La Sportiva No Edge Technology Review: Is It Worth The Hype

Climbing shoes are probably the one piece of equipment that is replaced the most and often, the most talked about. Climbers and their shoes...ahhh. It's like a shopaholic in the boutique section of Neiman Marcus looking for a new pair of Louboutin's (sorry tangent). ANYWAY, it really is the one piece of gear that will get you to improve your climbing. Most shoes are similar in design and don't vary much from shoe to shoe. But what about some companies that try to do something different? There goes that old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So what did La Sportiva do??Enter the no edge technology. I decided to get a pair of La Sportiva Speedsters (discontinued) two months ago after I saw them on sale at a local outdoor store. When I first saw the shoe, I couldn't believe what I was looking at: an edge so round that it looked more like a bald tire than anything. Even so, I still succumed and purchased the pair with some curious doubt. Onto the next few weeks...

The first time I actually tried these shoes, I couldn't believe how well it fit. The whole shoe fit perfectly all around with that amazing suction cup-like noise when the heel pops on. And that is another thing entirely: The heel fits wonderfully. Being a die hard fan for 5.10, I really never gave Sportiva a chance...so these speedsters were looking up. Once on, they didn't hurt either. I suppose that is the first good thing about the no edge. Since there was no real edge or sharp toe, but a round one, my toes were not pinched at the forefront. They were snug and there was this feeling of "Wow rubber is literally wrapped around my toe."

Climbing with this technology was interesting. A lot of users said that their footwork sucked when first getting used to this shoe. It makes sense because if there is no edge, how the hell will you toe into anything? Well its simple: Smear. I typically smear on small holds anyway just to get better purchase and barely edge anything out. This came from my experience with stealth mystique rubber used on 5.10 shoes. The no edge technology uses soft rubber similar to mystique so you can feel everything. For the small stuff, smearing was easy and with no edges, you can smear with any part of the shoe. Remember how I said the rubber was wrapped around the toe? This is probably the best part of the shoe. You would think that it would desensitize the shoe but you would be far from correct. I feel holds way better with this set up than any shoe with an edge. This means you can smear with your toe. You heard it: SMEAR WITH YOUR DAMN TOE. Its crazy but unless you get a pair with no edge and try it yourself, you won't know what I mean. With that said, there IS a learning curve to this shoe. Because there are no edges, your footwork has to be creative, sound and confident to be able to use this shoe well. Once you learn it, the shoe keeps giving back in performance and comfort.

The cool thing about maintenance to this shoe is that it is relatively low: Doesn't really need a resole for a while since there are no edges and it is already round. A problem is when you actually already blow through the shoe: How the hell do you resole this thing? Let's hope I don't need to find out for a while. So far, they are like the first day I got them. No real signs of wear except for some rubber peeling off the sides. Easily fixed with a razor and some sand paper....back to normal.

I'd recommend any shoe with the no edge technology to anyone that wants a sensitive yet comfortable shoe. Anyone that wants help on their footwork can use these and eventually learn how to use their feet effectively in climbing. Current models that have this are the Futura (blue, hybrid between solution and speedster) and the newly released Genius (lace up, looks like a Ferrari). Go for it and feel the power