La Sportiva Solution Climbing Shoe reviews and deals for sale

Absolutely in Love with These

I bought these a few months ago in anticipation for hard sending this Spring and Summer, and I have absolutely loved them. They are my sixth different pair of climbing shoes I've purchased and I have to say they are my new favorites. They edge super well, I feel they are the perfect balance between sensitivity and stiffness, and they have a ton of power. I mostly do sport climbing… read more and bouldering and they work great for those. I don't recommend them much for trad, especially if you size them down a lot, simply because they are too uncomfortable to wear for more than a pitch. Sizing: I've heard Adam Ondra sizes his down like 4 full sizes. I only like my feet to hurt moderately so I only sized down 1.5. I normally wear a 44 street shoe, and I've worn 43.5 in the Muira VS which is perfect for me. Since I was buying these for sending hard and performance, not necessarily comfort, I decided to size down a bit more than the Muiras. My friend let me try on his 42's, and those felt a little too tight. I got 42.5's, and they have been really good for me, but I will say they stretch a lot so now I'm thinking I probably could have even gone down a little more to a 42. The break in period is rough, but it goes quick. Don't let that stop you from getting these amazing shoes. They're the best I've ever used!

The Holy Grail

We all are on a journey to find the Holy Grail of climbing shoes, meaning a shoe that enables us to climb better and achieve at levels we have hoped for. For me, that journey led me to try the Solution. I tried a pair of 44s and the pain was unbearable; so I went with the same size of my other LaSportiva shoes, 44.5. After a brief break in period, they are really my favorite… read more climbing shoes and enable me to climb 1-2 grades higher than before, plus get into bouldering in an enjoyable fashion. Funny, I ran into a young lady at the local gym that was about to order her 4th, yes 4th, simultaneous pair of Solutions!! I don't know why she thinks she needs that many pairs at the same time; but I'm sure her Gearhead at Backcountry loves her, because she says she gets all her gear here. Inspired by her, I got a 2nd pair in size 45 to use when I'd like to keep my shoes on for more than one pitch and don't need the last scintilla of performance I can get with the tighter size on.

Aggressive Downsizing Help

Street Size: 9.5-10.5 Size Purchased: 40 When i initially wore them i had to use the bags that came around the shoes in the box to slip my foot into them. When i did this they actually became very bearable to wear while still breaking them in. They've been broken in for about a week or so now and they fit very tight. I can wear them for a sport climb and than ill have to take them… read more off or a couple boulders and than i HAVE t take them off. Overall the heel feels AMAZING due to how snug my foot is. 10/10. These and the Futuras are my favs

Great for everything (in my opinion)

I'll start by saying this is my second pair. I somehow lost only one of my last pair, and I didn't hesitate to replace with the same shoes. It's an aggressive shoe that is excellent for bouldering, but it really shines on top-rope/lead as well. I've used it in the gym, as well as single pitch in Yosemite and Castle Rock state park. The heel is like an icepick. It's super hard and… read more as long as you have a good fit, it's as solid as anything to crank on. The curved point of the toe also really gives you nice leverage to pull yourself laterally. Maybe the only issue is that they might not be as comfortable for all-day wear as some others, but I haven't had much of an issue with that other than the first full day with them. If I lost them tomorrow I'd buy them right back up again. Love these shoes!

Wonderful Shoe!

I love this shoe! I've owned several pairs over the past 4 years and they are my go-to aggressive pair; perfect for bouldering. They have a very stiff toe edge which makes standing on small foot holds easy, they aren't the most sensitive shoe fresh out of the box but once they are broken in I find them effective. My one complaint is that the strap breaks well before the rubber… read more wears out, which is frustrating when I am putting them on and trying to get them tight. However if you want to put the time in to sew them they will work great again. Overall I highly recommend these shoes if you are looking for a more aggressive pair.

Ondra - on the climbing shoes

Solution!

La sportiva shoes

Shoes are comfortable and sticks to anything. They are perfect fit.

Rough break in/worth the pain

I originally got these shoes for shorter sport/trad routes however these shoes are phenomenal for bouldering predominantly sandstone/quartzite in Southern Ohio and West Virginia. I had one heck of a time breaking these shoes in and honestly debated taking them back at first. They however broke in phenomenally after 4-5 uses and the warm water plastic bag trick. I have normally… read more downsized 1.5 sizes for leather shoes. This is my second pair of solutions and the first set lasted me many years of rough climbing. Once these shoes broke in they became one of my favorite more aggressive shoes aside from Scarpa Vapor V's. Pros: Precise as all get up, sensitive, Amazing in Pockets, Surprisingly good in cracks (Unusual for an aggressive shoe IMO), Resole really well, Rugged Cons: Rather expensive, Not the most comfortable for long climbs All in all if you have the extra cash to spend on a good shoe I can't recommend it enough this new pair should last me a while.

Awesome shoes

Gave this as a birthday gift for my brother and here is what he said "I don’t know what people are saying about the new model of the solutions but I thoroughly enjoy them. They are the fantastic as far as aggressiveness goes and the rubber is excellent for toe and heel hooks! I have had quite a few pairs of shoes and the solutions are my favorite. Great for all styles of climbing… read more (probably tailored a little more towards bouldering though). Overall, the best climbing shoes!"

Great bouldering shoe

The rubber on the top is great for toe hooking. The heel is round and pretty thick, so very protective but doesn't give as much control as shoes with slimmer heel profile. I have a flat egyption foot profile and find these fit me well.

Way Softer than the Original Solutions.

What did you do La Sportiva??? Solutions were the greatest shoe ever made, and you decided to totally change them? Don't get me wrong, these are still very good shoes, fit like a glove, great heel - but they are sooo much softer than the pre-2018 solutions. The old ones weren't stiff - but they were solid through the toe area which provided great toe & edge ability, and retained… read more a strong downturn shape under pressure. These are much softer, like a pair of soft slippers. The downturn & toe and edge ability is not nearly the same as it was. Please La Sportiva, please return the old Solutions. If you want a softer version - then make two versions of them.. But please don't leave us only with these. Had I known these would be so different I would've bought a lifetime supply of the old ones.

perfect shoes!

Adam Ondra would be nothing without his solutions! these shoes are incredible.

aggressive

aggressive shoe for an advanced sport/boulder climber. high performance mixed with reliable comfort

Rock and Roll

These shoes are the bomb! There's a reason that when they came out, EVERYONE was wearing them. It's because they're THE SOLUTIONS. Super aggressive, edge incredibly well, and heel hook like none other. Get super technical on these and put your big toe on some tiny edge! These will get you up some things other shoes just can't. The only downside is they have little to no smearing… read more ability but you can't have it all And these shoes are the best at what they do so I can't complain. I wear a 12 in street shoes and got a 11.5 for these.

Superb route shoes

These are very comfy while holding an aggressive edge. I bought them exclusively for route due to their comfort level. Im at a v3-v4 boulder range while climbing 5.9 5.10 single pitch so these are definitely perfect. If theres one complaint i have, it would be the strap. Ive used these shoes for maybe 5 hours total and i dont completely trust that the strap wont snap or break but… read more so far its holding up to the abuse. But overall, money well spent.

Almost Like The Old Solution

Got the same size as the old solutions. This shoe is very comfortable and the heal is just slightly narrower and softer than the old solution which was a plus. The only thing that did not work for me was that it did not feel like it had that small dime edge power at the toe like the old ones did. Felt quite a bit softer/ flabby. Could have just been that they fit a tad different… read more and did not work for my front foot shape like the old ones did.

Truly the solution

Got a pair of these after I got tired of foot torture in my prior undersized Miura VS's (sz 45). Sized these up slightly to 45.5 (I wear a US 12 street shoe). This was just about perfect, if a tad loose, which I prefer. Suprisingly I find these much more comfortable than Miura VS or Genius. The toe box is the typical slightly narrow La Sportiva width, which is great for hard edging.… read more The sole is fairly stiff but not as much as Miura's, but I found the rubber much stickier. For how stiff they are, they still retain surprising sensitivity. One gripe would be that the cinch strap is a little too long and is hard to get 100% tight - but that is pretty much it. Overall my go to shoe for trying to send the hardest projects.

New for 2018

Check out La Sportiva's in depth look at the new Solution. New for both this shoe and the women's version are the Lorica tongue, a thinner more tactile toe cap (for easier break in and better feel) and the redesigned fast lacing system. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me at weads@backcountry.com or (801) 523-4052.

How do these solutions fit compared to the previous versions? Would you still wear the same size or fit them as tight? I currently wear 38.5 solutions & testarossa's; 39.5 Miura VS