adidas Men's Bc0884 Track Shoe

Product Information

Make sure you size your VCS to fit as, like any synthetic shoe, the stretch is minimal. After extensive use, I would guess mine have stretched 1/2 size if that. I’m a street size 10.5/11 US and got these in an 11 US.

The NIAD VCS is also available in a low-volume version: the teal 'women's' version of the Anasazi was always popular so it's great to see that it's received the same update. Materials The toe pad is a mystery to me. Largely because I’m not Batman and find bicycle maneuvers in the gym about as useful as a cowboy hat on a crowded subway. The diamond-shaped pattern appears to really only function well for me when loaded laterally (side to side across the top of the foot) rather than directly pulling ‘up’ towards my face, so it feels more like inverted scumming with my toes than hooking. When pulling hard with the toe I find it functions best when it is above my center of mass rather than beside or below me. I also noticed that the Mi6 rubber is noticeably slippery when not on heavily textured surfaces such as on volumes. Only when I’ve got an extreme amount of force on the toe pad can I begin to feel confident in using it. I do however need to add the caveat that I’ve been skipping leg day . This maneuver only feels secure when there’s a ton of lateral force on the toe pad. So Gym then? Likeits predecessors, the NIAD VCS LV is a very comfortable shoeprovidinga decent level of performance. This is a flat shoe on aneutral last which maintains the narrow width of the Anasazi and addsa lower (height),narrower heel cup. Despite this, and though it is still a low volume shoe, we found the NIAD somehow accommodates more foot shapes than the Anasazi. For me personally, this means the NIAD fits my foot much better than the Anasazi did -much of this is due to the slight adjustment of the toe box shape (more on that later).

5.10 Anasazi Lace Climbing Shoe

Five Ten says the VCS is designed for wider feet than the lace model, which I would agree with. My feet are fairly narrow so the shoes still fit but there is a noticeably long bit of Velcro which overhangs when they’re done up. This has been more of a slight annoyance than anything else though. I certainly found that my foot shape was more suited to the Pinks or Blancos than their Velcro counterpart. It was instantly comfortable enough to wear for an entire one-hour assault on a slightly overhanging granite boulder. I continued to wear the shoe at each boulder without taking them off otherwise, for a whole day. One glaring shortcoming of the original line was the fit of the heel. It was odd, baggy, and nonconforming, and that’s being nice. The new heel is none of those. The Five Ten NIAD Lace has a heel that followed the contour of my narrow heel well, with slight gapping at the bottom rear of my heel. The Anasazi VCS– a classic, durable shoe that is part of Five Ten’s famous Anasazi family and looks like something straight out of a ’90s climbing magazine. While the Pinksor Blancosmight be Five Ten’s front runners, the VCS certainly holds its own. So much so that they have been favored by many top-class climbers including Tom Randall, Pete Whittaker, and Steve McClure.

There is no doubt that these shoes are designed for slabs, long sport routes, and all-round beginner/intermediate level gym climbing. If you buy these expecting to crush those awesome cave problems at your local gym, you will be disappointed. With the NIAD VCS, Five Ten has done exactly that. The medium-stiff profile and a neutral last make this a comfortable option for sport climbing and bouldering, whilst having the level of performance you would expect from a much more aggressive shoe.I tested the NIAD VCS in the Sierra Foothills and Yosemite Valley this winter. The results were impressive: The flat-lasted (neutral) sole excelled on thin seams and vertical to gently overhanging faces. The chiseled toe design was precise enough to stand on small nubbins and powerful enough to smudge steep edges, while additional support came from heel tension (slingshot rand) that pushed my toes into the toebox. And reliable friction came from the 3.5mm C4 rubber on the soles. Haven’t really tested the toe hook patch. Not sure it’s really required as this isn’t a bouldering specialist shoe. Trad climbers can’t go wrong with the Pink. It’s a performance-oriented climbing shoe that’s also an excellent all-arounder. Of all the climbing shoes on the market, this is one of our favorites (and it’s been that way for quite some time). If you don’t like lace-ups, consider the Five Ten Anasazi VCS. It’s as good as the Pink, but will break in a little more comfortably over time and excel more in multi-pitch scenarios. And the Velcro model is much older than the Pink, so if you shop around you may be able to find some cheaper closeout models.