My 40$ climbing shoes finally gave out on me. They lasted for my first year of climbing but it was time for an upgrade, and I choose a beautiful pair of Scarpa Helixes.
I chose them because they weren't too aggressive and weren't too expensive at 120$ from MEC. My friend, a seasoned climber, told me they would force me to have good footwork. They lack any curvature in the sole and asymmetry in the toes that better climbers use and inferior climbers (like me) would rely on too much.
Cons:
These are not performance shoes. They don't make me feel like a monkey scampering up the wall, but I've come to understand no shoes will. That being said, for low-performance shoes the rubber wears away very quickly. The soles of the Helix are 1.5mm thinner than almost every other shoe available.
Yet the Helix is Scarpa's most popular shoe. At all three climbing gym I've been to on Vancouver Island, about 8% percent of people had the same shoes as me. Also, their beautiful blue suede was quickly marred by chalk and dirty.
Pros:
Scarpa Helixes are sexy shoes, and they fit like a glove on my wide feet. I was prepared for the laces to be a pain in the ass compared to velcro but I haven't thought about it since I bought them. The shoes fit wonderfully without much extra tightening, and I don't need to take them off for an hour and a half.
Conclusion:
I didn't need performance, but I wanted style. I find Helixes to be comfortable and classy climbing shoes.
