Five Ten NIAD

I love this shoe, and would recommend it.

• Solid heel

• Very comfortable

• Good for smearing and edging

• Toe hooks are okay

• Does not excel at overhung routes

This shoe initially is very hard, but after a few weeks climbing in them they become quite soft. So if you prefer hard shoes, these might not be for you. The sizing from Adidas on these shoes run small, so your regular street shoe size will already feel like you downsized 1 EU size.

Scarpa Quantics

I highly recommend avoiding this shoe.

This was the first pair of climbing shoes I bought, and I very quickly bought a new pair. These shoes have a stitch right where the big toes rest in the show, which when you downsize (not even by much, I went down half an EU size) the stitch aggresively digs into your big toe. Since climbing involves putting nearly all your body weight on your toes, the force is strong enough that the stitch actually cuts open your big toe. Taping up your toes helps prevent this, but the pain from climbing becomes unbearable.

When I tried the shoe out in the store before buying it, I didn't notice the stitch. It might have been because of the socks I had on at the time, or because I didn't climb in them. Regardless, its easy to not notice the stitch when trying it on but once you start climbing it becomes incredibly painful.