How do I know when it's time to replace my climbing shoes?

Question

I've been climbing off and on for about 3 years now, but only started going regularly in the last 6 months. I've had the same pair of shoes for about 2 years now. My brother recently pointed out that the toes of my shoes are starting to get seriously worn down. The seams haven't popped yet, but there is a noticeable lack of a clean edge to my shoes compared to a new pair. I feel like this may be affecting my climbing ability, but I have no real way to tell without buying another pair of shoes, going through the process of breaking them in, comparing how I climb in each, and that takes a good bit of time and money.

Is there any way to definitively tell when it's time to replace a pair of shoes that aren't obviously completely destroyed already?

Answer 1

Generally speaking, newer shoes are going to be better and more effective and yet as you well know that costs money. So what it really comes down is a cost/benefit analysis that's going to be up to the individual.

If it gets to a point where you are slipping and the shoes are falling apart at the seams then it becomes a safety issue, short of that its just a matter of whether you want to spend the money. There are non-profits I know of that haven't replaced their climbing shoes since the early 90s (while newer shoes would work better, the old ones are still effective).

The other thing to look into is just getting the soles redone, this should be cheaper and bring the rubber back to a sticky state.

Answer 2

Whether a rounded edge is a problem strongly depends on your climbing level. In my experience, for normal people this is not much of an issue as footholds are big enough to step even with a rounded edge, especially on plastic. Adam Ondra on the other side stated in this weeks video that he used 7 pairs of shoes on the dawn wall as holds are so small.

I personally watch my shoes and resole them in case of strong wearout at the tip to the point that the rubber is just down and a (very small) hole starts to appear in your tip (in one of the shoes). As a beginner this was the only sign that a shoe has done its duty. The wearout at the tips is mostly caused by scratching along the wall before hitting the foothold. Thus a good footwork can help to lengthen the life of your shoes.