Best bouldering shoe...ever.

By Michael Miller Ranked #553 - Climbing Shoes November 24, 2009

I based my initial sizing off of other reviews since I could not find these locally to try them on. Most reviewers said they sized up, sometimes two sizes. Therefore my consensus was to size equivalently to my street shoe size, because I prefer a tight, performance fit. The 10’s had too much toe and heel space for my taste, so I ordered 9.5’s which fit comfortably, but still had a tiny bit of excess toe space. My past experience is that even lined, synthetic shoes will stretch a little, so my rule of thumb is to find a size that fits your preference, and then size a half-size smaller to accommodate the stretch. I ended up with 9’s which fit absolutely perfect after a short break-in period. Initially they were a little uncomfortable, especially when standing on my toes, but soon conformed to my feet and now fit like a glove.

With all that said, this is by far my favorite bouldering shoe out there. The Stealth HF rubber is amazingly sticky (no surprise there) and the down-turned toe will allow you to climb through steeper problems or a series of tiny foot-jibs...these perform amazing on small edges. I also love the heel on this shoe, more than any other Five Ten heel I’ve tried (Galileo and Anasazi’s). It’s very thin and sits flush against the rest of the rubber, which allows more sensitivity/contact on your heel-hooks. I'm a fan of the laces, simply because I like having as many points of contact as possible.

My advice would be to size tight and snug, otherwise you’ll cheat yourself out of the amazing toe and heel on this shoe. Fight through the break-in period and these shoes will fight for you up your project. Phenomenal bouldering shoe!

View Details: Five Ten Dragon Lace-up Climbing Shoe

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