Help ID'ing Pivetta Boots?

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Messages 1 - 10 of total 10 in this topic
F'ueco

Boulder climber
Bay Area
Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 29, 2015 - 09:59pm PT
Hi, I'm hoping someone out there will recognize what these are... I'm hoping for a model name and a rough idea of the year they are from. Thanks!



bhilden

Trad climber
Mountain View, CA/Boulder, CO
Mar 29, 2015 - 11:36pm PT
Those look like Pivetta Spiders from the early 70's.
scuffy b

climber
heading slowly NNW
Mar 30, 2015 - 08:47am PT
They were called Red Spider. In production in 1974, may have started around 1972.
F'ueco

Boulder climber
Bay Area
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 30, 2015 - 10:13am PT
Thanks dudes! I knew that the experts would be around here. These are quite a bit before my time, but I came across them in a thrift store yesterday and knew the brand name from reading Roper and others...
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Mar 30, 2015 - 12:26pm PT
If they fit you then you have a good wall boot much like the Galibier Robbins boots that they were patterned after.

I would be willing to trade with you if you aren't planning on using them.

Cheers!
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
Mar 30, 2015 - 12:42pm PT
That is a fist crack boot. Yup, that's what that is.
john paul

climber
Jun 21, 2016 - 06:54pm PT
This is a rather old post on an even older shoe, so i doubt if anybody cares, but i was having a discussion of old climbing shoes with my brother, and happened upon this photo and needed to reference it for my own discussion.

everything sounds correct in terms of what is/was posted here. my only comment is this: i worked in a climbing shop that sold these and several other brands and styles. EBs, RDs, RRs, etc. the Red Spider was very similiar to an Galibier RR, but with two subtle differences, the shank in the shoe was not as stiff as in an RR, making it slightly less effective for edging, and to that same point, the rubber of the sole was definitely not the same composition as an RR, also reducing its ability to edge somewhat. but who really edges anymore any way? i am lucky to survive the hike to the base of a climb!

Anybody happen to remember a third shoe of this type? it was solid black and i believe Fabiano made it, but would not want to bet any money on who manufactured it.
Juan Maderita

Trad climber
"OBcean" San Diego, CA
Jun 21, 2016 - 07:05pm PT
john paul,
You're referring to Fabiano "Black Beauties."
Legendary for extreme stiffness and edging ability. circa early 1970s

This from the internet:
"Fabiano started as an outgrowth of a shoe repair shop in Boston. The founder was an Italian immigrant bootmaker. He designed a series of boots, mostly leather, that were fabricated to his specifications in Italy, by Scarpa. When Fabiano went out of business a few years ago..."
Scarpa history:
https://www.scarpa.com/about-us
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Jun 22, 2016 - 01:34am PT
Yeah, red spiders - most of us early on in SoIll just did $14 JC Penny work boots...
Wayno

Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
Jun 22, 2016 - 08:15am PT
Yep, Pivetta Spiders. My very first climbing shoe. Or is it a boot. My mom bought me those as we didn't know much about what a climbing shoe was about. EBs were available but they seemed wimpy for what I imagined I needed. After wearing them out bouldering at Castle Rock and getting those quizzical looks from real climbers I asked around and got informed. Ironically, all that hard work trying to get then to stick on grainy slopers at Castle made me a much stronger climber. Getting my first EBs was a revelation. I found that they were more comfortable than the "shoenards" I used for walls later on though.
Messages 1 - 10 of total 10 in this topic
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