La Sportiva

TC Pro Climbing Shoe

Two versions of TC pros?

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

There seem to be two different versions of newer TC Pros, there are even two variants available at Backcountry right now, at two different prices. I believe the more expensive are the usual ones, and these fit differently. They are larger, more aggressive, heels are different, and overall not as good as the old ones. You can see at the picture I attach that their photos look different. Disappointing.

Comfortable

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

37

Comfortable, good fit. They're amazing in more ways then one. Wohoo!

My outdoor MP shoes

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

39

I can now understand why these are so popular for big MO climbs. Comfortable enough and great shoes. I bought a second pair so I have a reserve pair when I resole them. My street size is US 7 / 38 and I bought these in 39 since LS always runs smaller for me and the fit is great.

Great crack shoe

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

42

Offers solid protection. Fit is on par with my other la sportiva shoes

Defective product can't return

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

45.5

Received a defective pair from Backcountry. The left and right shoes have significant differences between them, and the pair is significantly larger than my last pair of TC pros of the same size. This last pair was the updated model as well. This should be a warranty issue but ultimately I am not going to pay to ship my shoes back after I already paid to have them shipped here. Quality control at Sportiva is clearly way down because this is beyond the subtle differences of leather stock used. Went and tried the same size on today at REI and they fit much better and were more similar to the last pair. The issue in my pair seems to stem from the heel being assembled poorly, there is almost no heel cup in this pair, my last pair had a much snugger fitting heel. Normally the heel flattens as shoes beat in as well since the slingshot is meant to stretch, these are already near vertical. Couldn't be more disappointed seeing as this is my 4th pair of TC pros and I am not really sure what I am going to do with them.

Sizing was off (label was right)

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Size Bought:

40.5

I have owned a pair of TC pros (same model) at 40.5. They fit really tight and snug, with no room at all at the toe. They were perfect. So I figured if it isn’t broken don’t fix it, so I ordered the same shoes in the same size. These shoes are loose and baggy compared to my other ones, and the heel cups have much less tension through the Achilles. They are comfortable, but also are very inconsistently sized compared with my old ones. Very disappointed. I love these shoes but unfortunately can’t trust sizing. Last time I buy shoes, even ones I thought I knew well, online without trying them on.

Whack

La Sportiva must have changed the sizing in between the pair I’ve got, first pair was 41.5 so I ordered the same size and now there’s dead space in toes and heel. Held the new shoes against the old just to make sure I wasn’t crazy and there’s over a 1/4 inch difference.

Crampons for Granite

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

43

Height:

5' 7"

While i cannot speak to the changes since version 1, which a lot of climbers complain about, i have enjoyed these so far. Hayden was right, these are crampons for granite! They stick to whatever you set your foot on and the stiffness in the toebox/toe takes all the strain off your toes. PROS: - Sticky Rubber - Stiff Flat Toebox - Mid-top protects ankles in cracks - Tommy's name on the box :) - smearing granite and stepping on tiny dimples never felt so good. -p3 heels are my favorite CONs: - Why is there a tongue that is easily folded over? i have to carefully put these on concentrating not to fold the tongue over. the tongue should be a full side to side to prevent this. being on a hanging belay trying to correctly put these on because the tongue is so easily bunched up (which would create pressure points is outrageous and i have no idea how testers did not complain about this. - Apparently the build quality is not as good as before but i've only put like 300m on these so far so i can't speak to that either. they're holding up okay. - For me, a person with wider feet, these feel a bit narrower than the skwarmas (42 in skwarmas are much wider than 43 in TCs). i blame tommy for having narrow feet.

what u expect

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Size Bought:

40.5

Height:

5' 7"

Weight:

130

I think performance wise, sportiva has this shoe pretty dialed. does everything people hype it up to. with that being said, the tongue on this model has consistently given me issues. the tongue feel not quite wide enough, so the edges roll pretty bad the closer to the toe, which makes sock less wearing pretty uncomfy. aside from that, this shoe is all it is cracked up to be.. literally

Second best gym shoe after Drago

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Size Bought:

10

Height:

5' 8"

Weight:

180

Got the pair for outdoor climbing and then shipped out all gym shoes to be resoled & this pair was the only one left at home. Was surprised about the grip and control you get with this shoe. So far climbed by hardest lead routes indoors in this pair of TC. Surprisingly close in performance to my Drago, which is much more aggressive and supposedly way stickier rubber. Smallest holds is not a problem for this shoes. Only one negative so far, the heal is bit looser than I wanted to be for heal hooks. Otherwise love it!