Tenaya Oasi Review

Tenaya Oasi review

Climbing Shoes are an important piece of equipment that have the biggest impact on you when climbing. It will affect pretty much every area of your climb, comfort, length of time you can climb, and how well you actually perform. 

If you are an expert climber, and are wanting to find a shoe that can meet your high performance needs, but also leave you without a feeling of strong discomfort, the Tenaya Oasi is the perfect shoe for you. Keep reading the Tenaya Oasi Review to find out.

But if you are on the fence, not only will this guide give you the basic information and save you from harm since you will know a lot of the flaws before getting your climbing shoe, but you will also enjoy your climb much more since you know the adventure was catered by you and all the information that you discovered.

In Depth Guide of the Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe

Tenaya Oasi Review

Tenaya Oasi Review Climbing Shoe Score

Comfort – 8 out of 10

Fit – 7 out of 10

Sensitivity – 7 out of 10

Edging – 8 out of 10

How Well Does the Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe Actually Perform?

Great at Edging

Vibram XS Grip rubber is some of the best rubber used on climbing shoes. It is extremely sticky, adequately thick, and  both of these elements give any shoe that has this kind of rubber built super edging powers. 

The Oasi is no different. You’ll be able to rely on this edging power for all of your climbs. 

It is a very aggressive shoe in most performance areas and it holds up to the same level when you are needing to edge. 

If you have small ledges while climbing on an overhang, the Oasi hold up really great here as well. You can still make strong moves and won’t have to worry about being afraid of lack of stability. The precise performance of these shoes keep you safe and allow you to complete more moves than with other shoes. 

The downturn isn’t the most aggressive downturn for a high performance climbing shoe, but this allows for a little more flexibility of movement and still gives strong force all directed towards the big toe. The toe is very stiff which is another factor that gives the Oasi a leg up on other shoes. 

Super Useful for Pockets

The Oasi has a pretty powerful toe and it uses the slight hook to its advantage. It sticks really well in pockets and is actually more equipped for really small pockets because of its thinner profile and flattened straps. 

Most other shoes are just too bulky to be able to utilize those small pockets very well, and therefore force you to miss out on some perfectly good routes because the pockets are just too small.

As with its edging capabilities, this climbing shoe will perform well in pockets even when the cliff face is a really steep overhang, forcing you to lean backwards a good bit. 

The toe of the Oasi is great at hooking in even at these extreme angles and allows you to do those hard maneuvers without being distracted by much instability or slippage.

Crack Climbing

Though the shoe is really aggressive, it’s downturn isn’t so harsh that it doesn’t give you support when jamming your foot into a crack. 

Most of the time, attempting to rest a larger part of your foot into a crack when wearing an aggressively downturned is tough. Flatter shoes give more support to the whole of the foot, while curved climbing shoes force a lot of the strength towards the big toe.

This flatness allows a little better weight distribution which is more of what you need when climbing in a crack. 

However, the Oasi utilizes both of these elements really well. It is stiff and curved enough to force power to the toe, but flexible and flat enough to give tons of support in the midsole, distributing weight evenly and allowing you to get a lot of support while in a long crack. 

Sensitivity

Vibram XS is a decently sensitive rubber while still being durable and grippy. The thickness on this shoe is about 3.5 mm, which is actually much lower than your standard, high performing climb shoe.

Many of them typically utilize a 4 or even 5 mm rubber thickness.

But the Oasi manages the design in a way that allows you to feel the rock through the rubber pretty well, especially for such a high performing shoe. 

A lot of this has to do with the flexibility of the shoe. Most climbing shoes with this much support that allows you to make all those technical moves make it so that the build is extremely rigid. 

But the Oasi allows you these technical skills without sacrificing the flexibility of the shoe, and therefore giving much better sensitivity. 

The fit of the shoe, which will be mentioned later, also gives the Oasi more sensitivity, as a firmly fitted shoe allows better closeness with the actual foot and rubber.

Is the Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe Comfortable?

Super Comfortable

The Oasi are extremely comfortable. Especially when you take into account their level of performance.

Most climbing shoes have to pick on or the other when deciding on comfort and performance. It’s really hard to get a shoe to edge well, stay in pockets, give support in cracks, and at the same time keep its comfort level really high. 

The Oasi does a tremendous job at this by keeping its downturn middling, building it with a lot of flexibility, and keeping the important elements, rubber, heel, initial fit, at a high quality. 

Roomy Toe Box

One of the biggest factors that allows the Oasi to be so comfortable is its toe box. This area has a lot of room in it so that your toes can flex out and not be scrunched up while you’re on your climb.

Balled up toes is one of the main factors that contributes to discomfort while you are climbing. You may be able to force more weight and power onto your big toe when all your toes are concentrated in one area, but this allows for little flexibility which leads to more pain. 

Low Heel

This aspect of the Oasi provides a lot of comfort as well, mostly because with the low volume heel you get a better fit since there is less material for your foot to slip around in. 

This higher caliber foot provides a lot more comfort as well. Ill fitting climbing shoes often have low comfort levels. 

Initial Fit

You will probably want to keep your normal walking shoe size with these climbing shoes. They are built to be extremely fitted right out of the box, so downsizing or upsizing shouldn’t be much of a problem.

The initial fit adds a lot to the comfort level as you should be able to get a near perfect right away which does wonders for your comfort level.

If you are forced to resize it’s tougher to get the most comfortable fit.

Does the Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe Have Good Fit?

Low Heel

The low heel on the Oasi really contributes to a great fit. The back of your feet won’t have much room to slip around and so you won’t have to worry about that happening on your climb. 

The climbing shoe will also be a lot easier to get on since you don’t have much material to put over your heel. 

Not as Much Protection

While the rubber is Vibram XS which is super durable and also has adequate thickness, since the heel is little low you won’t get as much protection from the rock as other climbing shoes with higher heels.

You should still be able to heel hook pretty well because of the thickness and rubber type, but you may have to be a little more careful in your placement while heel hooking. 

Roomy, But Not Too Roomy Toe Box

Though the toe box has plenty of room for your toes to splay out and distribute weight, the initial tight fit of the Oasi doesn’t allow for undue space to impede your climb.

Narrow Fit

Wide footed people may be a little disappointed when trying out this shoe as not only is it initially tight, it is also pretty narrow and may be tough for those with wide or oddly shaped feet, 

Thin, Adjustable Straps

The thinness of the velcro straps really allow for some awesome adjustability. 

You can really crank the straps down to fit your foot. Since the shoe itself already has a pretty low profile, the straps can do a really good job at locking down a large portion of the shoe.

If your climbing shoe is pretty thick, the straps may not be able to affect as much area of the shoe as you would like.

There are only two straps, which would usually signify a lower adjustability and fit. 

However, the second strap lays down at a forward angle and also loops again back the other way across the shoe, again at a forward angle. This allows the straps to reach more of the shoe while cutting down on the amount of space they take up. 

Does the Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe Have Good Value?

Worth the Expense

The Tanaya Oasi are pretty expensive. They definitely reach the price range of a high end shoe, as you can find a ton of other climbings that will still serve you pretty well for about half the price.

However, this shoe so expertly combines the two most important areas of any climbing shoe, performance and comfort, that it just might one totally worth the price.

You also should get a high amount of durability since the rubber built into the shoe is Vibram XS, a highly respected material that will last for a long time. 

And since the performance is so high in pretty much each technical area, you shouldn’t have a problem doing a multitude of varying climbs with this climbing shoe, and you should be able to stay on those climbs for a good amount of time. 

Pros and Cons of the Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe

Pros

  • Heel Fit
  • Comfort
  • Adjustable
  • Aggressive performance

Cons

  • Straps no durable
  • Initially tight build

How does the Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe Compare?

Oasi VS Shamans

The Oasi beats out the Evolve Shamans in Sensitivity and Edging. 

It has a little lower thickness in the rubber which allows for a more sensitive shoe. It still gives great stiffness, which is why it also beats out the Shamans in its edging performance as well. 

But the Shamans compare pretty well when talking about comfort. The Shamans have a similar downturn as the Oasi, so with either shoe you should be able to climb for a long time with either climbing shoe and be comfortable.

Oasi VS Nighthawks

Both the Oasi and the Nighthawks are great at giving a high amount of comfort and end up fitting your foot really well. 

The Nighthawk derives most of its comfort from how flat it is. There is almost no downturn which keeps the shoe from being too rigid and taking away from its comfort.

It has a great fit just like the Oasi because its heel is low and tight, and its laces create some of the best closure for any climbing shoe. 

However, their overall performance falls down on the job compared to the Oasi. The Nighthawk can’t do nearly all the technical skills as well as the Oasi, even though they have really similar comfort levels. 

What’s the Verdict on Tenaya Oasi Climbing Shoe?

High Performing, High Comfort

The Tenaya Oasi does a great job of mixing in the most important components, without adding their downsides.

Expert climbers will really appreciate this shoe’s versatility, and anyone that has just begun truly leveling up their skills will be happy that it is still a very comfortable climbing shoe. 

Not only will you be able to climb in various situations and be comfortable while doing it, you should have no trouble keeping this shoe for a long time because the durable Vibram XS rubber is built into this climbing shoe.