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  • La Sportiva Mandala No Edge Climbing Shoes Review

    February 01, 2025 2 min read

    JR, one of our employees, wrote this review for the La Sportiva Mandala Climbing Shoe.  See below...

    The La Spoortiva Mandala Climbing shoe

    If you are going to own two pairs of climbing shoes, you might as well have them be different.  The Mandala No Edge Climbing Shoe is the opposite of your probably-favorite climbing shoe, and in my opinion it does it well.  It is soft, thin, and grippy.  When you combine these traits with the rounded edge you get a climbing experience that is sensitive, natural-feeling, and mirrors the contour of your big toe with only a few millimeters of separation. Why bother forcing your rigid edges and pointed toes onto a world of smears and dishes? 

    The Mandala is quite down turned, but soft overall.  A flexible mid-foot reduces the “spring loaded” feeling on instability I get when I use my Otakis.  The shoe accommodates my wide forefoot that usually feels right at home in the old TX4s, a pair of Otakis, or the Scarpa Generator.  My foot sits flat and comfortable in a size 46 TC Pro after a little break-in.  A size 46 Mandala fits my foot the way the designers intended it to: toes knuckled, but with only a little hint of pain.  They required a little muscle to put on out of the box, but I look forward to the unlined microfiber material stretching into a custom fit soon.

    The La Spoortiva Mandala Climbing shoe

    I would not recommend Mandalas for climbing that requires extreme precision, but even that statement begs a few questions. Is it better to stand on that one good crystal, or all of the mediocre crystals around it at once? How precise are you really when you can’t feel as much of the rock as you do with this shoe? In my opinion it’s worth getting a pair and finding out for yourself.  I intend to bring my Mandalas with me anytime I go cragging, just in case the friction is more important than the edges. Just think of all the situations when you stood on slab, hoping you would stick - that's where they come in handy.

    I know I won’t be using them or re-soling them as often as my other shoes, but they fill an important niche all their own.

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