La Sportiva

La Sportiva Tarantula vs Tarantulace

February 24, 2020 by Umut Can Celik

Sometimes, choosing a new climbing shoe can be indecisive, especially for beginners. When you see these two shoes (almost the same name) in the climbing shoe market where there’s a wide variety of brands and models, the first question that comes to mind is what’s different between Tarantula vs Tarantulace?

Firstly, it’s mentioned here in La Sportiva’s own comparison chart that it looks like there’s no difference between these shoes’ technical features. BUT there’s no such thing.

The first difference that we see when we look at their name is ‘’ace’’ which comes from the lacing system.

This allows us to compare the first noticeable distinction between them, and we can briefly summarize as follows;

Tarantula has a velcro while Tarantulace has a lace system which really helps to get the better fit.

It’s easy to take off and put on with velcro because of that Tarantula is a little bit more comfortable than Tarantulace.

You can also see this in La Sportiva’s visual climbing shoe guide.

If you’re looking for a more characteristic feature, you’re at the right place.

Let’s go!

Overview

Comfort and Fit

Both of them is an entry-level climbing shoe. They’re both really comfortable shoes for newbies.

They’re not aggressive shoes. They’re the flattest models in their line but Tarantula is one step ahead as it’s easier to take off and put on.

Both of them have the unlined upper which is designed for moisture management and it provides us to comfort our feet all day.

Also, the other thing is featured by both of them have a low asymmetrical shape of toe box which allows to toe area a lot rounder and comfy.

Outsole

They’ve 5 mm of FriXion RS rubber which is thicker and it provides more durable rubber but also thicker rubber decreases sensitivity.

FriXion RS is a technology that is designed and built from a variety of compounds and made of sticky rubber for maximum performance.

Having a sticky rubber allows us to do a better grip and smearing. Y’all might wonder, what’s with smearing?

Firstly, smearing is an essential climbing technique that is about pressing the sole of your climbing shoe directly to the rock or plastic (if you’re bouldering) and using your climbing shoes’ friction feature to stand on the stone. If you want more detail, you can watch this.

The outsole has a significant job to do when you smear. Because of this, we can understand how important is sticky rubber we have.

These two are perfect shoes for beginner climbers. At the beginning of climbing, your foot will often slip when you’re trying to learn climbing techniques. You’ll fail, fall down but you’ll try again and again.

These shoes help you to grip and smear easily at the beginning of your climbing journey with their sticky rubber.

Toe Box

Both shoes have the same toe box design which is The RN45 shoe shape is great and gives us to more comfortable using and performance without hurting our toes. It’s a great opportunity for beginner level climbers to climb more without complaining about pain.

The low asymmetry in which both shoes have provides our toe area to be able to have a more comfortable space which is also a great benefit for entry-level climbers.

Heel

Both shoes are versatile shoes, but they DON’T offer us an incredible performance from the start. The heel has a mediocre performance like other features of these shoes. But it won’t let us down.

The heel has plenty of rubber which providing a good grip.

As we talked before, these shoes are quite comfortable and also versatile. These two features make him sacrifice from a few features like a heel hook. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t do heel hook with these shoes. It’s obviously possible to do heel hooks with these shoes.

Just don’t expect too much.

Breathability

Protecting our foot health is one of the important factors to make progress in this sport. One of the ways to protect our foot health is the breathability of our climbing shoes.

During long climbing seasons, the breathability of the shoes helps us to protect our foot keep moisture out and away from the inside of the shoes. Because of the tongue of these products the upper part has a lining.

Few users said it was overheating, although these shoes didn’t have high breathability.

Durability

The most important materials that determine the durability of climbing shoes are rubber and the upper part materials. These two shoes have one of the quite durable you can get when starting this sport in the climbing shoe market.

Waiting for a very long use according to their prices would be a bit of a positive consideration if we consider how much the climbing shoes can wear off during climbing seasons.

Despite their price, the rubber structure is made of La Sportiva’s FriXion RS material which is a long-lasting material, and the upper part is made of both leather and synthetic that provides to shoes more durable and also weather-proof feature.

Closure Systems

As I mentioned before, the main difference between them is the closure system. The biggest benefit of the Lacing system is that it does a better job of protecting our feet.

The result we get from here seems to make more sense to choose the velcro version when bouldering – but choosing the lacing system is better if you’re going to crack climbing.

Performance

Edging

Tarantula and Tarantulace are no edging beast. Both shoes have 5 mm of FriXion Rs rubber and a 1.8 mm LaspoFlex midsole that is creating medium stiffness which gives us below-average edging performance.

Crack Climbing

For those who are new to climbing, to briefly define crack climbing;

It’s a type of rock climbing that climbers climb by following the crack in the rock using certain climbing techniques. While these cracks are sometimes wide enough to fit our entire body, sometimes they’re not so wide that even our fingers hardly fit in.

Preferred shoes for crack climbing usually have a lacing system because the risk of this velcro system coming off due to pressure is eliminated.

Both shoes aren’t the best shoe for crack climbing but both of them is well in cracks but I would recommend Tarantulace for the reason of having a lacing system.

Pockets

These shoes’ toes are round and have a flat sole that decreases our ability to pull with our feet on overhanging terrain. Not much to say, these shoes are not my favorite shoe for pockets.

The Verdict

Here we are, The Verdict…

Let’s remember to important parts;

Both shoes are comfortable, but Tarantula is more.

They have the same rubber material which offers us to better grip.

First of all, I WOULDN’T RECOMMEND these shoes to climbers who are searching for PERFORMANCE.

They’re both quite well shoes for entry-level climbers. They offer comfort, they can smear, good grip…

Don’t hesitate to try both shoes if you’re a newbie.

La Sportiva Finale vs Tarantulace

December 29, 2019 by Umut Can Celik

Both La Sportiva Finale and Tarantulace are designed to correspond to anyone from beginner to intermediate level, and are likely to be great picks if you’re one of them – but I WOULDN’T recommend either of them to any advanced AND competitive climber.

In summary; if you’re a complete newbie or aren’t planning to get serious about climbing, then go for the Tarantulace. Otherwise, get the Finale.

This is also stated by La Sportiva themselves here in their visual climbing shoe guide.

All the differences between these two shoes can be simplified as follows:

Finale offers superior edging performance, more durability and fits tighter
Tarantulace offers better grip (and hence smearing) and is more comfortable

You can see this here in La Sportiva’s own comparison chart.

Overview

TOE BOX

I can definitely say that one of the most important parts of the climbing shoe is Toe Box. The toe box contains our toes which give us to do the footwork. Knowing the toe box is important to developing proper footwork.

As you can see in the figure below, the toe box consists of three parts. In short, if we talk about these three parts:

Front: As you can tell from the name, the front of the toe box is called a front. It provides us to do some footwork which is called frontstepping. It is the most basic move.
Inside Edge: When you place the inner edge of your toe box on a foothold, it is called instepping. The inner edge of the toe box is a little bit straighter than the front part. One of the efficient ways the increase of shoe contact with the surface is instepping. It also provides us to decrease our chances of slipping off.
Outside Edge: Using the outer edge of the toe box on a foothold is called backstepping. Backstepping uses our three smaller toes when instepping uses the side of our big toe. As you can see on the photo of the climbing shoe below, the outer edge of the toe box is a little bit more curved than the inner edge which causes to make backstepping less stable than instepping.

The other thing that we have to mention is asymmetry. The asymmetrical design is used to push the toes forward, especially the big toe. It provides our toes to generate extra power on smaller footholds that means we can stand on a smaller edge and push ourselves up easily.

If we evaluate the shoes according to asymmetry, here it is;

Tarantulace has a low asymmetry toe box which allows to toe area a lot rounder and comfortable.
Finale has a medium asymmetry toe box which is less round and uncomfortable than Tarantulace but better than overhanging routes.

HEEL

Tarantulace has the two pull straps which give us to allow easily to fit the and deeper in the shoe. Tarantulace isn’t an aggressive shoe. It’s designed for beginner climbers and that design made to the heel fits comfortably. This doesn’t mean slip inside the shoe either. Also having a lot of rubber on the heel provide a solid grip.

On the other hand, Finale doesn’t have a two pull strap but the heel strap tension has been enhanced to comfort which is good for beginner climbers. Similar to Tarantulace, Finale also has a lot of rubber on the heel.

Tarantulace loses some point in performance because of comfort. Comfort takes a few things. The few things you can’t get as much efficiency as Finale. Like heel hook. The heel hook is one of the fundamental climbing techniques. You can watch the video, how to do a proper heel hook.

Finally, it’s possible to do heel hooks with Tarantulace. Just, don’t expect a good heel hook like Finale.

COMFORT

Climbing shoes don’t offer as much comfort as street shoes because of the nature of climbing shoes. First, it’ll hurt even if you buy the most comfortable climbing shoes in the world. So, the first thing climbers look at a climbing shoe isn’t the comfort. Of course, climbers don’t completely ignore comfort. Especially, beginner climbers to intermediate climbers.

Both shoes offer comfort and it’s a great opportunity for beginners to intermediate climbers to climb more and improve themselves. You know the best way to improve is to climb more and more and as I said these shoes give you the chance to climb longer.

Tarantulace is one of the most comfortable climbing shoes for beginner to intermediate level climbers. But, Why?

The upper part of both shoes is made of unlined leather which provides a better tightness and comfort to the shoes’ precious fit. Both have lace-up closure and this allows us to adjust how the shoe will fit on our feet. Of course, the lace closure system isn’t a system that everyone would prefer. It needs a little bit of effort to take off and on according to velcro.

So far now, both shoes offer similar features for comfort. What’s the exact difference between Tarantulace and Finale?

We have to look at more specific features to decide which one is more comfortable.

Tarantulace is the flattest models in its line. Finale isn’t an aggressive shoe but a little bit downturned and it gives us an uncomfortable feeling. That’s the main feature why Tarantulace is more comfortable.

As a result, during the long climbing sessions, the climbing shoes will be on our feet and in these conditions, it’s a great benefit for us to make the climbing shoes give us a comfortable feeling as much as possible.

BREATHABILITY

An unquestionable fact that our feet have a significant value while we’re climbing. So, breathable climbing shoes are the key to our foot healthy.

Usually climbing shoes are taken off after climbing so that the feet can rest, sometimes we could dive into another challenging route and again and again without taking shoes off. Sometimes we don’t even wanna take it off, especially if we’ve got shoes like Finale and even more comfortable Tarantulace…

In climbing shoes, the top of the shoe is an important factor in breathability. The material used and the design of the upper ensure breathability and prevent overheating.

So, What about La Sportiva Finale and Tarantulace?

I can say right now that Finale’s breathability is better than Tarantulace, but why?

The upper material of both is unlined leather but Tarantulace also has synthetic overlays. OKAY… It sounds like Tarantulace got something, right?

BUT… What if I tell you guys, Finale has a surprise… THE CENTRAL PERFORATED PANEL. That panel has been enhanced to provide better breathability and guys, that’s the key part for why finale is better breathability.

Also, THE TONGUE. Yes, Finale’s perforated tongue has lined absorbent material that provides the moisture can get out of the shoe easily.

Wait… That’s not over. It doesn’t mean that Tarantulace’s breathability is dud. The lined of tongue keeps moisture away.

Many users said that their feet didn’t overheat, while a very small part was saying that their feet are overheated, perhaps that little part of users didn’t wanna take their climbing shoes off because they found very comfortable.

DURABILITY

Climbing shoes are among the climbing types of equipment that are prone to wear due to conditions of use. Of course, I’d like it to go like a chalk bag for a long time but unfortunately, the conditions don’t allow.

Material… Material… Yeah, that’s what we’re going to investigate for both shoes.

We’ve already known that Tarantulace’s upper is an unlined leather with synthetic overlay and Finale’s upper is an unlined leather. The leather provides durability to the shoes and gives waterproofness. BUT, synthetic overlay… It gives leather some reinforcement and creates a more stable upper. Okay, one point to Tarantulace…

Another part that provides durability is our unique friend Outsole which is frequently subjected to impacts, pressures, smearing, edging, and etc. You’re the man outsole, really I appreciate it to you. You have a really hard job.

The outsole of both shoes is made of different technology. Tarantulace’s outsole is made of Sportiva’s FriXion RS rubber which gives you A SOLID STICKINESS and OPTIMUM DURABILITY. Finale’s outsole is made of The Vibram XS Edge rubber which gives you AN EXCELLENT GRIP and BETTER DURABILITY than Tarantulace has.

OUTSOLE

We’ve talked about a little bit of our unique friend outsole in the previous chapter. Now, we’re gonna dive into deeper, more technical things about the outsole.

What we’ve got is Tarantulace with very sticky FriXion RS rubber which is 5 mm thick, on the other side is Finale with edging beast The Vibram XS Edge which is 5 mm thick…

FriXion RS is a technology that is designed and built from a variety of compounds and made of sticky rubber for maximum performance. Having a sticky rubber gives us to better grip and smearing. The stiffness of the outsole is adequate for supportive to climb better precision.

The Vibram XS Edge is designed for edging and durability. But, What’s edging for who don’t know is basically sometimes a foothold is small and your climbing shoe doesn’t fit on it. What we have to do is using our big toe area of our climbing shoes to steady ourselves or power to next move with the big toe and you’re edging.

Another technology Finale has is P3 Permanent Power Platform. What is P3 Permanent Power Platform offering us is helping to provide power to the sole. It’s about the randing system which maintains the shape of the shoes’ ( as I’ve mentioned Finale’s down-turned shape). The randing system provides to the shoe to be more aggressive and which allows for better performance.

STABILITY

Both shoes have the same closure system which is lace closure. This gives the shoe stability and allows the fit to be customized. The lacing system isn’t as quick as the velcro closure system but thanks to the lacing system help us to provide a snug fit which is an important issue.

When I said the same closure system I was talking about lace. The difference between the lacing system of Tarantulace and Finale is Tarantulace has a quick pull lacing system which means you can wear Tarantulace faster than Finale.

Also, Finale’s heel strap tension has been reduced to enhance comfort which gives us stability during the climbing sessions. Good boy Finale, one point to Finale.

THE VERDICT

Both shoes are made an ideal model for beginner level to intermediate level for outdoor and indoor climbing.

Both of them have some advantages and disadvantages. These models are snug-fitting, comfortable and also easy to put on.

Searchin for ideal climbing shoes for our feet is quite rough.

First, you need to decide what you wanna from climbing shoes. Comfort? Yes, Tarantulace is the best comfortable shoe within this versus. Performance? Finale is definitely more all-round shoe.

What about style? Both shoes are one of a kind in their family.

I know, making a decision is hard. My recommendation is to start with La Sportiva Tarantulace if you are new to climbing but if you already are doing climbing a while, try La Sportiva Finale.

Just climb as much as you can and the challenges on this journey won’t scare you.