#1 – Take care of your shoes. Don’t leave them in a hot car, keep them away from a firepit… you know the drill.
#2 – Check your shoes frequently. Your shoes will need resoling once they lose their edge and before you start working on the rand. Rand rubber is very thin and wears quickly.
#3 – Replacing rands. A blown rand is sometimes obvious and sometimes not-so-obvious on climbing shoes. Occasionally a rand looks OK from the outside but has become thin and will blow open when our cobblers work on the shoes. When in doubt, they will replace your rand. Due to the construction of climbing shoe, soles must always be replaced to fix a rand.
#4 – Holes in the toes suck. We will patch holes, but there is an extra charge. Please refer to tip #2.
#5 – Resoled climbing shoes don’t shrink. Climbing shoes are resoled by first removing the layer of rubber under the ball of the foot, then gluing a new piece of rubber onto the bottom of the shoe. Heat is not used during this process so your shoes will not shrink. However, the shoes may feel a little tighter. Kind of like they were when you first bought them.
#6 – How many times can a climbing shoe be resoled? Climbing shoes can be resoled several times and is of course dependent on how you climb, where you climb, and how you take care of them. We encourage you to resole your shoes before your blow a rand. If you take care of your shoes and get them resoled before the rand needs to be replaced, you can typically squeak out at least another resole or two.
#7 – Smelly shoes. They are fact of life. Toxic shoes will be sprayed before letting the cobblers start work on them.
#8 – No Edge Technology? La Sportiva “No Edge Technology” climbing shoes can be resoled, but they will receive an edge until further notice.
#9 – When should I get my climbing shoes resoled? When the edges start to round, when your soles start to erode, and ideally before your blow a rand. We suggest having at least two pairs of shoes, so you always have a pair to play in while the other is getting resoled.
#10 – When should I replace my shoes? Climbing shoes will typically break down or stretch to the point that you will KNOW you need new shoes. At that time, come shop at Kumpfy Shoes!
