Monday, November 8, 2010

New Five Ten Shoes

Metrorock held a shoe demo the other week and Dana was there showing off Five Ten's new shoe lineup. While I have tried many of Five Ten's new shoes over the last couple years, I have consistently gone back to the Moc, 5X, and Dragons. All these shoes have been around for a few years now (and in the case of the Moc, much more then that) and I have been happy none have fallen to Five Ten's different approach to shoe production and marketing (in with the new, out with the old). However, I have to say that this year was a bit different. I think Five Ten has really created a diverse set of climbing shoes with some of their best models ever.

Five Ten Supermoc:
This is essentially a trimmed down version of the classic Moc. I use my Moc for two things: thin cracks and gym climbing. The super Moc is better suited for bouldering and sport climbing. It has a very thin sole (think the old school Mantra S) and a nice fitting heel cup. The main complaint I have heard from people about the Moc is that it cannot heel hook. I tried heel hooking on many different type holds and was only able to pull it off once (on a move that also nearly pulled my Dragon off). This shoe is also extremely comfortable but remember to size down if you want to maintain a performance fit since it is unlined leather.


Five Ten Hornet:
When I asked Dana about this shoe he said it was designed for "steep limestone with small pockets and tufas." Wow, well that is pretty specific. But luckily this shoe performed amazingly well on a variety of terrains. I am a big fan of soft shoes and this shoe is essentially a cross of the Dragon and the new Super Moc; its a soft, thin, downturned shoe with an excellent heel cup. People always talk about pulling with your toes in downturned shoes but I have never be able to do that like I did with this shoe. I was able to keep my feet on the wall while using very small footholds on a roof that I was not able to do with any other shoe. Furthermore, the innovative lacing system aligns the natural arc of your foot into the shoe. No more torquing on your foot once you pull the shoe on to get your shoe to sit comfortably.

Five Ten Quantum
I was also impressed by this new shoe. It is a nice mix of the Anasazi Velcro and Dragon. A stiffer, lace-up shoe with a slight downturn and an excellent heel cup. Not to mention the purple makes it one of the best looking shoes I have ever seen.

Unfortenatly I did not get to try on the new Dean Potter shoe but it looks sick for offwidthing!

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