FAQ
How do I use the site?
Common filter options are available by individual views (Gallery, Table). You can easily search, filter, view, and sort these via the controls near the top, shown on hover.
Due to a limitation of how the site is deployed, applying custom sorts/filters is possible only on this version of the page: https://andenacitelli.notion.site/Climbing-Shoes-List-16e03bec43f280c7a579e84e298f1145?pvs=4
What do all the columns mean?
Rigidity is how much structure the shoe gives you. A more rigid shoe gives you more support and weight distribution, but less sensitivity and feel.
Fit refers to how tight the shoe is intended to be when properly worn. Tighter generally implies higher performance and sensitivity, but looser can be better for long sessions.
Foot Width refers to the width of the shoe, and is also a reasonable approximation of volume.
What brands are included?
I’ve added most shoes by La Sportiva, SCARPA, Evolv, Five Ten, Tenaya, Unparallel, and Black Diamond, which I believe includes all popular brands.
I’m open to supporting others — give me a shout if so! I have plans to add Mad Rock, Per-Adra, and others, but will probably work on adding some polish to the existing experience first.
Future Plans
- Additional Columns
- No-Edge (https://www.climbingshoereview.com/no-edge-climbing-shoes/), referring to whether shoe rubber wraps around the front. This reduces how precise you need to be on footholds and lets the rubber mold a bit more, both internally (how well it fits your toes) and externally (how well it can conform to footholds for better grip).
- Additional Brands
- Mad Rock
- Butora
- So Ill
- Per-Adra
- Probably split out mens/womens, as the volume difference probably justifies them being listed separately, and men/women getting the other variety isn’t uncommon
Where did I get all the info for this?
Some fields are straightforward, but there’s a lot that isn’t explicitly stated. Those are basically a bunch of digging around on:
- La Sportiva’s Technical Info page
- SCARPA’s Climbing Collection Structure page
- Product descriptions, which often touch on things like rigidity and sensitivity
- Lots and lots of /r/climbingshoes posts
- https://www.climbingshoereview.com/ has a variety of nice posts, but is spotty in terms of which shoes are covered
Why did I pick the columns I did?
Some are straightforward (brand, model, links, images, …) but a lot of the other ones don’t have a ton of consensus about how they should be split up.
After some thinking, the best way I found to break it down was this:
- Stiffness / Softness. Stiffer shoes generally have more rubber on the bottom, meaning it does not bend as easily. Stiff shoes do a better job of distributing weight (so are better for edging), but tend to have worse grip because they cannot conform to footholds as well.
- Sensitivity is synonymous enough with Softness that I am treating them as the same thing. While there might be small distinctions, the root cause is the same — less rubber on the bottom leads both to a more flexible shoe as well as less distance between your toes and the foothold.
- Fit. Largely, but not always, a proxy for how advanced the climber needs to be to take advantage of the full capability of the shoe. Relaxed shoes tend to be looser and are easier to get “full value” out of for amateurs. Performance shoes are tighter but usually offer more control on harder routes, and the generally increased bend can be nice for overhangs.
- Width / Volume. Fit is more about how tight the shoe is designed to be worn, whereas Width/Volume is about how wide a foot the shoe tends to be meant for. Getting better at bouldering is a reason to target different fit, but is not a reason to target different volume.
- Toe Box. Different foot types (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, …) tend to fit the toe box better, mostly based on brand-wide trends, but divergent by specific shoe as well.
Who am I? Why should you listen to me?
Software Engineer by trade that loves to build stuff like this.
I’m not a pro climber or anything, but have been bouldering indoors for a bit under two years. I onsight most ≤ v4, can do most v5 same-day, and can do many v6 after a few sessions. Highest I’ve ever done is one in v6-v8 range that was almost all feet and slab/edging.
Why is X shoe missing?
I think I got 90%+ of available shoe models, but omitted a few for one of the following reasons:
- Only mens shoes are included, as the color and sizing differences for women’s are not generally substantial, and tracking kids is not worth the effort
- Only shoes that seem to be feasibly available in the United States are included
- Only shoes with reasonably info available around various metrics I log are available
- All links are public, no affiliate. If affiliate links are added at any point, they will be clearly marked.
Will this be updated?
Yes, I plan to update this as I do more research, get feedback from the community, and as new shoes are released.
Will this be monetized?
Not substantially. I may eventually add clearly marked affiliate links, but any monetization I pursue will be entirely optional, and I refuse to do anything that makes the experience itself worse (such as ads or preferential ordering). My goal here is to build a cool resource for both myself and for the community.