Five Ten brand shoes...how did it go so wrong?

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tom woods

Gym climber
Bishop, CA
May 17, 2010 - 12:37pm PT

I don't climb in five ten anymore because they discontinued the ascent- the best shoe ever for lazy people like me. It was like climbing in bedroom slippers.

Those ones fit me, all the others I've gone through just didn't fit me right. The newton, and anasazis never worked.

I really liked the zlipper, though the zipper part was useless at best and really painful at worst.

All that said, I'm wearing five tens right now at work. The new camp four like shoe. I also wore a pair of camp 4's for two years straight everyday. They held up great.

So my take is some of their stuff works for me some doesn't. Find what works and use it.
Mason

Trad climber
Yay Area
May 17, 2010 - 12:50pm PT
Hey Mooch,

Those were the first pair of shoes I bought, the yellow scarpas you have. But then someone told me to go with 5.10 so i exchanged them.

I need a new pair of good crack climbing shoes but not sure what to get.

Any suggestions from anyone?
snaps10

Mountain climber
Visalia, CA
May 17, 2010 - 12:51pm PT
My favorites are an old pair of Assym's that I have. They just flat climb well. I just got a pair of Coyotes (I'm cheap) and while they are comfy in the garage, they just don't climb well. Sending the Assym's to Barry for a resole.
FRUMY

Trad climber
SHERMAN OAKS,CA
May 17, 2010 - 12:54pm PT
the problem was charles cole is a jerk. i bought one of his first pairs of verticals around 1985? the soles seperated from the last. i took them to his small warehouse in north hollywood pacoima area. when i showed him the shoe & why I thought they came apart. He told me that it had never happened before & that i needed to learn how to climb, that my lack of technic was at falt. i told him that i Know i'm not that good but i climb with bob kamps, the laegers, yabo & the one thing they tell me is how good my technic is. he then told me that they were all has bens & i should learn from the new generation. On my way out his father stopped me & said that he new they had a problem with the first run ( charles had just said he had NEVER SEEM THIS BEFORE) but they had fix it & offered me a pair at cost. they fell apart within days. I drove them to wheeler & wilson showed them the problem & what i thought was wrong. they made the changes i wanted & i still boulder with that same pair. they have been resoled at least 6 times.
ron gomez

Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
May 17, 2010 - 01:26pm PT
Perfect Furmy! I had the same issue, was told to take a BRAND NEW pair of shoes to the cobbler to get em fixed. I continued to buy 510s for a while longer and had approach shoe fall apart on the second or third approach, finally learned my lesson and moved on! 5.10 farmed out to foriegn companies, didn't give a schit about customers and got greedy, uh that's my opinion. Move on Beth....get a shoe that gets backed up and a company that values its customers. ACOPA, ACOPA, ACOPA!
Peace
Tattooed 1

Trad climber
Sebastopol, Ca
May 17, 2010 - 01:39pm PT
My favorite shoe hands down are the LS TC Pro's. I put them throught their paces this weekend on Marginal, Harry Daly, Apron Jamb, Mr Natural, Green Dragon and Cold Fusion. A pretty wide variety of climbing and they excelled everywhere. If only they weren't so expensive.
Tim
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
May 17, 2010 - 01:43pm PT
Can't say enough about that TC Pro... man, that is a great shoe.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
May 17, 2010 - 01:57pm PT
Boreals, never went back.

lots more to say on this subject, but think of 5.10 as the Nike.

The more shoes that fail in a reasonable time frame = more shoe sales.

If they fail less than reasonble time frame, which it sounds like the public is catching on, then the brand becomes associated with poor quality and users switch.



As for sizing, I've noticed my feet have changed over the years. Is that a possibility here Flouride?
Fluoride

Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
Topic Author's Reply - May 17, 2010 - 02:06pm PT
"you got older, in a "kankles" sort of way?"

Hahahaha.....but no.

I was a die-hard Anasazi laceup customer for years. But I noticed a difference. Especially between '04 and '08. I could order online and the perfect shoe would come. Then it stopped. The sizes changed, the toe and heel changed, it was no longer the same shoe. The heel in particular, way too loose. Very blister prone when in years past the shoe was perfect.

I'm happy that I fit perfectly into my olden times Spires :). But they were purchased in '02 when I think quality control was a bigger deal.





Kankles?? No. Not this person. I'm genetically blessed. :)

Tradmedic

Ice climber
Thunder Bay, Ontario
May 17, 2010 - 02:12pm PT
I dunno, maybe I've had good luck.
I just bought my second pair of 'pitons' and intend to stay on top of getting them resoled before blowing through the leather. Great foot-jams!
ryanb

climber
Seattle, WA
May 17, 2010 - 02:13pm PT
Am I the only one who has had sportive (miuras, katanas, tardmasters) fall apart way faster then five ten shoes? I switched from climbing exclusively in sportiva to climbing only in anasazi (pinks, whites, greens, vcs, mocs, and the new 5x) a few years ago and haven't looked back. Better fit for my (blunt) foot gives better edging power and no troublesome delaminating around the arch.

The new white anasazi fits 1/2 size down from the old pink and is still the ticket for thin face. The LV velcro will probably be my next pair of shoes...officially a women's shoe but i tried them at a demo and I like the tighter heel and c4 rubber.

The 5x is also an awesome shoe...it is basically a moc but with some zlipper style upgrades that give it reasonable edging.
Fluoride

Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
Topic Author's Reply - May 17, 2010 - 02:15pm PT
"This is a dead giveaway that your foot is more "Euro style", long and thin as opposed to short and stubby. The Gambits fit my foot very well and for the most part"

Au contraire my friend (wait, that's French!)

My foot is long and wide.

When my Evolvs blew out and I went into Nomads I had them bring me Mythos and Gambits. The 8 1/2 Gambits were about the size of a 7. SO small. Given the Mythos have weird seizing, I'm and 8 1/2 street shoe and needed a 7 1/2 Mythos which I went with. Weird.

Evolvs fit my feet well but the rubber blows out faster. They're the closest street shoe fit. Just wish they lasted longer.
Tork

climber
Yosemite
May 17, 2010 - 02:15pm PT
Newtons, my favorite all time shoe, edge on a dime, feel great in cracks, fit my wide foot well. Poor Berry is gona have to deal with these smelly things again. Worst smelling shoes I have ever had though.

Ed, how do the new ones compair?


I love Moccasyms, feels like cheating on Lunatic Fringe.


Pitons, wore out faster, by a long way, than any other shoe I ever had, both pair. What is up with the toe, right where the rand and sole join? Every pair I look at has this same weird contact point that rips apart.

All five ten approach shoes, why won't the rubber stay on? My last pair started to delamb after one week. My Evolves never peeled guiding in them all summer last season. To bad those Evolves were discontinued. The Five Ten Guide did climb great though. But can't use a shoe if it only lasts a few weeks. I also loved the Guide Almighty. For some reason the rubber did not peel to bad on those.


ALL FIVE TEN APPROACH SHOES SHOULD COME WITH A TUBE OF BARGE CEMENT.

Does Five Ten get a kickback from Barge?
G_Gnome

Trad climber
In the mountains... somewhere...
May 17, 2010 - 02:33pm PT
I love my Newtons, which are the only five tens I have ever worn just because Charles was always a jerk, but they also fell apart quickly where the rand meets the sole. Barry fixed them up nicely though. I do feel that five ten rubber is too soft for really hard thin edging though. I want Sportiva rubber when the edges get smaller than say 11c.
Jobee

Social climber
El Portal Ca.
May 17, 2010 - 03:09pm PT
I've climbed in E.B's, Boreal, Sportiva, and many other climbing shoes.
Five Ten made the cut, are my first choice, and I'm sticking by them.

The fit, performance, and ever changing style has often exceeded my expectations. The rubber sticks, grips, smears, and edges on a dime. When they are beaten to a pulp or worn down to the stitching, off they go for another chance, and have held up well to resoling.

I covet The Newton, and bust them out for the wide or when digging deep into a crack sets the tone. I can heel toe to high heaven without a hitch; kicking invisible steps into slippery Yosemite granite as though climbing a sturdy ladder.

The first time I wore an Anasazi lace up I honestly screamed out loud "this is unbelievable" that's because I was sitting on top of the Blue Suede Shoes boulder problem behind Camp Four (about a hundred years ago) no crash pad, no spotter, brand new shoes out of the box, and the down climb looked sweet. The shoe was magic!

Yeah sure, I'm a rock guide so I live in my Guide Tennie's!
Ranger Rock a.k.a. Manure Pile Buttress is often the destination, the Tennie's are up and down that formation almost daily in the busy season, and you would be surprised what I've climbed when wearing them, I am grateful for the comfort, as well as the performance.
Squeezing feet into proper climbing shoes is no party when the temps. are in the high 90's, and the slabs are like a greasy frying pan.

I have had nothing but great experiences when ever I've had to contact Five Ten. The customer service is 5 star, the return policy outstanding.
I commend them for their great service, up to date knowledge of product, and for making me feel like a rock star when ever I've asked for assistance.

Yes, yes I do no Charles Cole personally and he is very good to me, but, the bottom line is I am a climber, I do demand quality, I do demand performance in a product, I do crank up some pretty cool climbs, "if the shoe didn't fit, I wouldn't wear it". ... period.

p.s.
If the Lynx ever has a come back I'll pay top dollar for at least 10 pair, we climbed all the classics together well over a decade ago, and I'm still pinning for a pair.

Cheers to Five Ten, you rock.

Jo Whitford







Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Redlands
May 17, 2010 - 03:34pm PT
Go wrong? Hardly.

As GDavis said, it's about fit. The anasazi last fits my foot. If the last doesn't fit, the brand hardly matters. Second, shoes are a wear item. You folks that "climb" in the same pair of shoes for 10 years and expect them to last 15 need to go climb more than 4 pitches a year. Ask a distance runner how often they replace shoes...they'll say months, not years. Third, you shouldn't expect to climb hard steep edges in the same shoe you climb difficult tight cracks in, anymore than you'd go on the golf course with a single club.

There are 9 pairs of climbing shoes in my rig right now, 8 of them are Five Ten...multiple pairs of mocs, verdes, laceups, velcros. The other pair are Acopas JBs, which also fit my feet well, but they suck ass by comparison...horrible rubber and apparently no Q.C.

The heel on the anasazi line was vastly improved several years ago. The only issues I've ever had with Five Ten was inconsistent sizing, which is remedied easily enough by trying them on first.

People wanted another high top, Five Ten gave it to us. They wanted the Newton back, and the Newton is back. They complained about baggy heels on anasazis, and the heel design was completely redone.

Friday I managed to pull off my hardest ever flash of a boulder problem...in Five Ten Anasazi velcros. They fit my foot, they peform better than anything I've worn. That's all I could ask for and more.
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
May 17, 2010 - 04:03pm PT
The only constant I've noticed in 43 of climbing in specialized shoes is that good climbing shoes seem to have variations typical of carefully hand-made items. I've found out that climbing shoes seem to vary subtly in size even for the same make. In the old days of Kronhofers and PA's, I could buy them small enough that I could barely stand the pain for a few minutes when they came out of the box, but they would stretch soon to fit my feet perfectly. In those days, the initial fit wasn't so critical.

Now, the initial fit matters a whole lot more because most shoes don't stretch as much. For that reason, I sometimes need to try on a few different pairs of the same size and model to get the one that fits the best. It's almost like buying a Steinway piano. You'd be foolish to try to do that by mail order.

As for 5.10, I have a 15-year-old pair of Huecos, resoled a few times, that I use for long climbs without much OW, and an old pair of Fires re-soled with C4 that works well for OW's. I found the Gambit fit me very well, too, and has held up much better than I expected. I suspect that it all comes down to idiosyncracies of the shoe and our feet.

John
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
May 17, 2010 - 04:12pm PT
will said:
shoes are a wear item.


Amen to that brah.

Really, when I consider the grinder I put my shoes through nearly every weekend, it's a wonder they last more than a couple weeks. Five Ten has worked for me for 20 years. I'll stick with 'em.
drljefe

climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
May 17, 2010 - 04:16pm PT
I know this isn't an issue as important as world peace but
Jobee and Elcap's posts are awesome.

Mocasym.
After a maiden voyage on the Vampire, years ago, when one of my asyms squirted off my foot at a belay and tradgedy was narrowly averted by pinning it to the wall with my big toe, I swore off those ruby slippers forever.
13 years later my feet are dyed red again, and I couldn't be happier.
They're kind like Levis~ stoked they still make em.
drljefe

climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
May 17, 2010 - 04:19pm PT
but I would kill for some Vectors...
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