Five Ten Siren Review

With a recent color change, the actual design of the Siren has not changed. The older version was blue and white, and the new version comes in a shade called Merlot. This is a popular, comfortable shoe that is versatile enough for all-around climbing.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

The upper on the Siren is made up perforated mesh which allows them to breathe slightly better than most other climbing shoes that are made of leather. They are not very downturned, and the flatter fit is comfortable for longer wear.

Sensitivity and Edging

There is a little too much bulk in the toe of these shoes. On one hand, they are stiff and strong at edging, but on the other hand, the toe lacks sensation, which made them less precise than desired. We would rather have a more precise and sensitive toe like the feeling in the La Sportiva Katana - Women's or the Five Ten Anasazi LV - Women's.

The lack of sensitivity in the toe makes these shoes not the best at smearing. With Stealth XX rubber, they can still stick to a frictiony surface, but they don't feel as secure while doing so as some of the other shoes in this review.

Crack Climbing

The flat fit of these shoes allows them to fit comfortably into cracks and makes for pleasant foot jamming. Our only concern is that with frequent scuffing inside cracks, the upper may begin to shred prematurely.

Pockets

The Siren does not have any downturn to its shape, so it doesn't give you any extra power in the pockets. The bulky toe can still hold on to pockets decently well, but other shoes such as the La Sportiva Solution - Women's feel like they were made to latch into pockets.

Ease of Use

This shoe comes in the box with two kinds of laces: elastic power cord for a speed lace and regular laces. We tested the shoe with both options. We found the speed lace to be too long, so we trimmed them after threading them through the eyelets. This lace style does help the speed in putting on the shoes by a couple seconds, but then it felt like the shoe was never tight enough while climbing, it was always a bit too stretchy feeling. The regular laces feel much more secure even though they require a few extra seconds when putting them on. It is a clever feature to allow the option of different lacing systems when you buy these shoes, and allows for a more custom fit.

Best Applications

The Siren is a great all-around shoe for any kind of climbing. They are comfortable enough for standing around at the gym or wearing all day on a multi-pitch route, but they can be used on a day at the sport crag as well, though are not as aggressive as the La Sportiva Solution - Women's for the steep stuff.

Value

Other than our two Best Buy award contenders, which both ring in around $80, this is the next least expensive shoe. At $125 dollars, these shoes are on the lower end of the price spectrum, but anything over $100 seems like a big investment. These could be the perfect option for someone ready for higher performance shoe than you can get for $80, but who still isn't willing to shell out $150+ for a more aggressive model. We don't think the uppers on these shoes are incredibly durable, so they might not last as long as all-leather shoes like the La Sportiva Katana - Women's, which is the next closest alternative we would recommend.

Conclusion