User Review: La Sportiva B5

La Sportiva B5
Above: The current B5, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed July 21, 2008 by Basicfiend

Rating:
Materials: Leather uppers, stick rubber soles
Use: Climbing, boldering, hiking
Break-in Period: 25 miles
Weight: 16.3 ozs per shoe
Price Paid: $57

I'm a huge fan of La Sportiva shoes and when I saw these on closeout at EMS (in my size!), I couldn't resist. I've done about 50 miles and 15,000 vertical gain, so review time.

Bottom line, I like the Cirque Pro's better than these. The Cirque is a little bit lighter, the Cirque's tread is sticker, and these B5's have a nasty habit of rubbing my heel on the uphill and the top of one of my toes on the downhill. I should probably be wearing a half size smaller.

These shoes have a stiffer sole than most approach shoes, which is great for climbing if you're trying to catch a toe hold. As noted in the product description, you really can climb some small features in these shoes. I got up a 5.7 crack with little difficulty.

One thing these shoes do not like is water. Like snow or streams. They seem to hold the water and weight down the shoe. Also, I feel like the insole loses its padding (this also happens with the Cirque's, btw).

If you're doing a lot of friction climbing, I would definitely go with Cirques. If you're climbing features like small holds, etc., the toe on this B5 is a bit better.

I don't notice any effects the downhill shock absorber (impact break system) than the description talks about. My knees still hurt like they always do.

About durability, I found myself on a sharp slate rock slide and was very thankful for these leather uppers. Literally the sharpest rock I've ever been on (the backside of Sheep Mountain in the Gros Vente range). The front rubber at the toe has a few shallow scratches from being jammed into the rock, but no signs of wear on the leather.

I wear a half size up in Sportiva shoes, but now I wish that I had bought my actual size because of the rubbing.

All in all, a good pair of shoes (as expected from Sportiva). I've dinged them one star for not being as comfortable as the Cirques, esp. when wet. Still much better than anything from 5-10 (yes, I'm biased).