Five Ten Team 5.10 Black vs. La Sportiva Solution

The softness of the Team 5.10 Black also comes into play on technical footwork (heel hooks, toe hooks, etc.) As far as toe hooking goes, both the shoes have a lot of rubber on top, and both did really well in toe hooking situations. I don’t think I ever encountered a toe hook that either shoe was ill-equipped to handle.

It was with heel hooking that I found more of a difference between the shoes. Once in a while when I was climbing, I found myself having to switch from the Team 5.10 to the Solution for a heel hook on a sharp feature, because the Team 5.10 was too soft and ended up being painful. After switching to the Solution in these instances, it felt like having body armor on my heel compared to the Team 5.10; the Solution was much more comfortable and secure-feeling.

That said, I have also found instances in which I prefer the Team 5.10 heel over the larger, rounded heel of the Solution.

With heel hooks on smaller or less positive features, the more elongated, softer heel of the Team 5.10 allows me to ‘squish’ into the feature better, and feel more locked in than I would with the Solution heel.

One problem in Southern Colorado required essentially heel hooking on a sloper, and because the Team 5.10 is so much softer, I felt less like my heel was just going to slide off as soon as I weighted it, as I did with the Solution. And so, just like with the edging ability of the shoes, there is a tradeoff with heel hooking.

In my experience, in all of these features I have mentioned, I found these shoes to be almost polar opposites, in that when one shoe seemed to fall short on something, the other seemed to excel at it.

As far as choosing between the two then, what it really comes down to is an issue of where you are climbing and what you are climbing.

For example, when I was climbing in Bishop, which requires a lot of sharp rock edging on small footholds, I climbed pretty much exclusively in the Solution. But in Joe’s Valley, where the rock is a little more smooth and forgiving and the footholds tend to require a bit more smearing, I found myself climbing a lot more in the Team 5.10.

Then there were places like Southern Colorado, with lots of rock types and different styles of climbing, where I found myself switching between the two shoes a lot based on what individual problems required.

For these reasons, I definitely agree with Matt on the Team 5.10 being more of a quiver shoe, and one that is great for some things, but might not be your go-to all around shoe. But then I would have to say the same about the Solution, since bouldering often requires such specificity that it is difficult, if not impossible, to have a single shoe that truly does it all.

Personally, I still use the Solution as my go-to shoe. But this is largely because the style of climbing that I like the most is powerful, Bishop-esque climbing that requires a lot of vertical power, locking off, and edging capability from my shoes. But I still always have the Team 5.10 in my bag when I go climbing, and will break it out when I need a more sensitive shoe, or one that can heel hook on weird or slopey features.

Bottom Line

Both the Team 5.10 and Solution are great aggressive, high-performance bouldering shoes, but there are definitely some major differences between the two in terms of performance.

Overall, the Solution should be noted for its stiffness, technical capability, and edging power. The Team 5.10 also has good technical capability, but is much more sensitive and effective for precise footwork.

And so in choosing between the two, it is important to consider what kind of terrain (rock type, style, etc.) you will be climbing, and whether you tend to prefer a stiffer or softer shoe.