User Review: Five Ten Spire

Five Ten Spire
Above: The current Spire, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed September 20, 2007 by jasonplancaster

Rating:
Materials: leather
Use: relaxed climbing, ratings up to v7 and 5.11
Break-in Period: virtually none. should feel great right away. these do stretch!
Price Paid: $85

The Five Ten Spire is one of the best all-around comfort shoes there is. It's great for wearing on long sessions. I'd recommend this shoe to any beginner, in fact my mother, father, and myself all have a pair of these (yes, they work for men and women).

These shoes DO stretch. While you don't want to buy a shoe too tight as a beginner, the more technical you get the more you'll realize these do end up conforming to your foot and if you don't buy a little tight you might end up getting some pocketing here or there.

I bought mine just over a year ago and have climbed quite often both indoors and outdoors, so they stand up to a lot of wear.

It is not the most technical shoe in the world but has gotten me through v6/v7 boulder problems and 5.11c climbs. I'll be moving on to a more technical shoe shortly but will always keep a pair of these around for those lazy days when I'm not so worried about performance and would rather something soft and comfortable.