How much climbers downsize, by shoe model

Every foot scan asks which climbing shoes you own and how you size them compared to your street shoe size. This is the data this article provides as insight. The table shows models with at least ten owner reports; switch it to five to see roughly twice as many models, with obviously a bit less evidence behind each. It is live either way, recomputing from the scan database on every page load, so a model's number moves as reports come in. Run a quick scan to help us grow the database.

1,246 sizing reports from 873 foot scans, across 224 models. Auto updated with every new scan.

How much should you size down climbing shoes?

• 73% of users size down, 17% take their street size and 10% size up.
• The median across every model is -1 EU from street size, but the model you pick moves that by 2.5 EU sizes, from the La Sportiva Ondra Comp at -2.5 to the Evolv Shaman at 0.

Brand patterns

Pooled over every model with 5 or more reports. Brands with only one such model are left out, since there a brand's median is just that shoe's.

• La Sportiva: -1.5 EU (392 reports across 28 models)
• Tenaya: -1.5 EU (49 reports across 5 models)
• Scarpa: -1 EU (337 reports across 20 models)
• Simond: -0.5 EU (27 reports across 4 models)
• Mad Rock: -0.5 EU (58 reports across 5 models)
• Unparallel: -0.5 EU (15 reports across 2 models)
• Evolv: 0 EU (29 reports across 4 models)
• Ocun: 0 EU (20 reports across 3 models)

Climbing shoes with sufficient fit feedback

Negative means size down. Medians land on whole or half sizes, because those are the sizes shoes are sold in. Offset from street size in EU sizes.

Method

Each report is one owner naming a shoe he currently climbs, the EU size they take in it and the EU street size they wear. The number plotted is worn size minus street size. 1,246 reports across 224 models survive filtering; at the ten-report bar, 34 models qualify and carry 686 of those reports. The size-down / same / size-up split above is per CLIMBER across all 873 scans, not per report: a climber who names three shoes counts once, on the median of their own reports. Reports more than 4 EU sizes from street size are dropped as street and climbing sizes entered the wrong way round. Repeat scans are merged: retakes and both-feet sessions count as 1 feedback. Shop links may earn us a commission at identical prices to you.

Questions

How much should you size down climbing shoes?

Most climbers size down, but there is no single number, because the model moves the answer further than any rule of thumb does. The table gives a median for each model and the histogram beside it shows how wide the range is within that model, which is the row to use rather than an average across all shoes.

Why does my shop recommend a different size?

Shops quote the manufacturer's guidance, which is one number for the model. This table reports what owners did, which spreads across a range because a comfort fit and a performance fit are different targets in the same shoe. The histogram beside each median shows that range.

Does a more downturned shoe need more downsizing?

Directionally, and less than the label suggests. Pooling the reports in the table by the shoe's downturn, only the aggressive group separates; flat, slight and moderate land on the same median. Which brand made the shoe moves the number further than how downturned it is.

My model is not in the table.

Two bars are offered. At 10 or more reports, the default, fewer models qualify but each row is worth comparing against the others; at 5 or more, roughly twice as many appear, each resting on less. Once your model reaches five fit reports it appears in the 5+ view.

Scan your feet for free. You get your foot measurements and tailored shoe recommendations based on your foot form and use case. As a bonus, you help us provide better fit and sizing advice. Scan your feet. More on fit from the same scan database: the best climbing shoes for narrow heels and narrow heels versus shallow heels.

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