La Sportiva Focus or Vega

[Blakej]

I need a new shoe that I can wear all day and works well on both cracks and faces. Both La Sportiva Focus and Vega are significantly discounted. Suggestions/opinions?

[willstrickland]

Focus are great....until you re-sole. The midsole is some type of shitty bonded paperboard, and once they are re-soled, they lose alot of stiffness. The rest of the shoe is made pretty well (leather/lining/etc), which makes me wonder WTF Sportiva was thinking the shitty midsole. With the original sole, they are good crack shoes, and great edging shoes.

 

Megas are essentially the same shoe in a high-top.

[matt_m]

Focus are great....until you re-sole. The midsole is some type of shitty bonded paperboard, and once they are re-soled, they lose alot of stiffness. The rest of the shoe is made pretty well (leather/lining/etc), which makes me wonder WTF Sportiva was thinking the shitty midsole. With the original sole, they are good crack shoes, and great edging shoes.

 

Megas are essentially the same shoe in a high-top.

 

Yes and no - Yes they are both the stiffest shoes sportiva sells (or sold) but they fit very differently. Focus is based on the mythos last which means it is narrow and has a fairly pointed toes area. Megas are on the same last as their cliff shoes with a much more rounded toe box. Try them both on if you haven't already.

[willstrickland]

That is mostly correct. The Mega and Cliff are built on the same last (RN50), but the Mythos last(RN25) is slightly more rounded than the Focus last(PN25). It's very hard to compare fit between the Mythos and Focus though, because the Focus will barely stretch at all (it's lined) and the Mythos stretches ALOT. I can't get Mythos to fit me right, but the Focus does pretty well.

 

If they stood up to resoling better, I'd be loading up on the Focus right now.