Rock Shoes: Quechua Vuarde Tech
1st Mar 2006
£49.95 | Velcro | size reviewed 10 (foot size 10) | weight 562g | low asymmetry
If the blurb is to be believed Quechua are soon to become the largest manufacturer of outdoor gear in the world. Basically it is one of the own brands specific to Decathlon stores the world over so there may be some truth in there. Decathlon as we all know is a low cost multi sports store that specialise in, well let’s call them a jack of all trades, but master of none. The low cost is the primary feature of these shoes. At under £50 they are significantly less than most of the others in the review. So what do you get for your money. Well, instead of Stealth C4, FS Quattro or any other specialised rubber you get an unknown grade of Vibram rubber (other users of Vibram tend to have specific grades, eg: Scarpa XS Grip and La Sportiva XSV). The un-lined synthetic leather and leather combination uppers resulted in fairly sweaty feet. Performance was reasonable in all areas, but excellent in none. The twin off-set pull loops are good. The tear drop style heel is a little on the baggy side and not suited well to heel hooking. Looks wise you’d be hard pushed to notice that you were wearing a budget shoe as there are very few discernible markings to them which we think is to their advantage. If you don’t have a great deal of cash, but need a pair of shoes that can move you on after six months of climbing then we’d recommend them, but otherwise pay the extra for a name you recognise and some features that suit your strengths.
This review was carried out as part of a massive comparative review of 25 pairs of Performance Rock Shoes. We think that this could be the biggest review of such shoes ever undertaken. You can read the whole review here.