REASONS TO BUY
Fair price
Comfortable neutral sole
Time-tested design
Convenient velcro closure
REASONS TO AVOID
Broadly lackluster performance
Imprecise fit
Design beginning to feel dated
Five Ten NIAD VCS Review
Earlier versions of these shoes were popular for decades but recently they have begun to feel out-of-date
Credit: Five Ten
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Our Verdict
The NIAD VCS is an updated version of Five Ten's extraordinarily successful Anasazi VCS. That shoe was first released in 1992 and went on to be used to dispatch some of the world's hardest climbs in the 1990s and 2000s. With a couple of subtle upgrades, the NIAD VCS hopes to carry that legacy into the future. Unfortunately, our testers found its performance to be disappointing compared to many of today's best high-tech designs. From edging to cracks and steep terrain, we observed consistently lackluster results that left us feeling that time may have finally passed this shoe by. Long-time fans of the Anasazi VCS will likely be happy with the new NIAD VCS, but anyone seeking a new performance climbing shoe is probably better off with a more modern design.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Five Ten NIAD VCS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Value for a Trad Shoe | Best Value for a Well-Rounded Climbing Shoe | Best for Beginners and Tight Budgets | ||
| Price | $150.00 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $148.95 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $159.95 at REI Compare at 3 sellers | $129.00 at REI Compare at 4 sellers | $89.00 at REI Compare at 3 sellers |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | A stalwart shoe of the last few decades that now feels like it's getting behind the times | A solid shoe for many situations and rock types | A simple shoe with solid performance for trad climbing | A bargain price for a climbing shoe with respectable performance | A great deal for an adequate climbing shoe |
| Rating Categories | Five Ten NIAD VCS | Scarpa Instinct Lace | Black Diamond Aspect | La Sportiva Finale | La Sportiva Tarantu... |
| Comfort (20%) | |||||
| Smearing (20%) | |||||
| Edging (20%) | |||||
| Pulling (20%) | |||||
| Cracks (20%) | |||||
| Specs | Five Ten NIAD VCS | Scarpa Instinct Lace | Black Diamond Aspect | La Sportiva Finale | La Sportiva Tarantu... |
| Style | Velcro | Lace | Lace | Lace | Lace |
| Upper | Lyliane Microfiber | Leather | Leather | Eco Leather / Microfiber | Leather / Synthetic |
| Width Options | Regular | Regular | Regular | Regular | Regular |
| Lining | Unlined | None | Hemp | Unlined | None |
| Rubber Type | Stealth C4 Rubber | Vibram XS Edge | NeoFriction Force | Vibram XS Edge | FriXion RS |
| Rubber Thickness | 3.5 mm | 3.5 mm | 4.3 mm | 5 mm | 5 mm |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
The “NIAD” in Five Ten NIAD VCS stands for “Nose In A Day” which is a reference to a sub-24-hour ascent of the famous Nose route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. That benchmark serves as a goal for many experienced wall climbers because it demands speed, endurance, and crack climbing competency. Unfortunately, the NIAD VCS seems ill-suited for this purpose because its velcro buckles make foot jamming rather painful. It's still a nice shoe, but we think it's more suitable for sport cragging and bouldering than wall climbing.
Performance Comparison
The Five Ten NIAD VCS seems to be better suited for sport cragging and bouldering rather the climbing the “Nose In A Day” like it's named after.
Credit: Jack Cramer
Edging
The NIAD VCS is fitted with 3.5 millimeters of Five Ten Stealth C4 Rubber. This thickness is a little below average for a climbing shoe so you can expect the rubber to wear down a little faster than usual. The sole is moderately stiff which provides likewise moderate support while edging. Our testers struggled, however, to dial in a precise fit with the two-buckle velcro closure. This left resulted in a small amount of foot slippage inside the shoe which reduced edging performance. Overall we think its ability to edge is below average.
We consider the neutral sole on the Five Ten NIAD VCS to be moderately stiff. Most of the flex occurs in the mid-foot. The forefoot is considerably stiffer.
Credit: Jack Cramer
Crack Climbing
The Nose route that the NIAD VCS is named after features a couple of thousand feet of crack climbing. You might therefore expect the NIAD VCS to be a cracking climbing powerhouse. It's not. The toe box is broad and tall which makes it difficult to get much rubber inside thin cracks. At the same time, the velcro buckles create painful pressure points when foot jamming in wider cracks. These issues are not uncommon among shoes designed for bouldering and sport climbing. The weird thing is that shoes designed for those purposes usually aren't named after famous crack climbs.
We generally prefer jamming cracks in lace-up shoes rather than Velcro shoes, like the Five Ten NIAD VCS, because the Velcro buckles can create painful pressure points.
Credit: Jack Cramer
Steep Terrain
Overhanging terrain is one of the areas where the Five Ten NIAD VCS scored a little better. Our testers appreciated the swatch of rubber across the top of the toe box for enhancing comfort and grip while toe hooking. They also preferred the redesigned heel cup from the old Anasazi VCS which seems to leave less dead space and improve sensitivity while heel hooking. Still, the neutral sole remains less effective for pulling your lower body into the wall compared to aggressive downturn designs found on many shoes that are optimized entirely for steep terrain.
The NIAD VCS heel cup fits tight and supplies decent sensitivity for heel hooking on steep terrain.
Credit: Jack Cramer
Sensitivity
We would usually expect a shoe with moderate stiffness and thin rubber to be pretty sensitive. Unfortunately, the Five Ten NIAD VCS disappointed again by providing mediocre sensitivity. Our testers struggled to feel small edges and rock features through the toe and forefoot. This lack of sensation made it more difficult to trust our feet and relax our arms.
The toe box is rather broad which can make sneaking rubber inside tiny pockets more difficult.
Credit: Jack Cramer
Comfort
Another performance area where the NIAD VCS scored better was comfort. The neutral sole allows your toes and feet to lay flat in a relaxed natural position. The velcro closure also makes putting the shoes on less of a chore, as long as they're sized appropriately. However, the velcro buckles create pressure points while foot jamming, and the moderate stiffness of the sole provides only moderate support and this seemed to increase foot fatigue on sustained pitches or long multi-pitch routes.
The velcro closure system makes it more convenient to take these shoes on and off. That's one reason why we think they're best suited for bouldering and gym climbing.
Credit: Jack Cramer
Value
At full retail price, the Five Ten NIAD VCS costs a little less than the most expensive climbing shoes. This might save you some money but we do believe that it offers substantially lower performance so we don't consider it a particularly great value. However, there are frequent sales on Five Ten shoes. If you can find this model at a decent discount it could become a good value.
The neutral sole and velcro closure make the NIAD VCS ideal for sport cragging on rock that's near-vertical, such as this popular climb in the Owen's River Gorge, CA.
Credit: Jack Cramer
Conclusion
The Five Ten Anasazi VCS was a top-of-the-line climbing shoe for decades. With the NIAD VCS, Five Ten chose to rename the shoe while continuing to offer a model with the same time-tested design. History has proven that this shoe is capable of hard climbing. However, we believe that many modern improvements have allowed other designs to catch up and surpass the NIAD VCS when it comes to top-end performance.
—
Jack Cramer
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