Moccasyms Discontinued?

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Messages 1 - 15 of total 15 in this topic
WanderlustMD

Trad climber
New England
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 16, 2018 - 05:21pm PT
I saw on MP that the moccasym has been discontinued. Say it ain't so!! Anyone have any information?
i'm gumby dammit

Sport climber
da ow
Oct 16, 2018 - 10:50pm PT
sh#t. just picked mine up from the resoler so i'm good for a while. seems like they're still popular not sure why they would discontinue them
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Oct 17, 2018 - 12:12am PT
This might be the replacement:

https://www.unparallelsports.com/product/up-mocc/

Some of the people at UP worked at Five Ten for a long time and are now making similar shoes.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Oct 17, 2018 - 07:10am PT
Companies are constantly replacing or “refining” products and consumers have to choose what is available.
Scarpa radically changed the Techno a few years ago and it went from the best crack shoe I ever used to just another shoe. I haven't found anything to replace it so I continue to resuscitate the three pair I have although the time is coming when they will have to go to shoe heaven.
NPB

Trad climber
Bend, Oregon
Oct 17, 2018 - 11:25am PT
Hi everyone,
Nancy Prichard Bouchard here. I've worked with 5.10 for nearly 30 years (started back when I was senior editor at Rock and Ice and climbed for the brand). I can tell you unequivocally that the Moccasym is not being discontinued. It's in the 2019 catalog. Glad to help with information.
micronut

Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
Oct 17, 2018 - 01:32pm PT
Thank you Nancy! I won a pair of Moccasyms in the Climbing Magazine "Reader Photo Contest" years ago with my shot of a buddy of mine pulling a roof at Rumbling Bald,NC. Best shoes I had ever had and they were free! They truly were like little Ferrairis for my feet.
WanderlustMD

Trad climber
New England
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 17, 2018 - 06:10pm PT
Thank you for the information, Nancy!
NPB

Trad climber
Bend, Oregon
Oct 17, 2018 - 09:01pm PT
@ Micronut. I love the reference to little Ferraris on your feet. You need to be a writer if you are not already! Beautiful use of words.
@Wanderlust You are very welcome. And thanks for asking. The rumors in the outdoor space always remind me of Mark Twain when he wrote “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Not that all rumors are lies of course, but it makes me super proud of our sport when people ask questions. And the quote inspired me to grab my climbing shoes and head to my secret bouldering spot.
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Oct 17, 2018 - 09:20pm PT
Nancy, TFPU! (Thanks For Posting UP in Taco lexicon)
So cool to be able to correspond with someone who has worked with 5.10 for so long. I'm wondering if you can share anything about Five Ten's future line of approach shoes. The Insight was discontinued about 8 years ago and imo was one of the best approach shoes ever made. A lot of aid climbers used it, as it was very comfortable for standing around in and was also very good for free climbing to a certain point.

Most of the current Five Ten approach shoes now resemble running shoes with no rands, and DON'T climb near as well as the Insight. The Guide Tennie is still around, but it can't compare with 1st or 2nd generation Insights.
Meech

Trad climber
PHX and SLC
Oct 18, 2018 - 10:59am PT
Has anyone tried out the Unparallel rock shoes yet?
NPB

Trad climber
Bend, Oregon
Oct 19, 2018 - 08:09am PT
Hi Kunlun_Shan, I loved the Insights as well. I know our R&D guys are working on a pretty neat new approach shoe now--but I'll have to check on the timing. Stand by....I should have some more info. soon.
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Dec 1, 2018 - 09:02pm PT
Here's an interesting story I saw on MP about former Five Ten employees starting their own company, UnParallel Sports. These are the people who didn't want to move to Germany after Adidas bought Five Ten.

Interestingly, this article was originally on climbing.com, but taken down. Below is retrieved from Google's cache.


https://www.climbing.com/news/unparallel-the-new-climbing-shoes-that-look-like-old-five-ten-favorites

UnParallel: The New Climbing Shoes That Look Like Old Five Ten Favorites

UnParallel thinks their smaller-scale approach to footwear will result in better designs and the stickiest rubber out there
ULA CHROBAKOCT 30, 2018

A new climbing footwear brand with some curiously familiar designs is seeking to revive a smaller-scale model of shoe sales. Led by Sang Lee, a former long-time business, design, and manufacturing partner of Five Ten, UnParallel aims to bring the stickiest rubber and community-driven values to climbers and bikers.

“The meaning [of the brand name] is we don't want to be the same as the others,” says Lee. “We bring more to the customer.”

In 2011, adidas bought Five Ten, which employed 37 people and was based in Redlands, California. At the time, it was believed that the brand’s climbing shoes would continue to be manufactured in the state. But in 2017, adidas informed Five Ten employees that it would close the Redlands outlet and cease their partnership with Lee’s Fullerton-based factory. Some employees chose to follow adidas to its headquarters in Germany.

Other staff and partners of Five Ten weren’t inclined to uproot. “We didn't see a future with the larger corporation,” says Jason Jackman, who together with Joel Rocha handles North American gym sales for UnParallel. “We wanted to carry on the tradition of climbing in Southern California.”

In November 2017, Lee, wanting to continue to produce footwear after Five Ten’s departure, started UnParallel. Jackman and Rocha had access to the old retail outlet. And between the team, they had many existing partnerships in the climbing industry in the U.S. and internationally. “That’s why it didn’t take much time to launch the brand,” says Lee.

In August, UnParallel dropped their first line of shoes—with 19 climbing shoes out of the gate. While some of the models, including their lifestyle footwear, are made overseas, the company is manufacturing the climbing shoes in the Fullerton factory. That way, it’s easier to keep a close eye on the formulation, testing, and assembly of the rubber soles—arguably the most important part of any climbing shoe.

“Rubber is everything,” says Jackman, who previously developed and tested rubber for Five Ten. “Everybody that I’ve been speaking with has been saying that they’re sticky, and that they’re stickier than our competitors on the market.”

Most climbing shoe companies buy their rubber from a third party, and have little connection to the material’s composition. Think of, for example, climbing shoe brands buying their rubber from Vibram. This makes it hard to make any changes to the secretive formulas. “That’s what makes us different,” says Jackman. “We can just get hands-on and change it ourselves.”

Many have commented on the shoes’ resemblance to Five Ten styles. Indeed, some shoes appear to be analogues. For example, the UnParallel Sirius seems to mirror the design of the Five Ten Dragon. And UnParallel seems to have revived the classic Moccasym with their version, the Up Mocc. Jackman and Rocha argue that these similarities shouldn’t be surprising. “A lot of the lines are going to be inherently similar because we were all the brains behind [Five Ten’s designs],” says Jackman. “They’re definitely different, but they’re going to look like a Sang [Lee] shoe.”

Many of Five Ten’s old, well-loved designs are on their way out, adds Rocha. So, in having some of UnParallel's shoes be inspired by those old designs, “it’s kind of a subtle way to let people know that we’re still here—we haven’t gone anywhere,” says Jackman. In future models, he says, the shoes will come into their own more.

Since their launch, the team has been working to partner with climbing gyms, touring the country and holding demos. Climbing gyms, because of their relatively small order capacity, represent an important starting market to the brand. UnParallel, in turn, can customize orders, such as by giving shoes non-marking rubber or tacking on the gym’s logo.

The team believes their small-scale approach will ensure a quality product that can be quickly adapted in response to user input. To that end, they are also launching a gym in Redlands at the same location as the former Five Ten retail outlet. Jackman says it can be used as a “lab” for testing UnParallel shoes (although the gym will sell other brands, too). Climbers at the gym, Flowstone Climbing, will not only get deals on the shoes, they can help provide feedback on their design and function. Says Lee, “Through the gym, the brand can communicate to the customer directly.”

For the team, UnParallel is about keeping a direct line of communication open between climbers and their shoes. “Because we’re so small,” says Jackman. “We can remain very nimble, and meet people’s needs and demands.”
hailman

Trad climber
Ventura, CA
Dec 2, 2018 - 08:24am PT
I've met a few climbers with ripped leather uppers in their new 5.10 Moccs. As for myself, I blew a hole in the toe of a new pair of Guide Tennies well before the rubber soles were worn down.

This suggests corners are being cut to the new 5.10 brand since Adidas bought them out. My older Guide Tennies actually lasted a good long while, but not the new pair......

I'll be checking out the unparallel shoes, that's great they're manufactured in Fullerton and sounds like the die hard 5.10 people went there anyway.
WanderlustMD

Trad climber
New England
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 26, 2018 - 08:55pm PT
FWIW, I have a new pair of mocs that are holding up fine, just like always...

Maybe I'm lucky, but all the five ten shoes I've bought over the years have been great.
jeff constine

Trad climber
Ao Namao
Dec 27, 2018 - 01:25pm PT
No, I just got 10 new pairs of pro dealt. no problems with them.
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