La Sportiva Skwama Men's Rock Climbing Shoes - High-Performance Climbing Footwear for Indoor & Outdoor Bouldering, Sport Climbing, and Gym Training

I've been following this pair of shoes since La Sportiva announced it last year. I have duck feet and really like the La Sportiva Genius's wider toe box area. The Skwama while cheaper, is a pretty big improvement.Pros:The S-heel is great, it's not a miracle feature, you are not going to suddenly jump from a V5 to a V7. However, the S-heel does keep the heel stiff and in place. I feel very secure when I do a heel hook. I think the heel is also slightly narrower than the Genius. I have skinny ankles. It's a very snug fit.The toe box is great. As mentioned before, I have duck feet. The Skwama toe box is just as comfortable as the Genius. I don't feel side compression at all. One feature I wish the Genius had was a pointier front toe. It's hard to get your foot into these small pockets on the plastic. The Skwama toe box does have a point like the solution. It makes it much easier to jam your toe into small pockets or on tiny holds. I feel very secure with this front.The rubber patch on top of the front toe area is also really nice for toe hooking. I tried this feature on a couple of problems at the gym. The rubber does hold you in place pretty well. I never once slipped or lost my footing.Cons:The shoe is HUGE! I wore a 39 Genius and felt it was just a tiny bit too small. So I first ordered a size 39.5 Skwama. (My street shoe size is 8 - 8.5) They feel like my street shoes at 39.5. Then I tried size 39, still too large. 38.5 is about the same size as the 39 Genius. I actually compared the 38.5 Skwama to my 39 Genius. They are about the same size. I wish La Sportiva does a better job keeping their shoe sizes consistent.Summary:I would definitely recommend this pair of shoes for bouldering at the gym. La Sportiva doesn't do a good job differentiating the Solution and the Skwama. The former being the previous premier bouldering shoe. I've never tried the Solution and I've been doing a lot of research online comparing the two. From what I've gathered, go with the Skwama if you have wider feet and Solutions if you have narrower feet. That seems like the primary driving force behind which shoe to choose. From a pure feature standpoint, I do think the S-Heel is an improvement. Overall, I would say the Skwama improved on the Genius with sports bouldering specific features.P.S. Another feature I didn't mention is a small cut out area on the bottom front of the shoe. La Sportiva is selling that feature as something that will expand, contract, and better form to your feet. Honestly, I didn't notice that much of a difference. My feet didn't hurt as bad after my first session with the szie 38.5 shoes. Maybe the cut out did make the shoe fit my feet better? It's hard to say.These are the best shoes I've come across for overhung routes. The toe has the perfect amount of stiffness to dig in while also being soft enough to smear relatively well. They are more versatile shoes than I thought they would be. The heel is, of course, fantastic, the design adding rigidity and support. I sized down 2 1/2 US sizes (10.5 to 8) and they were extremely painful to break in but they fit like a glove. Even so, the elastic lip has stretched, leaving the feel of the fit not as precise as it was originally. Too much weight on the heel puts pressure on the shoe width wise, stretching it even more. So far the effects are just aesthetic, a tight strap rectifies the fit problem. The strap itself is also great. Simple and thick, it should last a long time with no problems as opposed to the drawstring strapping system of the solutions.If you're looking for your next shoes to help you progress as a boulderer, look no further. These are amazing shoes and they look quite nice as well. Sensitive and stiff at the same time, and decent enough for all types of climbing.Great shoe! Super comfy after short break-in period. They are awesome at edging and over hanging routes. Midsole is versatile. Soft enough for steep over hanging routes/boulders and stiff enough for edging on vertical projects. Rubber is very sticky and soft, wore out relatively quickly around the toe but never slipped on smears. Only quarrel with them is that the heal cup is too big for my narrow foot/heel. I can feel/anticipate my heel slipping up and out of the cup a bit on every heel hook. That being said, the shape/texture of the heel cup felt very secure on even the sketchiest heel hooks. I can tell that if I had a higher volume heel, the cup would be awesome. Overall, great all around shoe for the price. I sized down a full size from my street shoe.I bought these shoes as a replacement of a pair of Pythons. I have used them for bouldering and top-roping both in a gym and at the crags. Compared to Pythons, Skwamas offer a more stable and comfortable heel design, but are much less sensitive with the toe box being overly roomy. The sole of Skwamas is noticeably stickier than that of Pythons, and it made a big difference to me for smearing on real rock. Overall, Skwamas are good shoes but I will miss the sensitivity and snug fit that came with Pythons (La Sportiva decided to discontinue the Pythons in the US). I would recommend the same sizing as for the Pythons, i.e. -2 EU size / street shoes.Many people have suggested sizing down relative to other La Sportiva shoes. I ordered two pairs, 0.5 and 1 Euro size smaller than my Solutions and both were too small. I ordered a third pair and am happy wearing the same size as my Solutions. I have heard that the sizing changed between first and later production runs.Im Gegensatz zum Solution müsst Ihr beim Skwama mit 1/2 bis 1 Größe Unterschied rechnen, er fällt größer aus.Bsp.: meine Solution Größe 42 - Skwama Größe: 41 1/2Im Gegensatz zum Solution, der bis dahin mein Favorit war, ist der Skwama an der Spitze etwas dicker (das war am Anfang gewöhnungsbedürftig)Dadurch ist er aber auch viel langlebiger, dickstes Plus ist der Klettverschluss! Beim Solution ist er mir bei 2 verschiedenen Schuhen gerissen (wen wundert es?)Dieser Schuh ist mit Abstand mein neuer Lieblingsschuh!Aufgrund der gewölbten Form kam meine Tochter gar nicht erst in den Schuh, weshalb ich weder zur Größe noch zur Qualität viel sagen kann. Auf den ersten Blick ein sehr schöner und gut verarbeiteter Schuh. 3 Sterne für die schnelle Lieferung, unkomplizierte Rückabwicklung und den guten ersten Eindruck.Najlepsze buty do wspinaczki jakie kiedykolwiek miałem.peefettoel producto fue lo que esperaba todo excelente