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I'm fairly new to climbing, I've been climbing just over a year. This is my first pair of shoes. I've worn the soles down, and wondering whether this kind of wear can be repaired or not, or if I should just buy new ones. I guess I tend to drag my foot along the wall a lot, but I wound up wearing down the rubber on the inside of my toes, and the rigid inner sole is exposed.

They are a 90$ pair of Scarpa Origins. Been used for about 15 months. I climb about 6 hours of bouldering a week at my local climbing gym.

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I read this article, and give both some good pros and cons of resoling or not, but I don't have any experience yet to make an informed decision off of, being my first pair.

One of my climbing buddies told me about resoleing when I showed him. Another guy I asked at the gym said "Nah, just buy a new pair, cuz chances are something else will go soon too." Just looking to see what everyone else has to say.

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  • how does the rest of the shoe looks like? Does it look like something else is going to give?
    – njzk2
    Jan 17, 2018 at 6:14
  • @njzk2 The uppers actually look fine; and the velcro is all still tight. There are probably a number of spots on the soles though that are ready for redoing, though none all the way through like this one spot. Probably going to go the "buy new, then resole these as backups" route.
    – eidylon
    Jan 18, 2018 at 22:56

2 Answers 2

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Shoes can be resoled from a worse state.

My current shoes have been resoled from a similiar state three times. The first time they worked even better than new (the rubber was better).

It all depends on the price you can get versus you'd like to pay for a new pair. Here a complete resole is around 1/3 to 1/4 the price of a new pair of shoes (if you don't buy the most expensive shoes)

Edit: here is a nice breakdown how it's done.

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  • I think this is the most helpful. I will get a new pair probably, and then get these ones resoled just for the experience and to have a backup pair around.
    – eidylon
    Jan 22, 2018 at 5:59
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    Many climbers own two or three pairs after a while. Some for longer outdoorsy days, some only for the gym etc.
    – knitti
    Jan 22, 2018 at 8:09
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These shoes are pretty far gone. At the very least you'll need a new toe rand in addition to the resole, which is going to cost you a significant portion of the price of a new shoe. Your shoes may even be too far gone for any repair at all.

Treat this as an opportunity: it's unlikely your first pair of shoes fit exactly right. Now, you know much more about what you liked and disliked about your shoes. Take this chance to try on a lot of new models, and pick out a shoe that you like even more.

Next time, get your shoes resoled before they show signs of wear on the rand. Here are some images showing the signs of needing a rand repair. Resoling shoes is great, but rand repair is costly and lowers the lifetime of your shoes. I generally get 3-5 resoles out of my shoes before retiring them.

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    Yes. +1. OTOH, it would also be a good opportunity to check out the local resoling providers, ask them what they can and can't do. Plus you'd get to keep a pair of shoes for emergencies.
    – Roflo
    Jan 17, 2018 at 15:35
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    @Roflo yeah, that's kind of how I'm leaning based on the answers, and the included websites. Order a new pair, then get these resoled just as a learning experiment. They probably will need the toe work too, looking at them a little more closely. That way I have an emergency pair, and learn the ropes a little.
    – eidylon
    Jan 18, 2018 at 22:54
  • Unfortunately for me, I can't really find good fits too easily, as I wear size 48, which no one really seems to carry in stock. Though to be honest, I am pretty happy with how these wound up fitting. Snug and very supportive, and don't float at all on my feet, but also not so tight as to be brutally painful. lol.
    – eidylon
    Jan 18, 2018 at 22:55

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