2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Are You Tired of Wearing Rentals?, July 30, 2008
I had rented leather beginner shoes for a couple of clinics and wanted my own pair for a 2-day foundations class. I chose Gambits, even though they're not as comfortable as the 'rounder' beginner shoes, because I wanted something that I could grow into as my climbing progressed.
I wore them around the house a couple of hours at a time for two weeks to grow a few extra layers of skin, as the seam of the top mesh and rand fall across the top of my toes and felt like it was digging into my flesh. I was initially worried I bought the wrong size style for me, but when it came time to get on the rock I knew I made the right choice.
The toe box felt much more comfortable latching into micro edges or smearing dimples than the rentals & I could feel the rock under my feet.
Come the 2nd day of class, the top seam faded away & I was smearing and edging with the best of them. I encountered a few "opportunities" to latch a hold with just my big toe, which is a bit painful for my newbie feet, but a very cool option to have when climbing an otherwise featureless face route.
If you're new to climbing & want absolute comfort from day one then pick a different shoe, but if you're willing to take the time and make the effort then go for a shoe that you'll outwear before you outgrow.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great intermediate to expert climbing shoe., February 6, 2011
This review is from: FiveTen Men's Gambit Climbing Shoe (Apparel)
I have been climbing for about 6 years now, almost exclusively indoor, although I enjoy hitting the real thing when I can. After I got into it enough to stop renting I bought a pair of
Mad Rock Flash (If you've been climbing for any amount of time you recognize this orange velcro shoe - I'm pretty sure half the climbers I know had this as their first shoe). I put those shoes through the paces and always found them acceptable... that is until I attended a climbing shoe expo and got to try out some of the best shoes available. Simply put, the 5.10s were the best and I eventually found a pair of the Gambit's at a great price and have not looked back once.
These shoes are much more responsive than the Flashes ever were. I find myself using heel hooks much more often simply because they work so much better with this shoe. Even after having used them quite a lot, the sole maintains a high friction coefficient. Although smooth sections have inevitably developed, they are still quite sticky.
I have found there is much debate in the climbing community over laces vs velcro vs crazy hybrids. Personally I really like laces as I find it gives you much better control over the fit of the shoe. I admit it is a little more inconvenient than velcro, but overall I think the functionality is better. I believe La Sportiva has some interesting "hybrids" where the straps are antagonistic and pull specific parts of the shoe similar to a lace-up system, but I haven't used this extensively. My one complaint about the Gambits would be that the laces are very long. Obviously this isn't a big deal, so I don't really count it against them.
The final point if have is regarding comfort. No climbing shoe is going to fit like a street shoe, that's a given, but for technical rock shoe to be as comfortable as these are ought to be illegal. Sure my toes a little tight, but that lets me use killer toe holds and not sacrifice any balance. Make sure to order the correct size as they feel tight but not too tight and have no hotspots when you do. For me +1.5US/2EU sizes fit the bill - but it would be good to try these on somewhere if you can.
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