The climbing shoe is a super important piece of equipment that you’ll need on your climbing route, and it’s going to affect a lot of different areas when you’re on your adventure.
The two main factors are usually actual support you have and the comfort you feel when you’re on your climb.
If you are an expert climber, you will most likely be used to knowing all of the ins and outs about a certain pair of climbing shoes. With all of your experience you will be the one to tell what is going to be the best climbing shoe, but you can use this in depth guide of La Sportiva Futura Review to further your already high level of knowledge.
Not only will this highly in depth information save you from getting hurt or having to shorten your climb since you will know a lot of the flaws before getting your shoes, but how enjoyable the climb is actually going to be will be able to be known much more since you know the adventure was created by you and all the information that you found out beforehand.
In Depth Guide of the La Sportiva Futura Climbing Shoe
La Sportiva Futura Review Climbing shoe Score
Sensitivity – 10 out of 10
Comfort – 7 out of 10
Cracks – 7 out of 10
Edging – 9 out of 10
Pockets – 9 out of 10
How Does the La Sportiva Futura Climbing Shoe Perform?
Amazing Edging Ability
The La Sportiva Futura does an excellent job of edging. It really forces your foot to put as much power and stability into your big toe. You should get a lot of stability because you won’t have to worry about your weight shifting from one side of the shoe to the other. This is sometimes tough for other shoes that do a great job of weight distribution, but a poor job at directing force to the areas you need for edging.
There isn’t any artificial edge to contend with when you are climbing. It’s almost a “no edge” type design like the Genius climbing shoe. It really changes the way your foot interacts with the rock face.
Might Be Hard to Get Used to
The tough thing about this is that since it is so good at its technical performance, beginners and intermediates may have a really hard time. This climbing shoe will let you know pretty immediately when you’re not placing your foot correctly. For the experienced climber, it’s actually a pretty good high level training shoe. Once you begin climbing and figuring out exactly how to climb in this shoe, it will make your experience better and you will start to become a more thoughtful, high skill driver.
A lot of higher performance shoes give you so much support that they fail to allow you to work proficiently on your foot work. Most climbing shoes of this caliber have a high rubber thickness and aggressive downturn that aid you really well and don’t force you to use your own foot muscles, but also take away from your ability to flex and utilize your raw footwork skills.
Since this shoe doesn’t have an artificial edge, it still allows you to practice your footwork, but it still gives great support on those hard to get a hold on edges of the rock face.
Crack Climbing is Pretty Good
You won’t be disappointed while you are crack climbing. Although it isn’t the perfect option for climbing in cracks, it will usually get the job done. You shouldn’t feel like you have to flounder and constantly try to find a better spot in a crack.
Granite rock faces might be a little tough to get a hold on with this shoe, but other than that type, they work really well on most everything else.
Also, since there aren’t any buckles that can both cause discomfort and make it tough to fit into a crack in the rock face, this makes it a superior shoe to climb in.
Pockets are Easy
Your toes will almost be as sensitive and stable at feeling pockets as your fingers. The same thing that gives the Futura great ability to edge is similar to the kind of ability in pockets. You should be able to pull into these types of holds with relative ease and stay in them pretty well until you find the next perfect hold. A big reason for the ease of use in pockets is the shoe’s shape.
Your foot should also still be pretty well protected, considering that the rubber thickness is about 3mm.
A drawback to the Futura’s design is that it has a little bit of a higher profile. It still can get you into most pockets, but you might have some trouble getting into those smaller pockets.
Sensitivity
The 3mm thickness of the rubber and the “no edge” technology really help your feet be able to feel the rock like not a lot of other climbing shoes can. Sometimes it can feel like you don’t even have climbing shoes on at some points.
Some climbing shoes with this much sensitivity are usually pretty floppy and don’t have the structure that’s needed. But the shape is still really kept at a high level.
It may be tough for a little while because it is a super strange feeling being able to feel the rock face like you didn’t have any shoes on, but also have enough support to actually hang on to those usually hard to feel edges.
Does the La Sportiva Futura Climbing Shoe Have Good Fit?
Synthetic Upper
Since the upper of the shoe is synthetic, it may not conform to your foot as readily as an all leather upper. Usually you only have to wait a couple of climbs for the shoe to stretch and then contract to fit your foot really well. However, since the shoe has only a synthetic upper, the amount of stretch isn’t going to be as great as that of leather material.
Does the La Sportiva Futura Climbing Shoe Have Good Comfort?
Great Comfort
Most of these shoe aspects contribute to its overall comfort. You’ll be able to get this shoe on super quick because it only has one Velcro strap, so all you have to do to adjust is pull on, strap over, and go. Also, the way that the velcro strap is designed actually pulls the back of your heel and the front of your foot towards the sole of the climbing shoe.
This lessens the number of pressure points which increase that amount of comfort you have. Usually climbing shoes are built to be super supportive, but end up creating a lot of different pressure points. This pulls support from the back and front of the shoe, not just one area.
It’s still going to be a stiff shoe, so even though it’s very similar to barefoot feeling, you will still have to get used to its level of support that may cause slight discomfort.
It will keep your foot in a pretty natural shape, and this increases the comfort level a good bit. The look of it seems to counteract this idea, but once you slip your foot into this shoe, you will feel the difference pretty quickly.
Does the La Sportiva Futura Climbing Shoe Have Good Value?
Specialized and Pricey
The Futura climbing shoe is a really specialized shoe and the features give good reason for it being as expensive as it is. The shoe is definitely going to serve you in more aspects than a lot of other climbing shoes, and if you purchase this shoe, you probably won’t need too many others for other kinds of technical performance. However, keep in mind you’ll still need other climbing shoes to help with areas the Futura isn’t the best at, such as crack climbing because of its high profile.
Super Durable
Another high value aspect of this shoe is its durability. The fact that you should be able to keep this climbing shoe for a pretty long time is definitely, overall, a money saver. All climbing shoes will at some point have to be replaced, repaired, or supplemented by another shoe. However each of these won’t happen nearly as frequently with the La Sportiva Futura.
This fact may actually cause you to use this climbing shoe for only really tough climbs or super long climbs. If you were to instead only use this shoe for the hardest and longest climbs, you would add to its already significant life span. On other, less difficult and shorter climbs, you could use shoes that don’t have the same durability level, this way converting your higher performance shoe.
La Sportiva Futura Climbing shoe Pros and Cons
Pros
- Durable
- Edging
- Sensitivity
Cons
- Tough to repair
- Expensive
How Does the La Sportiva Futura Climbing Shoe Compare?
Futura VS Katana
The La Sportiva Katana Lace is definitely more expensive than the Futura. However, it does score higher in performance in the areas that the Futura lacks, so this higher price might be somewhat warranted.
In both crack climbing and comfort level, the Katana beat out the Futura. The Katana has a lower profile than the Futura which means most of the time it will fit much better into those more awkwardly shaped cracks. Also, since it has high adjustability with its lace system, it allows you to get a more specific comfort.
Futura VS Solution
Both of these climbing shoes have almost identical performance aspects except for sensitivity and crack climbing. The La Sportiva Solution scores higher in both of these areas, but only very slightly higher. However, the Solution does have a couple of features that don’t provide for like the Futura does. You probably won’t be able to climb all day, and the strap isn’t as durable as the Futura’s.
Futura VS Genius
Both of these shoes utilize unconventional edges to their shoes. They both have the unique “no edge” design that allows you to get a better hold on smaller edges and also get the highest sensitivity possible without sacrificing support.
The La Sportiva Genius does only nominally worse than the Futura at crack climbing. The score in this area isn’t really high enough to say that it is a better overall climbing shoe than the Futura, so getting either one of these climbing shoes will definitely up your ability level and you shouldn’t have to have too many other shoes to supplement your performance.
Futura VS Solution Comp
Both of these climbing shoes have similar performance levels and are priced almost exactly the same. The only real difference between the two is going to be how much more sensitive the Futura is than the Comp. The rubber is a little bit thicker in the Comp than in the Futura. This means there is just less rubber between your foot and the rock, allowing you to feel the surface a good bit better.
What’s the Verdict on the La Sportiva Futura Climbing Shoe?
Tough Start, Great Overall Performance
At first you are going to have a little bit of trouble with this climbing shoe. It will definitely immediately bring out your flaws in your footwork and be a little uncomfortable. But after a couple of climbs you will figure how to best utilize the “no edge” technology for general climbing excursions. The reason for this is because you will have to climb much more precisely than you would with other shoes.
However, you will also have a much higher sensitivity than other climbing shoes, but without the problems of decreased support.
Also, the P3 midsole is unique in that it retains its shape very well even when it’s under a lot of pressure.
You will also be able to close up your shoe super fast since there is only one velcro strap. This strap also helps keep the shape of the shoe in a better way than most other climbing shoes.