La Sportiva Tarantulace Review

La Sportiva offers a few different bargain shoe options. The cousin of the Tarantulace is the velcro La Sportiva Tarantulace that we've tested in the past. Our testers confirmed that the lace-up closure does a better job securing our feet inside the shoe. However, the velcro version is still a worthy option for bouldering or with anyone that prefers a quick, convenient closure.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

The Tarantulace is made primarily from unlined leather. Although there is a small amount of black synthetic fabric on the lacing system, it doesn't inhibit the orange and black leather from stretching and molding to your feet. This malleability greatly improves the shoe's comfort compared to hemp-lined or entirely synthetic shoes. Be careful, however, because the stretchiness can make sizing this shoe tricky. Our lead tester wears a size 44.5 street shoe but a size 43.0 Tarantulace. Initially, he found that the Tarantulace fit uncomfortably tight, but after a few sessions and a little sweat, the leather stretched out a half to a full size.

Also enhancing the comfort is the unaggressive design, with a flat sole that allows your foot to lay flat. Beginners, in particular, are likely to appreciate this flat sole until their feet strengthen enough to be constantly curled inside aggressive performance shoes. The only knock against the comfort of the Tarantualace is its soft-ish midsole that creates more fatigue if you're forced to stand on small holds for long periods of time.

Smearing

Even though this shoe's midsole isn't particularly stiff, our testers lament that it also feels insensitive. The most likely explanation is because the Tarantulace is made with 5 mm of rubber. For comparison, the average in our climbing shoe review is fitted with 3.9 mm. That means there's 28% more material between your toes and the rock than with an average shoe, not to mention the most sensitive models that usually feature 3mm or less. However, the extra rubber improves durability, which is probably a good tradeoff for a bargain shoe aimed towards beginners.

Despite the insensitivity of this shoe, it does have admirable smearing capabilities due to its softer flex and flat shape. It's not going to be your shoe for climbing technical smearing test pieces, but it is great for moderate slab climbing and using larger holds in the gym.

Edging

The La Sportiva Tarantulace is fitted with 5 mm of FriXion RS rubber and a 1.8 mm LaspoFlex midsole. These combine to create a shoe with medium stiffness and below-average edging performance.

In our tests, the FriXion RS rubber didn't feel as grippy as the Vibram XS rubber found on La Sportiva's more premium models. The Tarantulace feels a little better on small edges than other inexpensive designs that use velcro straps because you can crank the laces tight to reduce lateral play within the shoe. If an intricate sequence forces you to stand around on small edges for a long period of time, expect to feel significant foot fatigue — the medium-stiff sole simply doesn't provide the same support as you would get from a stiffer shoe.

Pulling

This isn't our favorite shoe for pockets or steeps. One of the bigger problems is the flat sole that diminishes your ability to pull with your feet on overhanging terrain. Another issue is the profile of the toe. Although it's pretty narrow in the vertical direction, it's wide horizontally, which makes it harder to squeeze it inside tiny pockets.

Fortunately, the Tarantulace is designed and priced for beginners, and beginner routes usually don't feature tiny pockets. If you do encounter some pockets on moderate, less than vertical terrain, we're confident this shoe will be up to the task. But if you're headed to an overhanging limestone paradise, you'd be better off with a pointier, downturned model.

Crack Climbing

This shoe's low-profile toe allows you to fit more rubber and material into thin cracks. It's also designed to let your foot lay flat, which prevents your toes from uncomfortably bunching together. That means the Tarantulace should feel better while resting on foot jams than more aggressive shoes with a sharp downturn.

We also prefer lace-up closures over velcro straps for crack climbing because it avoids any pressure points from velcro strap buckles. Nevertheless, the Tarantulace doesn't offer the same amount of padding or precision as a specialty crack climbing shoe. The bottom-most laces are left exposed and unprotected, so expect to wear through them quickly if you climb cracks frequently on gritty rock.

Should You Buy the La Sportiva Tarantulace?

Despite all the new technologies flooding the climbing shoe world, sometimes you just want a simple, inexpensive shoe. The La Sportiva Tarantulace is exactly that. For less than half the price of a high-end shoe, you get a quality-made Italian shoe fitted with sticky rubber that would make the Stone Masters of a bygone era madly jealous. Sure, better shoes do exist, but for plenty of folks, the performance benefits of a top-scoring shoe won't be worth the added costs. The affordably priced Tarantulace performs reasonably well in all areas while providing above-average durability.

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