Newtons or Rock Socks Lace-up?

I'm looking for opinions on the 5-10 Newtons or Rock Socks Lace-up. I'm looking for a relatively stiff shoe for edging & face climbing. I think I like the idea of synthetic uppers for the non-stretch characteristics & hot weather breathablility. Am I looking at the right shoes?

I think Newtons are the best shoe I have ever worn. This includes 37 yrs of shoes! They have sufficient stiffness to provide immense power off of tiny edges, but are the incomparable sticky stealth rubber of course, and the fit on my foot at least is as if they were

Errr... I think Newtons are pretty darn good, but I wouldn't wear them for all kinds of climbing.

Yes. They edge better than any shoe I've had. However, the toe profile is so high that they don't work very well in thin cracks of certain types. My Kaukulators were superior at Indian Creek.

Oh, they work very well in small pockets too, assuming not too steep rock where you have to grab with your toes.

They fit my feet well too, but YMMV.

I've only been climbing in mine for about 5 weeks, but they seem like they'll break in and then hold that fit and performance for a long time.

On granite I agree. But see my comment on I.C.

- Lord Slime

last year or so.

that's interesting. So many comments in this ng and my own personal experiences contradict this statement.

I just succumbed to the I-need-a-new-pair-of-shoes bug. I decided there must be something that I could get reasonable edge power out of, poke into a crack with out feeling mind-numbing pain, and wear for a whole weekend without having to remove them at every belay. I looked at and tried on a whole bunch of shoes and eventually narrowed it down to two pairs: the Newtons and the La Sportiva Mega (the new version of the Kaukulator). I ended up with the Mega for a couple of reasons...

I went through a couple of pairs of Newtons trying to find the best fit- to-performance ratio and I ended up deciding that at the comfort level I was looking for they didn't edge as well. If I sized them down a full size they were great but I was fairly certain I they wouldn't be comfortable all weekend long that way. The Mega on the other hand felt much stronger, although it is also a much stiffer shoe to begin with. And it also may have had some thing to do with my foot shape favoring one last over the other though.

Cant say anything about Indian Creek but I liked the lower profile/pointed toe on the Mega as well. I also felt that the Newton was not as well padded on the top of the foot and therefor hurt a little more when jamming.

In general I really liked the way the Newton performed when it was sized snugly but I just wanted a looser fit and felt the performance really dropped off when sized accordingly. And for what it's worth, since this thread was originally asking for comments comparing it to the Rock Sock: I think (without having more than 5 minutes experience) that the Rock Sock would perform similarly to my Miura's. They would be fantastic face climbing shoes but you'd probably cringe every time you needed to jam a toe crack and you'd probably want to take them off after every 30 minutes.

Stephen Prouty

I haven't climbed all that much at IC but on my last trip, I had Sportiva Megas and Mythos. I ended up using the Mythos on most routes because of the slim toe profile, which worked well on finger to hand cracks. The Kaukulators replaced the Megas, didn't they? I've tried them on and thought the toe was blunt compared to a slipper like the Mythos. The Mythos felt solid in the finger to hand cracks, but, as my friend said: 'The pain is exquisite.' I have a pair of 5.10 Ascents and they do pretty well in thin cracks and are less painful than the Mythos. I tend to take 2 or 3 pairs of shoes on a long trip, knowing that my feet swell with lots of climbing and can get sensitive in different spots, depending on what kind of climbing we're doing.

Before you buy.

I was also looking at the Ascents, I like the cushioned heel idea for boldering but right now I'm looking for a high performance face climbing/edging shoe. How do the Ascents perform in that department?

I like my Ascents, and I got them mainly because they edge better than my Huecos. They're okay for crack climbing, but the Huecos are better at that, and, for me, the Huecos are more comfortable for all-day use. My Ascents are in decent shape still, so my next pair of shoes will be either another pair of Huecos or the Newtons.

To my limited observations, people end up buying from one or two manufacturers to the exclusion of others. Part of this is brand loyalty, but I think different manufacturers more or less specialize in a particular range of foot shapes. I've never found a pair of La Sportiva shoes that I felt I would fit my feet even after breaking them in. I'm interested to hear that John has some 5.10 and also some La Sportiva shoes.

-steven-

!GOLF SHOES! I had just about decided until you said that!

Seriously, thanks for all the input folks. I think I'll have to try the Newtons. They sound like they'll do what I want.

That actually validates what I'm trying to do here. I've bought four pairs of 5-10 boots to this point. Spires, Moccasyms, Polar Spires & Guide Almightys. It's not brand loyalty, or price. It's just that I've found they fit me best. That's especially important to me because there's no local suppliers that keep a decent inventory. That means I have to go through the on-line order hassle. No problem with sending them back if they don't fit...but there's no substitute for just having a pile of shoes on the floor right in front of you to try on. So I just stick with the 5-10's that happen to fit the shape of my foot consistently.

I do as well. Mythos and Ascents are my 2 current favorites. I also have Huecos which I like, and some old Scarpa Brios, which are mega-clunky but I keep them for sentimental reasons (my gumby shoes!). They all seem to fit well; none required a prolonged break-in period. I don't size my shoes super tight and that may allow me to wear a wider range of manufacturers, although I have noticed most anything by Boreal cuts into my achilles tendon.

To answer another poster's question, in my experience the Ascents are a good all-around shoe but are not super technical.

I have a pair of the original Rock Sox, and all I can say is they are relegated to gym duty so I can yank them off every 3 minutes. But the Lace-ups look better.

FWIW,