Definitely can recommend, I've got flat feet, and always have been suffering in climbing shoes. My first pair was LS-Tarantula, but I've outgrew then within a couple months. Then I must have tried around 30 pairs (Red Chillies, Evolveo, Black Diamond, OCUN), but after researching on reddit for hours, I've tried the Skwama and stuck with it, I'm normally EUR-45, I have Skwama at EUR-44.5, and they're great, still a bit painful, but I bought -0.5 size for performance, then have a EUR-45 for long climbing sessions, very comfy. As a very wide and flat footed climber 100% recommend
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience! It's super helpful for other climbers to hear how shoes fit from one person to another. I imagine part of my reason for downsizing so much being that my foot is narrow. I like your idea of having two pairs of the same climbing shoe model - one of performance and one for comfort. I'd never thought of that before!
@AlexTighe Big help was LaSportiva's graph, where they choose Performance x AllRound x Beginner and then wideness of feet. For the fit on Evolveo box, there's 0 for optimal +0,5 for comfort, -0.5 for performance and like -1,5 for competition (which is crazy) But gotta say, nothing beats going to a store and trying it out, everyone is different, for example Miura VS are supposed to be the widest from LS, but the Skwama for me were much wider and comfortable fit
Quite funny that this video shows up since I've seen a few months ago your review of the Drone 2.0 LV and decided after many days of research to get them a shot and I'm loving them so far. Skwamas are the shoes that actually make my progress sky rocketed since I was used to more stiffer shoes and poorly fitted too. I have the same street shoe size as you (41 EU). Shoe history quickly : Decathlon shoes +1.5, Ocun Fury/Nitro +1.5, Tenaya Mastia and Indalo -1.5, La Sportiva Skwama -2, Unparallel Souped UP street shoe size. I have bought more shoes since then (I'm a big shoe nerd) but honestly switching to a softer shoe and quite agressive too was a big game changer. I picked the wrong size, hoping the leather will stretch enough but it wasn't the case. Even after 10 months of wearing quite often for everything I was doing (outdoor sport climbing in France, bouldering in Fontainebleau and indoor of the same), the shoe gave me scars on the ankle/achille, pain on the toes and make my bunnion way worse and also I still have scars on two toes. I still liked the shoe but I bought a new pair few months ago at -1.5 and it fixed absolutely every flaws I had with the shoe. It's genuinely one of the most fun and cool shoe I have and love to climb with them. Also, it's very personnal, but EVERY colors of these shoes (both vegan and leather and women/men) are dope and I love them all 😂 My tier list of favorite shoes are : Unparallel Souped UP (a 100% perfect mold of my feet) La Sportiva Skwama (but the heel is quite trash, I don't bring them outdoor anymore but for indoor it's good enough) Mad Rock Drone 2.0 LV (fit 98% perfect, a tiiiiiny bit of air in the heel and the toebox is still incredibly stiff and hard so it's my special weapon). My perfect franken-shoe will be the heel of the Drone 2.0 LV, the softness and toe patch of the Souped UP and the comfort of the Skwama and for sport climbing, the same but with the middle stiffness of the Skwama 🔥
Haha...darned UA-cam algorithm worked its magic again 😅🪄 But I'm stoked you find my vids helpful! Glad to have you back and to hear that you're enjoying the Mad Rock Drones! Absolutely agree that getting the wrong size can make a HUGE difference on one's opinion of the shoe. I've also noticed that the Drone, Skwama, and Otaki don't stretch too much even after extended use. Interestingly, I have a buddy who just spent 5 weeks in Font using his only pair of climbing shoes - La Sportiva Solution Men's Model. He also had weird bunions appear on his toes even though it's a shoe he's been using for years. I only find myself using the Miura in Font. I imagine there's a reason lots of folks living in Paris are using Scarpa Drago or other extremely soft, pliable shoes!
@@AlexTighe Thanks for the answer, I appreciate it haha ! Yeah having just 0.5 diff on my Skwama was absolutely game changing, from scars/bleeding toes/achille pain for days etc to absolutely nothing at all was incredible 😭 Usually, Bleausard (locals from Font) like either very powerful edging shoes (like the Miuras) for the slabs and vertical boulders (I very much disagree with this and I prefer my uber soft shoes lmao) and then switch very softer one for overhangs. I do the total opposite by bringing my softest, almost barefoot shoes for vert/slabs because we have a loooooot of non existent smeary/polished holds and I want to be 100% I feel them. And I switch to my stupid wooden planks Drone for overhangs to drive the maximum power possible through my feet. But you'll mostly see the locals/usuals and crushers with veeeery soft shoes since it's mostly smearing here. we almost never have to stand on tiny crystals like you do on granite :D
How does the rubber and fit compare to the madrock drone 2? im planning to buy the drone and i currently have a skwama cause of my wide feet and narrow heel
I have a narrow heel too and had been struggling to find a good heel cup. The rubber on the Drone 2 LV is extremely stiff. I climb mostly outdoors on granite where the feet are small. I'll often grab two different shoes so I can use the Drone for the heel/toe hook and a softer rubber for the small feet. I don't downsize in the Drone and they haven't stretched much since purchasing. They aren't quite as snug as the Skwama, but they are rigid and don't move around. There's a link to the Drone review vid above if you hadn't seen it. Does that kinda answer your question?
I have bought two pairs of La Sportiva Skwama and I absolutely love them. Incredibly fun shoe to climb on and after trying 100+ shoes and having bought approx 18, it's still my favorite all rounder but still performance shoes I have in my quiver. They are miles away compared to the Drone. Drone 2.0 LV, that I also have at a 98% perfect fit at my street shoe size (41 EU) is incredibly hard and stiff (but I'm a 55kg twink climber). The Skwama are imo one of the perfect middle ground of softness and stiffness, a "supportive" type of shoe if I can say so. I also wear very often the La Sportiva Solution Women and they're definitely stiffer than the Skwama. And on the total opposite, I wear also the Unparallel Souped UP which are uber soft shoes (Drago-tier soft). Comfort is absolutely not the case in the Drone 2.0 LV. I have them for 4 months now and they are still not breakin after 10~ sessions (indoor bouldering, indoor sport climbing and outdoor bouldering in Fontainebleau, my local crag). When I put them, I still have my toes that go a bit numb after 5ish minutes so they are really my special weapon on special occasion. I might be a psychopath but the feeling inside the shoe after just warming them a bit is still incredibly satisfying so coping with the pain is usually not too much of a problem (I don't wear them in Font during the winter because I genuinely fear about loosing a toe because of the cold and numbness lmao). When I was wearing them during the summer it was way better. I have "duck feet" which means very flat, quite wide in the front, egyptian/greek shaped, a bit bunnioned and an "alien heel" (it's how I like to call it). I still don't know if it's narrow or shallow or what, I just know I can fit properly very very little models on the market lmao. The Skwama can definetely work for the toe box but the heel will probably be a tiny bit loose. I made the huge mistake with my first pair to bought them -2 sizes hoping they'll stretch enough. Turns out after 10 months, they were still toe tight, I have few scars on my ankle and Achille because of the P3 tension band on the heel that hurt like a b*tch and I have also two scars on both of my 2nd toes because of how tight they were. I bought them again at -1.5 and it's just amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. should have done it in the beginning. the breakin process is waaaaay quicker, they doesn't hurt as much, incredibly fun to climb on and I can finally smear with them (skill ankle issue for this aspect but still important to notice). Hope this long review will help !
Hey amigos! Here's the link to the Mad Rock Drone 2 LV review I promised ➡ ua-cam.com/video/YpOb_A8Xoms/v-deo.html
Definitely can recommend, I've got flat feet, and always have been suffering in climbing shoes. My first pair was LS-Tarantula, but I've outgrew then within a couple months. Then I must have tried around 30 pairs (Red Chillies, Evolveo, Black Diamond, OCUN), but after researching on reddit for hours, I've tried the Skwama and stuck with it, I'm normally EUR-45, I have Skwama at EUR-44.5, and they're great, still a bit painful, but I bought -0.5 size for performance, then have a EUR-45 for long climbing sessions, very comfy. As a very wide and flat footed climber 100% recommend
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience! It's super helpful for other climbers to hear how shoes fit from one person to another.
I imagine part of my reason for downsizing so much being that my foot is narrow. I like your idea of having two pairs of the same climbing shoe model - one of performance and one for comfort. I'd never thought of that before!
@AlexTighe Big help was LaSportiva's graph, where they choose Performance x AllRound x Beginner and then wideness of feet.
For the fit on Evolveo box, there's 0 for optimal +0,5 for comfort, -0.5 for performance and like -1,5 for competition (which is crazy)
But gotta say, nothing beats going to a store and trying it out, everyone is different, for example Miura VS are supposed to be the widest from LS, but the Skwama for me were much wider and comfortable fit
@@Zisuen Here's a link to the graph for anyone interested:
www.lasportiva.com/en/climbing-shoes-technical-information
Quite funny that this video shows up since I've seen a few months ago your review of the Drone 2.0 LV and decided after many days of research to get them a shot and I'm loving them so far.
Skwamas are the shoes that actually make my progress sky rocketed since I was used to more stiffer shoes and poorly fitted too.
I have the same street shoe size as you (41 EU).
Shoe history quickly : Decathlon shoes +1.5, Ocun Fury/Nitro +1.5, Tenaya Mastia and Indalo -1.5, La Sportiva Skwama -2, Unparallel Souped UP street shoe size.
I have bought more shoes since then (I'm a big shoe nerd) but honestly switching to a softer shoe and quite agressive too was a big game changer.
I picked the wrong size, hoping the leather will stretch enough but it wasn't the case.
Even after 10 months of wearing quite often for everything I was doing (outdoor sport climbing in France, bouldering in Fontainebleau and indoor of the same), the shoe gave me scars on the ankle/achille, pain on the toes and make my bunnion way worse and also I still have scars on two toes.
I still liked the shoe but I bought a new pair few months ago at -1.5 and it fixed absolutely every flaws I had with the shoe.
It's genuinely one of the most fun and cool shoe I have and love to climb with them. Also, it's very personnal, but EVERY colors of these shoes (both vegan and leather and women/men) are dope and I love them all 😂
My tier list of favorite shoes are :
Unparallel Souped UP (a 100% perfect mold of my feet)
La Sportiva Skwama (but the heel is quite trash, I don't bring them outdoor anymore but for indoor it's good enough)
Mad Rock Drone 2.0 LV (fit 98% perfect, a tiiiiiny bit of air in the heel and the toebox is still incredibly stiff and hard so it's my special weapon).
My perfect franken-shoe will be the heel of the Drone 2.0 LV, the softness and toe patch of the Souped UP and the comfort of the Skwama
and for sport climbing, the same but with the middle stiffness of the Skwama 🔥
Haha...darned UA-cam algorithm worked its magic again 😅🪄
But I'm stoked you find my vids helpful! Glad to have you back and to hear that you're enjoying the Mad Rock Drones!
Absolutely agree that getting the wrong size can make a HUGE difference on one's opinion of the shoe. I've also noticed that the Drone, Skwama, and Otaki don't stretch too much even after extended use.
Interestingly, I have a buddy who just spent 5 weeks in Font using his only pair of climbing shoes - La Sportiva Solution Men's Model. He also had weird bunions appear on his toes even though it's a shoe he's been using for years. I only find myself using the Miura in Font. I imagine there's a reason lots of folks living in Paris are using Scarpa Drago or other extremely soft, pliable shoes!
@@AlexTighe Thanks for the answer, I appreciate it haha !
Yeah having just 0.5 diff on my Skwama was absolutely game changing, from scars/bleeding toes/achille pain for days etc to absolutely nothing at all was incredible 😭
Usually, Bleausard (locals from Font) like either very powerful edging shoes (like the Miuras) for the slabs and vertical boulders (I very much disagree with this and I prefer my uber soft shoes lmao) and then switch very softer one for overhangs. I do the total opposite by bringing my softest, almost barefoot shoes for vert/slabs because we have a loooooot of non existent smeary/polished holds and I want to be 100% I feel them. And I switch to my stupid wooden planks Drone for overhangs to drive the maximum power possible through my feet.
But you'll mostly see the locals/usuals and crushers with veeeery soft shoes since it's mostly smearing here. we almost never have to stand on tiny crystals like you do on granite :D
Well theyre comfy for me when theyre warm. But when they are cold they hurt soooo much on the top of my toes
@@beueuehebedududhdh try taking them off while you're resting and put them inside of your jacket/sweatshirt or under your armpits!
How does the rubber and fit compare to the madrock drone 2? im planning to buy the drone and i currently have a skwama cause of my wide feet and narrow heel
I have a narrow heel too and had been struggling to find a good heel cup. The rubber on the Drone 2 LV is extremely stiff. I climb mostly outdoors on granite where the feet are small. I'll often grab two different shoes so I can use the Drone for the heel/toe hook and a softer rubber for the small feet. I don't downsize in the Drone and they haven't stretched much since purchasing. They aren't quite as snug as the Skwama, but they are rigid and don't move around. There's a link to the Drone review vid above if you hadn't seen it. Does that kinda answer your question?
I have bought two pairs of La Sportiva Skwama and I absolutely love them. Incredibly fun shoe to climb on and after trying 100+ shoes and having bought approx 18, it's still my favorite all rounder but still performance shoes I have in my quiver.
They are miles away compared to the Drone. Drone 2.0 LV, that I also have at a 98% perfect fit at my street shoe size (41 EU) is incredibly hard and stiff (but I'm a 55kg twink climber).
The Skwama are imo one of the perfect middle ground of softness and stiffness, a "supportive" type of shoe if I can say so. I also wear very often the La Sportiva Solution Women and they're definitely stiffer than the Skwama. And on the total opposite, I wear also the Unparallel Souped UP which are uber soft shoes (Drago-tier soft).
Comfort is absolutely not the case in the Drone 2.0 LV. I have them for 4 months now and they are still not breakin after 10~ sessions (indoor bouldering, indoor sport climbing and outdoor bouldering in Fontainebleau, my local crag). When I put them, I still have my toes that go a bit numb after 5ish minutes so they are really my special weapon on special occasion. I might be a psychopath but the feeling inside the shoe after just warming them a bit is still incredibly satisfying so coping with the pain is usually not too much of a problem (I don't wear them in Font during the winter because I genuinely fear about loosing a toe because of the cold and numbness lmao). When I was wearing them during the summer it was way better.
I have "duck feet" which means very flat, quite wide in the front, egyptian/greek shaped, a bit bunnioned and an "alien heel" (it's how I like to call it). I still don't know if it's narrow or shallow or what, I just know I can fit properly very very little models on the market lmao.
The Skwama can definetely work for the toe box but the heel will probably be a tiny bit loose.
I made the huge mistake with my first pair to bought them -2 sizes hoping they'll stretch enough. Turns out after 10 months, they were still toe tight, I have few scars on my ankle and Achille because of the P3 tension band on the heel that hurt like a b*tch and I have also two scars on both of my 2nd toes because of how tight they were.
I bought them again at -1.5 and it's just amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. should have done it in the beginning. the breakin process is waaaaay quicker, they doesn't hurt as much, incredibly fun to climb on and I can finally smear with them (skill ankle issue for this aspect but still important to notice).
Hope this long review will help !