After 11 months of gym climbing about 3-4 days a week, I finally wore a hole in my beloved Masai. Instead of re-soling, I thought I'd try something more aggressive. I've owned and destroyed the TC Pro, the Futura, and the Masai. I've tried many brands, and based upon my narrow feet, elongated arch, and Morton's toe, the Masai fit the best. However, they are not very downturned (in fact, they're oddly upturned). I want the happy medium between the comfort of the Masai and the toehookability of the Futuras (which were my go-to shoe until I had my eyes opened to Tenaya by the best gearhead in the business, Emily Jenson). I tried the Oasi, Ra, and Tarifas. The heel cup on those models were a little too deep for my dainty Asian feet. The slingshot heel rubber pushed too close to my ankle bones. The Masai do not do this; for me, the Masai have the perfect heel cup – not too deep, no deadspace, and fits like a sock. Also, the neoprene on the Oasi and Tarifa bunched up annoyingly. I did not try the Tatanka. Fit: Fits greats out of the box. Heel cup is slightly deeper than the Masai, and the slingshot rubber around the heel is a bit higher. The cup bubbles a little off my heel when I completely flex my feet downward, but my feet don’t bend like that when I climb. Also, after climbing/sweating in them for a week, the shoe conforms much better, and the neoprene keeps the slingshot rubber from rubbing on my ankle bone. The sole perfectly conforms to my feet without feeling the toe numbness I suffered with high-performance La Sportiva shoes (e.g., Solutions, Futura, and Genius). The toe box is more asymmetrical than the Masai, causing my right big toe and Morton's toe to get real intimate, but my Futura used to force these toes in a more abusive relationship. Now, as long as I trim my nails, I won't need podiatry counseling. Also, if my toes feel cramped on the first fitting of the day, then a quick loosening and wiggle gets everything in the right spot. I end up wearing them through belays, which I didn't even do with my Masai or TC Pro! Draxtor: I love this system. Although it took me about 15 minutes to micro-adjust them, once I had them dialed in, each shoe felt custom-made. The infinite options should be good for anyone's feet, as long as they can fit the narrow last. The shoes wrap around my feet very well now. Last (but not least): it is narrow, but that works for me. It's also a little stiff given the one-piece rubber sole, but I also like that. I'm not used to soft, two-piece soles because I need a bit of support, hence my preference for these over the Oasi. When the Mundaka come out, I might try them, but I probably need more foot strength to work with a softer shoe. Parting thoughts: Iati work great for edging, smearing, stemming, and silent feet. Tenaya shoes are designed to comfortably drive leverage and power to your toes. The Iati did improve my toe and heel hooking because of the additional rubber. Even though they're not technically for crack climbing, they feel a bit better than the Masai because of the padding on top. The Iati are much much better than the Masai for edging, especially when using the outside toes. They also perform as you should expect from a higher performance shoe. I no longer cut feet on overhangs like with the Masai, and that's all due to the downturn. I'm also happy in gym off-widths. So while my Masai had a slightly better fit due to its lower volume, flat sole, and lacing, the aggressive shape and the ease of removal are what make the Iati my new go-to shoe for everything in the gym. I'm not sure how they'd perform on real rock, but I wouldn't have any qualms about trying them out. It's nice that I'd be able to focus on my climbing ability and not my shoes. Sizing: I wear 41 in street shoes, 8.0 in Adidas Sambas, 41 in Scarpa Crux approach shoes, 40.5 in TC Pros, 39.5 in Futuras, and 8.0/40¾ in Masai. For the Iati, I wear 7.5/40. I would have tried on the 7.0, but they weren't in stock.
Teddy Joe, backcountry.com
September 9, 2016