Is it time for new climbing shoes? Shedding out for a new pair of shoes can be costly, so you want to ensure it’s the right time or if your current ones still have some life left!
Grab your shoes and interrogate them with these hard-hitting questions:
“Are your edges super rounded?”
“Do you still fit well, or are you giving my feet extra space?”
“Do you have holes?”
Take into account any answers that don’t sit well with you. For all you know, you may just need to improve your footwork—and your shoes are excellent!
Rounded Edges?
New climbing shoes come with a crisp edge around the forefoot to help stand on the tiniest of holds. These edges wear down as you climb, eventually becoming smooth and round. Now, a rounded edge doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to invest in a brand-new pair of climbing shoes. Still, it does mean that you’re creeping toward holey territory.
Rounded edges won’t perform as well on sharp footholds but can perform great on volumes. If you decide to replace your shoes once the edge is worn down, you can transform your rounded ones into a specialized volume-running-dyno shoe.
Are Your Shoes Extra Roomy?
Many newer climbers find their climbing shoes develop dead space once broken in. They feel tight and perfectly fitting right out of the box, but all that climbing has slightly stretched them, and now they’re left with a shoe that is too big. It feels sloppy.
That’s all part of the learning curve! Besides, it’s better to start climbing in comfortable shoes instead of trying to learn techniques when you’re too busy worrying about your feet hurting.
If your interrogation led you to this conclusion, try wearing socks in your shoes to fill them out more. Plus, you won’t need to spend a dime! Assuming you have socks.
If the sock route doesn’t work for you, you either must stick with the extra roominess in your shoes until they’re ready for replacement or go ahead and grab a new pair. You can turn the
roomy pair into a warmup shoe to save your new ones some of the beatings you’ll give them on the wall! Just make sure to go slightly smaller on your next pair!
Holes in Your Climbing Shoes?
If your climbing shoes have holes in the toes, you’re well past the point of needing new ones! You don’t need to retire the shoes, per se, but you can transition them into warmup shoes and save your new ones from the excess beating.
Most climbers develop holes where their big toe meets the end of their shoe. Repeated stabbing at footholds, dragging, edging, and stepping wear down the shoe material enough to expose their toes to the wall.
You can keep climbing on shoes with small holes, but be aware that you won’t be able to step on smaller holds as easily. When the hole expands enough to fit a finger, you should get a new pair.
Tips for Making Climbing Shoes Last Longer
The secret to making your climbing shoes last longer is in your footwork. Developing confidence when climbing will not only make you feel better while scaling a wall, but it will also use less rubber. Check out these tips to help you climb better and save money!
Footwork drills are an excellent way to improve your technique and increase your confidence when standing on different footholds. Try this sticky feet drill the next time you wake up at the climbing gym.
Sticky Feet Drill: Choose a climb well below your limit and hop on the wall. Don’t adjust your foot each time you place it on the wall.
Imagine that your foot is stuck to wherever it landed and use it as is. Readjusting your foot on the wall will make the material wear down quickly. Plus, you’ll find that you can climb using worse footholds than you may have previously imagined!
Warmup Shoes – Have a pair of climbing shoes dedicated to warming up or climbing things that don’t require such a precise edge. Alternatively, you can save a pair of shoes when trying climbs at your max.
What Do You Do with Old Climbing Shoes?
Just because you decided to get a new pair of climbing shoes doesn’t mean your current ones are out of commission!
You can turn them into a great pair of warm-up shoes! You can also donate them (only do so if they’re still usable) to your local climbing gym to give to somebody who needs their first pair! Or
get them resoled! Send your shoes away to be resoled and returned as a freshly broken-in pair of shoes already molded to your feet!