This shoe fits like a glove. Perfect for overhanging terrain with foot trickery when you don’t really need to edge these superlight slippers, the Five Ten Team VXi’s could be a great addition to your quiver if you’re looking to get an aggressive shoe.
Retail: $170.00 (Banner photo: when 5.10 introduced these at the Outdoor Retailer show they used this display to sell them, consider us curious…)
The Team VXi’s stand apart from your average aggressive shoe for a number of reasons. First we’ll get the gimmicky stuff out of the way: these shoes were originally designed when Mission Impossible Six was being filmed – the creators of the movie asked Charles Cole, the owner of Five Ten, if he could design a type of rubber that climbs glass, and this was what he came up with: the Mi6 rubber.
The other thing, which is much more useful to us who climb rock, and not glass, is that the shoe is super light: just over five ounces per shoe (5.10 ounces to be exact). Because of this it’s an easy decision to bring these as a second shoe when sport climbing, bouldering, or headed to the gym.
Back to the glove concept: I sized these to fit comfortably, like I do all my shoes, and I like the feel for these more than your average aggressive shoe. They are synthetic based, and not leather, like most climbing shoes, so they don’t stretch much as they get broken in. The rubber is super soft, some have said the softest rubber on the market.
While perfect for overhanging terrain, these shoes aren’t designed to edge really at all. Nor, are they worth much for crack climbing; I made the mistake of forgetting my crack climbing slippers one day at Indian Creek, and tried these on a small finger crack which was a bad decision. They could be decent for slabs, but I wouldn’t bother myself, the tight fit for this aggressive shoe would make it quite painful; if you have a penchant for masochism maybe they would work for you. Like I said, I personally air on the side of having my shoes be as comfortable as possible.
The Team VXi’s are priced on the higher side of the climbing shoe market. At $170 I’d only recommend these things to experienced climbers looking for the perfect shoe for your project; if I were relatively new to climbing I’d look at other aggressive shoes with a smaller price tag.
Bottom line: I love these unique shoes. Between the soft rubber, the lightweight nature and the tight, but forgiving fit, these are my go-to shoes for my sport and bouldering projects, especially when there’s plenty of required trickery.
-LM
The Five Ten Team VXi on backcountry.com
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