The Shiva was my very first pair of climbing shoes, and it proved to be an overall good beginner-intermediate shoe. My only problem was that it did not smear very well, and the thin rand wore out pretty fast. For the price, it's a good shoe, though.

These were my first climbing shoes. Used them on rock in Minnesota, Texas, Wyonming, etc. They had a rather poor fit, being very large in the heel and too deep. The rubber was mediocer and did not grip near as well as most shoes. These would be ok for beginners, but intermediate - advanced...keep looking.

These shoes were purchased in late march of 99'from REI-outlet for around $60. The UK 9.5 gave my size 11 foot a snug, but comfortable fit in the forefoot, but was baggy in the overly large heel. The shoes are lined, but the heel did stretch some making the large heel fit even worse. The lining was also a problem climbing in the heat; the shoes tended to soak up sweat, dried slowly and over time developed an interesting smell. These shoes did not do anythig great, but served pretty well on hard sandstone for moderate climbing of everything from faces to finger/hand cracks, and offwidths. They did not edge particularly well. The thin toe rand wore completely through in about 3-4 months of climbing 2 to 3 time a week. The rubber on these shoes gripped well when clean, but was slippery when dirty.

Similar Products Used:

LaSportiva mythos, 5.10 Spire