Five Ten Quantum Review

Five Ten first unveiled the Quantums at last summer’s trade show to a resounding chorus of ooh’s and ahh’s. The vibrant purple brought back fond memories of the old Anasazi “Pinks,” and in fact they were being marketed as a downturned version of that shoe. The Pink’s were one of the few Five Ten’s I really liked, but sadly my pair has succumbed to age and abuse, so I was eager to give these new kicks a test drive.

Slipping them on, the fit is excellent, with no dead spaces, and my toes are packed into the front without feeling crammed. The downturn shape provides excellent grabbing power on overhanging terrain, and hasn’t flattened out, unlike some aggressive shoes on the market. The shape of the toe allows you to be incredibly precise, zeroing on small holds with ease. The heel cup feels like it’s suctioned on to your foot, and no amount of overly aggressive heel hooking will get it to budge.

The Quantums excel at steep climbing, regardless of the rock type. On granite, I found they could stand on tiny edges with ease. On limestone, they stick to every little bump, and toe in on pockets quite nicely. Sandstone might as well just give up before their awesome sticking power. And even with the downturn they can smear just fine. (I think, I’m not much for smearing, so who knows if I’m even doing it right.)

Really my only complaint with this shoe is the size, as I got them the same as my street shoe, and I really should have gone a half size up, which would have been a little more comfortable but still plenty performance oriented. The downturn shape is very aggressive, and they barely stretch at all, which packs your foot tightly into the space.

Bottom line, this is a bad ass shoe that would be a valuable addition to any sport climber’s quiver. If you need further proof, I leave you with a recent conversation about them:

“Hey, do you have those shoes?”
“The ninja slippers?”
“Yeah, they should have called them that. Way cooler.”
“I don’t even know what they are called, that’s just what they feel like.”

For more info or to purchase visit the Five Ten website.