[cha1n]

DPM put a photo up on facebook but found this through google, the Five Ten Team VXi:



Anyone have some more info on them? The black teams haven't been out long so this seems a little premature. DPM states that they have a new last and are easier on/off. New last sounds interesting, hopefully they'll fit more like the Jet 7's and they don't appear to have the pointless material patch on inside of the heel... Which is good...

[Paul B]

They're incredibly soft, as in role up and put in your wallet soft.

The sole does look different, more akin to Scarpa technology. Interestingly I saw Monkey Boy in a new pair of Black (yet blue) wings. Improved heel etc. they looked pretty good to me.

[cha1n]

Interesting! I was wondering how much support there would be, usually there's a section of rand that goes from the front of the shoe and joins into the heel rand in an upward, arcing shape. Whereas these ones just have rand around the bottom and the heel area looks pretty low cut.

All that aside, I don't mind soft shoes, especially for steep stuff. I guess these are similar stiffness to the Hornets then? I don't know if you've felt the teams but they are pretty soft anyway, especially when broken in.

Good news about the Blackwings, had they ditched the material patch on their heels too, like the women's version? I'd be interested to try these again, anything with Stealth HF on the bottoms is worth a look imo!

[remus]

http://www.climbingzine.com/portfolios/winter-or-samson-says-light-is-right/

The above source reckons they're going to be released in July.

Also says "While the rubber is too thin and soft to be an everyday outdoor shoe..." which sounds a little worrying to me. I like an extensive climbing shoe collection as much as the next guy but a shoe that is specifically lacking in durability is a hard sell for me. Then again it might just be the usual soft slipper lack of durability. Who knows.

[iwasmexican]

They're incredibly soft, as in role up and put in your wallet soft.

which now has plenty of room for them i presume

[cha1n]

which now has plenty of room for them i presume

That's something that alarmed me from the article above (thanks for the link remus), retail at $170 which is La Sportiva Futura prices and they are the most expensive shoe on the market! I don't think I (or anyone else for that matter) would pay money like that for such a specialist shoe.

Regarding the durability, I'd read from the article that they're more referring to the softness of the shoe and relating more to pain tolerance rather than durability. These sort of seem like a really expensive version of the 5.10 projects (currently selling for £45). Don't think I'll bother with these but at least there's been some good news regarding an upgraded blackwing!

[Wipey Why]

It would appear that this is another shoe in Five Ten's scatter gun approach to the market. By offering something for every single possible niche  something will hopefully stick and then they can stop manufacturing the others soon after. 

[slackline]

I don't think I (or anyone else for that matter) would pay money like that for such a specialist shoe.

Thats a strange statement (to me at least) because usually when something is specialist or targeted at a very niche market it will inherently be more expensive because the scope for shifting large number of units is diminished, so the return on each item has to be higher (viz. economies of scale).

If you want a 'specialist' shoe you can expect to pay top dollar for it.

[Stubbs]

I don't think I (or anyone else for that matter) would pay money like that for such a specialist shoe.

I you go to any of the London walls you'll see a lot of people wearing solutions, sometimes with socks underneath, often loose enough to walk around in.  I'm sure a lo of these people will be wearing Futuras when they are more readily available.

[Durbs]

True dat - although shoe-of-choice down Craggy2 is currently Katana's which are usually available <£100.
Solutions do seem to be pretty popular despite the price though...

[Paul B]

All that aside, I don't mind soft shoes, especially for steep stuff. I guess these are similar stiffness to the Hornets then? I don't know if you've felt the teams but they are pretty soft anyway, especially when broken in.

Far softer than the hornets.

[Wipey Why]

I you go to any of the London walls you'll see a lot of people wearing solutions, sometimes with socks underneath, often loose enough to walk around in.  I'm sure a lo of these people will be wearing Futuras when they are more readily available.

It is people like this who keep the majority of the climbing industry in business. They certainly don't make much off those of us who get their shoes resoled repeatedly and refuse to buy shoes until they absolutely have to.

[andymarshll]

Far softer than the hornets.

Fuck me! I thought the only things softer than hornets were actual liquids.

[Monolith]

Still wearing a pair of the blue teams and really can't fathom why they needed to dick around with them. Probably the first climbing shoe I've never had a single complaint about. These green things look dump. I hope to be proved wrong.

[robertostallioni]

To be fair, the old LaSportiva mantra (and mantra S's) were far softer than hornets, and decent on a board or roof. Took at least a couple of weeks till your feet got strong enough to support themselves though.

Only worth paying 50 quid though.

Like Stubbles says, only of value in the deepest of sales.

[Moo]

I like to think that five ten have a development room which consists of clowns on acid juggling umpa lumpas the resulting geometries of which are interpreted by monkeys wearing little fez hats which then feed the data into playdough extrusion machines backwards resulting in some of their hysterical products.

[dave]

Whatever wafer thin wonder shoe fiveten come up with it'll be on sale for 50 sheets in a years time and we'll all still be wearing velcros, whites or whatever dragon equivalent still exists. When will they fucking learn.

[Moo]

I think their lesson learned was that you can put whatever cost they like on 'miracle' shoes as in the modern world of bouldering walls people will buy them due to their perception of what they'll be able to achieve with them. It's not just dirt bag climbers buying shoes anymore, it's the young professional crowd with plenty of spare cash and it's no surprise that they're now making shoes for that market.

[Paul B]

Still wearing a pair of the blue teams and really can't fathom why they needed to dick around with them. Probably the first climbing shoe I've never had a single complaint about. These green things look dump. I hope to be proved wrong.

I don't think these are instead of the blue (now black) teams, they're supplemental. I climbed in the green ones tonight for a brief few minutes. They were softer and thinner than anything I've had on my feet before, I could feel shed loads through them. I prefer a stiffer shoe so they weren't to my taste but I could see them being good for anything involving lots of clamping, toe-hooking etc.

[slackline]

I like to think that five ten have a development room which consists of clowns on acid juggling umpa lumpas the resulting geometries of which are interpreted by monkeys wearing little fez hats which then feed the data into playdough extrusion machines backwards resulting in some of their hysterical products.

Thats one vivid imagination you've got there.


Could this explosion in shoe design and bi-annual revision of models be a consequence of Five-ten's buy out  by Addidas? They purportedly said they'd be left alone to get on with things as they want, but perhaps turnover /profit wasn't as high as hoped.  To address this they're keeping their core range for dedicated climbers and churning out lots of new shit for the "young professional crowd with plenty of spare cash"

[tomtom]

5:10 seem to pump out loads of slightly different shoes before and after the Addidas takeover.. It's a bit of a shotgun marketing/product development strategy, and given their random sizing/production control - I recon its monkeys..

[Paul B]

Could this explosion in shoe design and bi-annual revision of models be a consequence of Five-ten's buy out  by Addidas? They purportedly said they'd be left alone to get on with things as they want, but perhaps turnover /profit wasn't as high as hoped.  To address this they're keeping their core range for dedicated climbers and churning out lots of new shit for the "young professional crowd with plenty of spare cash"

I'm not convinced that's what you're seeing, more that they've culled the less successful shoes produced (using the shotgun method) prior to the takeover and now they're seeking to tweak existing models and develop some new stuff.
Despite being too soft (for the UK market, who knows they might be amazing on the steep bouldering common in the US) the new shoes pictured on this thread use a different sole to anything I've seen on a 5.10 before and they're also made out something other than Cowdura.
The tweaks to the blackwings (a shoe that I never really liked) look like genuine improvements rather than the scattered meddling approach of the past.

[remus]

Bit of spiel from 5.10:

[Paul B]

I tried a pair of the instinct slipper velcro things on the other day. The heel is awesome. The rest of the boot is pretty stiff and clumpy currently, hopefully they'll soften a tad.

[cha1n]

You tried them or bought them?

How does the stiffness compare to the lace/original slipper if you've ever tried them? Cheers.