Mythos

 

Page Type Gear Review
Object Title Mythos
Manufacturer La Sportiva
Page By Josh
Page Type Feb 19, 2002 / Feb 19, 2002
Object ID 138
Hits 8710
Vote
Lightweight, low-cut climbing shoes designed with a narrow toe profile for thin-crack climbing



  • Snug lacing system keeps shoes secure while overhanging and heel hooking


  • Unlined for extra "feel" on the rocks with full-wrap sticky heels for secure hooking; high-performance unlined style will stretch out over time


  • Snug fit is ideal for competition and short routes
  • Reviews


    Viewing: 1-20 of 22
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    Chenault - Feb 28, 2002 11:10 am - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    A cult classic shoe which is essentially unchanged from what is was 7 years ago, the Mythos is a great high-performance all around shoe. This means that, if you have strong feet, you can fit it snug with flat toes and it will climb most anything well. Stiff enough to edge, flexible enough to smear, and with a thin toe and fat rands which are fantastic for crack climbing, this shoe can do it all well. It can also be fit tighter for more edge power, but the new generation of asym shoes work better on the steep stuff. This shoe is reknowed for fitting all widths of feet well, though it is biased towards skinny ones. Also, the toe box is more symetrical than many newer shoes, which is good for those of us with second toes longer than our big toe.

    kisters_0 - Nov 1, 2002 12:11 pm - Voted 4/5

    Untitled Review
    These are the only rock shoes I have ever owned. Resoled once. There is nothing these shoes can't handle from slabs to cracks to edging. The lacing system is really quite innovated and serves to pull the shoe around my foot providing me with great feel and control. Mythos have been on the market for some time now and that speaks for itself. I am not climbing 5.11 plus routes and would guess at that level there might be better choices for shoes, but for the average weekend climber the Mythos are a wonderful choice.

    fasterhigher - Nov 20, 2002 9:53 am - Voted 4/5

    Untitled Review
    I used many years the Mythos. I found the original sole not so good as 5.10's C4; so, when I resole my shoes, I use C4 and they works better than before.

    bigwally - Jan 23, 2003 3:43 pm - Voted 4/5

    Untitled Review
    A Classic shoe that has been around for many many years. I love 'em, I hate 'em, I love'em, I hate'em....They fit my feet so very very well ( and other feet also due to their variable lacing system) But they wear out way too fast; Not necessarily the soles, but the uppers. The same soft leather that stretches to hug your feet, also develops gashes, holes and gaping wounds if fed a steady diet of crack climbing. If they were more durable they would be the only shoe that I'd want to climb in.

    Michele - Jun 8, 2003 8:43 pm - Voted 4/5

    Untitled Review
    These are the most comfortable climbing shoes I have owned. It is for this reason that they are excellent for long multi-pitch routes. They work beautifully in cracks, edge quite well, and are flexible enough for smearing. The only time I reach for my Five Ten Anasazi's is when I want better smearing performance. I would recommend resoling the Mythos with C4, thus creating the perfect all around climbing shoe.

    tiefenthaler - Jul 17, 2003 5:02 am - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    Most importantly, this shoe is VERY comoftable. This is a major point for me since I prefer to climb longer (10-25 pitch) routes. I often had problems with my Achilles tendon. However, this shoe is fine since the heel cup is cut lower and less aggressively than in most other climbing shoes. When it comes to climbing, there is nothing I could complain about. Very nice and sensitive shoe, works perfectly fine for the type of climbing I do (limestone/dolomite type of rock, up to UIAA 6, longer routes). So, for me (well, that is my feet) it's the perfect shoe. Five stars

    Misha - Dec 14, 2003 6:25 pm - Voted 4/5

    Untitled Review
    Very very comfortable! I can wear them for hours and practically not feel them on my feet. These are by far the most comfortable rock shoes I wore to date. The sole can be a bit more sticky and it is certainly not a C4 rubber, but it is good enough for most people.

    sshankle - Jan 6, 2004 5:29 pm - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    Very comfortable. Great in cracks. Good edging. Not so great smearing though.



    Great shoe!

    ScottyS - Jan 28, 2004 9:04 pm - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    I borrowed a pair of these for my first forays onto rock, and now I'm still trying to figure out how to spirit them away from the owner! They were super comfortable, and gave some confidence on small holds.

    Rockopotamus - Feb 1, 2004 2:43 am - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    Excellent fit and very comfortable for multi-pitch routes. These shoes are absolutley fabulous in cracks and a very good edging shoe.

    Alan Ellis - Oct 7, 2004 12:00 pm - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    Very good all around, all day shoe. I like the light colored uppers which shed light and heat, and the lace around the ankles is a nice touch. Highly recommend.

    mekwise - Aug 26, 2005 7:28 pm - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    For me, by far the best rock shoe I have climbed in. Especially if you resole them with C4 rubber. I had my last pair resoled 3 times before I broke down and bought another pair. I tried on several other shoes but in the end it was mythos for me. I think they work especially well because I have narrow feet. I see they are now making them in a brown color now.

    pjc30943 - Aug 28, 2005 4:01 am - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    First, a disclaimer: I only climb up in the 10s, so all information is based on my relatively limited climbing experience.



    As everyone else also mentioned, this shoe is extremely comfortable. I see the crammed shoes many folks use, and see their relief when they pull it off after extended climbs. This is when I begin to feel guilty: even after a full day of wearing these shoes, only a mild discomfort presents itself. Certainly, while wearing them for just a few hours at a time, I can't even tell they are on.



    More positives:

    The smearing ability is pretty good.

    They are flexible, yet with the right amount of stiffness.

    The soles seem pretty durable, though I've only had mine for a year.



    Now, the negatives:



    Very high cost. No question about that. So far it has been worth it to me, but you should wait to get it on sale...$140 is just too much money for a general shoe.

    They leave a little purple color on your toes after using them:)

    Regarding laces: I've heard people talk about how long it takes to relace them. If I ever had to relace the laces, I would have to take an entire week off just to unlace it, and then another week off to put in the new laces:D In other words, it would be time-consuming, but: how many times is this necessary?

    Lastly, there seems to be a little problem with one of my shoes: near the area where the toes flex up, the rubber on the shoe is starting to remove itself from the repeated flexing. Some epoxy migh fix this easily.



    Bottom line: I don't even know why other shoes exist on the market:D

    RModelli - Sep 18, 2005 11:02 pm - Voted 5/5

    Untitled Review
    Great shoes!

    Do not turn away from these because of the "older" design. These are great all day shoes and they perform really well (Huber free soloing 5.14a wearing Mythos), I reccommend themto anyone, from beginer to advanced level.

    lisae - Jan 23, 2007 7:32 pm - Voted 5/5

    Women's Mythos
    I have been wearing the womens Mythos (green as compared to Purple) and love them. The heel cup is a bit lower than the regualr Mythos, whch I prefer. No blisters...

    They perform very well, even on long routes. I hope La Sportiva does not discontinue this shoe!

    Nikman - May 10, 2007 12:03 pm - Voted 5/5

    Great fit ...
    ... and good quality. No pain even on longer multi-pitches.

    To all those who complain that the rubber is down to early: it´s the same effect with high performance tires for german sports cars. If you like to fly around corners those tires don´t survive more than 20.000km. If you don´t want to go to the limit, you have to buy a Volvo.

    nefarius - May 25, 2007 7:53 pm - Hasn't voted

    caveats...
    While I wear the Mythos more often than any other shoe for trad climbing and love the shoe, there are some caveats. I guess if asked, I'd say I like this shoe so much because it is comfortable. But that's the case for all Sportiva shoes for me. There last is designed around my type of foot. They are supportive, yet sensitive enough to give you a good feel for hard slab and in tight cracks. They are, obviously, not the greatest edging shoe in the world, however.

    While some say the rubber isn't that great, this isn't true. The old Sportiva rubber wasn't the greatest, but he newer Sportiva rubber is prefect fine. It smears well, is plenty sticky and isn't quite so soft as other rubber, which mean sit lasts longer and doesn't "roll" and creep off of things the way softer rubber will. If the rubber is not lasting very long, it's time to work on your footwork. Sportiva rubber will outlast 5.10 rubber any day.

    Now the caveats:
    If you're climbing any amount of hand cracks, you WILL need to re-lace this shoe. The funky lacing system to me, really seems to be a waste of time. I don't find it does anything special at all.

    The metal eyes that the laces go through in the front of the shoe WILL wear through next. Again, if you're climbing hand cracks, you see this and know it already.

    Once this happens, the front of the shoe will start to wear very quickly. To combat this, a lot of guys use Seam Grip on the front of the shoe.

    BigJordan - May 22, 2009 12:40 pm - Voted 5/5

    Nice, Very Nice.
    These shoes kicketh some serious asscot. Perfect fit for my feet. I believe they are my all time favorite shoe. They stick well and I have had no problem smearing w/ em or micro edging. Well thats bout all I have to say bout that then.

    Macmac - Jul 18, 2009 7:59 am - Voted 5/5

    A classic
    Not very technical but all rounder and kind to the feet

    steste - Jul 25, 2009 3:46 pm - Voted 5/5

    Extremely comfortable...
    ...all around rock shoes. You can wear them for hours on the multi-pitches routes and your feet will have nothing to complain.

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