you can't argue with results.

Totally agree on the rubber, I just with i could get a pair of 5-10's to feet my feet.  instead I just get the la sportiva's resoled in 5-10 rubber

I found the Sparpa VS to be a bit wide for me but I get the impression that the shoe would suit a high volume, wide foot better than my weird shape feet.

Which is exactly my foot and why I'm mad at La Sportiva for narrowing the solution, and am hopeful for the Instinct VS's. 

i hate this thread.

Why?

[Doylo]

i hate this thread.

Are you more of a toehook man?

[tomtom]

:D I've found the instinct rubber to be largely superior to 5:10 so far this year... Maybe not on frosty grit - but they're equal if not better on everything else I've used them on. I've been an avid 5:10 fanboi up to now...

[tomtom]

No quality issues or wear problems with either instinct Velcro or slipper.. Velcro's are too stiff for decent smearage (they don't soften as much as Anasazi vcs for example) but have been ace on edges and points...

[joe dobson]

how about the new Scarpa Booster S? Supposed to be quite soft so good for overhangs and looks like a secure heel. I've got Stix V2s and they're the best shoes I've had in a while.

[cha1n]

I did probe about the booster S a while back but I can't seem to find any reviews of them and there's nobody raving about them on blogs. I think the general consensus is that they didn't do a good job on remaking the stix so perhaps they did an equally bad job on the boosters. The boostics were certainly a (well made) pile of shite.

As I say, I'm hoping to get up to bananafingers this week before departing to Sheffield and I plan to try on all the new stuff that arrived whilst I was away travelling. I was pretty excited about the Nexxo but they seem to have bad quality reviews on bf and the booster s is also on my radar. I'll probaby just get some pythons or something though, don't love them (a bit narrow for me) but the heel is quite good.

[joe dobson]

I never had the original Stix but I really rate the new V2s. Perhaps the fact its just got XS Gip rather than XS (crap)edge but I love they way they feel under the feet. Rather psyched to check out the Booster S, also Haston rates them if you check out his recent blog post:

http://steviehaston.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/scarpa-booster-s-by-stevie-haston.html

[cowboyhat]

They look absolutely awful.

Stevie Hastons blog layout is good though, I like the long sight friendly font. Look forward to revisiting it when my retinas go south.

[Fultonius]

The boostics were certainly a (well made) pile of shite.

What makes you say this? A read a few online reviews saying they were they best thing ...like EVA!

[SA Chris]

http://steviehaston.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/scarpa-booster-s-by-stevie-haston.html

Rave reviews of Scarpa shoes by Scarpa sponsored climbers. Bit like being prescribed a course of leeches by Dr Hoffman of Stuttgart, owner of the largest leech farm in Europe

[cha1n]

What makes you say this? A read a few online reviews saying they were they best thing ...like EVA!

The boostics had much promise in the design stage then they went and shoved wooden boards on as soles, you just cannot have a performance shoe that is really stiff in my opinion. Even the whites soften up and the power comes from their clever midsole. The best shoes use clever tensioning and special midsoles to generate power to the toe and the cop-out ones just make the soles stiff. This is fine on vertical ground but when it comes to smearing and pulling with you toes on steep ground the toes just pop in my experience.

I can't remember the exact links but I remember reading a bunch of reviews saying they weren't very good. Dave Macleod may well say they're good but he has a habit of fulfilling his role as a sponsored scarpa athlete and saying all of their range are good yet 95% of the time he's wearing his stix.

If you were going to go that route then you'd be better off looking at the Scarpa instinct VS rather than the boostic imo. I think the booster S look pretty good, perhaps a lot of space between those two straps could leave the shoe loose around the arch area but couldn't comment until I tried them on.

[rodma]

the boostics are anything but stiff and have the best heel I've ever experienced, unfortunately combined with the worst smell ever and not available in my size in britain 

[cha1n]

the boostics are anything but stiff

You must be mistaken?! I tried to bend the sole in the climbing shop and nearly did a finger pulley in! Do you mean the booster?

To be fair they were very expensive when first released and they've come down a bit in price now. I wouldn't imagine they're a million miles away from the muira vs (men's) and with the addition of toe rubber, are probably worth a punt if you're a muira vs wearer. I personally wouldn't bother but I know what I like now and stick to them.

[rodma]

So you haven't actually tried them?

Yeah I must be mistaken or we handled different shoes unless you fondled the pair I purchased. My instinct vs are way stiffer than the boostics I wore until they melted my nostrils and had to be incinerated.

[cha1n]

I tried them on in the shop, stood on some holds but didn't take me long to realise that they weren't for me. Admittedly it was during the winter, so the rubber would have been stiff in the cold but I was trying on a bunch of other shoes to so it would have all been relative.

Yeh, the instinct vs are quite stiff and I didn't get much power out of the toe of them which is why I didn't bother with them either. I have mentioned though, I do like a soft shoe, I prefer to feel what's under my toes, whereas some people don't mind them stiff. So to speak.

[Stubbs]

Could we perhaps keep shoe cussing or recommendations to shoes we have actually used, rather than just tried on in the shop and decided were shit?!

[cha1n]

Could we perhaps keep shoe cussing or recommendations to shoes we have actually used, rather than just tried on in the shop and decided were shit?!

It's a step above recommending shoes that I haven't tried on at least! To be fair, I've owned 25 models in the 5 years I've been climbing so I like to think that I can tell what a shoes faults are quite quickly. Could Lewis Hamilton tell a car was shit from a quick test drive? Probably (disclaimer, I'm not claiming to be the Lewis Hamilton of climbing shoes).

[Stubbs]

You can tell how a midsole is going to wear in just by trying the shoes on in a shop? How did your whites feel when you first tried them?!

[tim palmer]

This might sound insane but I thought the (red chili) matador heel was really good, plus they have rubber across the toe and I would imagine they would be fairly cheap too. 
 

[Mike Tyson]

I had some Boostics, didn't rate them I'm afraid. Had them for about six months and gave them a decent go but never felt secure, well, on pretty much anything! I picked up a second hand pair of VS's recently and they are awesome, very impressed. I got them to use so I could keep my La Sportiva Futaras in good nick, but their roles may be reversed soon. I'd recommend both of these, very good heels for me at least and comfy whilst offering performance as well. I have odd feet mind, very low volume and skinny with weird long toes. This fact may or may not have a bearing on the shoes I prefer!

[SEDur]

I will soon be on my third pair of boostics (in as many years, and I climb fairly regularly).

If you have the correct foot shape and size correctly, the heel will be great for about 2-3 months of almost constant use.
Then it will get a little baggier.
The trend will continue until roughly 10.5 months and the heel will be rubbish for hooking.

The tighter you go the shorter the ratios of time the heel will last, but not to below 6 months.

They are a stiff shoes. They are made of XS edge and are designed to rely on stiffness for European sport routes.
Mine are still stiff after roughly 11 months of use. If you think they are soft, you must be either made of steel or sorely mistaken.

Anyway.

Boostics are a good limestone shoe. They have the stiffness, a good shape and they can take some pretty horrid abuse.
I only really climb on Limestone, and I have had no problems. Many reps of weedkiller have been made using them.

They are slightly downturn, but it isn't particularly drastic when compared to the dragon or similar.

Between these and blancos, I haven't found another shoe that I prefer for limestone yet.

Dragons fit me like a dream, but I didn't like how soft they were.

[JohnM]

When it comes to heel sag where it molds on to the hold I like Testarossas.  They don't have much toe rubber though.