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The La Sportiva Miura VS is not simply a Velcro version of the La Sportiva Miura. While it is different from the shoe that shares its namesake, the La Sportiva Miura VS is an exceptional climbing shoe. Edging is its forte, and it’s a multi-dimensional shoe that performs well in many climbing environments.

From our hands-on La Sportiva Miura VS review, we learned this shoe can be right for many different climbers.

If you’ve just worn through your beginner climbing shoes and are looking to take your shoe game up a level, this shoe is a great option.

It is also a good choice if you’re looking for a pair of shoes which is as varied as your climbing appetite. The Miura VS is highly versatile. Use it for bouldering, slab climbing, and sport climbing with success.

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Product Specs

  • Weight: 9.52 oz (270 g)
  • Fit: Performance with High Asymmetry
  • Upper: Leather
  • Lining: Dentex, unlined underfoot
  • Midsole: P3© with 1.1 mm LaspoFlex
  • Sole: 4mm Vibram© XS Edge
  • Sizes: 33-46 (half sizes)
  • Color: Yellow/Black

Rubber

The Miura VS uses the Vibram XS Edge rubber
The rubber on our reviewer’s pair has held up well after 1.5 years of use.

When it comes to rubber, there is usually a tradeoff between durability and stickiness. This is because sticky rubber is softer and therefore wears through more quickly.

On the continuum of durability and stickiness, the Vibram© XS Edge is slightly more durable than sticky. This supports the shoe’s great edging capability. Overall, it’s a high-quality rubber.

Performance

Edging 5 out of 5 stars

The La Sportiva Miura VS is both stiff and downturned — two features which combine to make this shoe awesome at edging. Not only is the Miura VS great at edging right out of the box, but it retains its edging capabilities even after the rubber has worn down a bit.

The Miura VS’s P3© Midsole keeps the shoe stiff throughout its entire life and also prevents it from bending when you put lots of pressure on the toes. In short, these shoes are some of the best you can find for edging.

Pockets 4 out of 5 stars

The pointed toe box of the Miura VS makes it great for pockets. You can jam your foot in there and have it stick. In short, the shoe handles pockets well.

Heel Hooking 4.5 out of 5 stars

This shoe performs very well when it comes to heel hooking. The rubber patch on the shoe’s heel is thick enough to protect your heel and well-placed enough to help you stick to the rock while heel hooking.

However, our reviewer, Zach, had one minor issue with heel hooking. The shoe didn’t have the best fit on his heel which caused his heel to slip out the tiniest bit when heel hooking. Although the slippage doesn’t affect his performance, he can feel it happening which distracts him slightly while climbing.

Toe Hooking 2.5 out of 5 stars

Toe hooking is one of the Miura VS’s only weaknesses. Some of the more aggressive shoes by La Sportiva, such as the Solution, have a thick patch of rubber over the toe box which protects your toes and helps them stick to the rock while toe hooking. The Miura VS, on the other hand, has a relatively small and thin patch of rubber over the toes.

This means, while toe hooking, mostly the leather of the shoe is coming into contact with the rock which doesn’t stick to the rock nearly as well as the shoe’s rubber. Also, the Velcro straps of the Miura VS can come into contact with the rock while toe hooking. The straps, again, don’t stick very well and you risk the run of undoing your straps while toe hooking. In short, the shoe is not very good at toe hooking. However, toe hooking is a rare move to pull so this problem doesn’t show its face that often.

Here you can see that the bottom strap on this shoe is 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) away from the front of the shoe:

The Miura VS doesn't toe hook well

Sensitivity 4 out of 5 stars

These shoes are pretty sensitive. The rubber on the Miura VS is quite thick when you first buy the shoe. This can feel a little weird at first since your toes are so far away from the rock relative to shoes with thinner rubber.

Once you get used to the thickness of the Miura VS’s rubber, the shoes feel great. They will never be as sensitive as some shoes, but our reviewer actually preferred the lack of sensitivty and was very satisfied with how these shoes felt against the rock.

Precision 5 out of 5 stars

These shoes are highly precise. This comes from how well they fit on your foot once they’ve broken in. The pointed part of the shoes’ toe box is placed exactly where you spatially would perceive your big toe to be, making them feel like an extension of your own body.

The glove-like fit allows you to have an acute sense of where to put your foot in order to stick to the thinnest of edges. You rarely ever have to second guess a foot placement while wearing these shoes. Our reviewer never worries about the shoes slipping off the wall, and the only time they do slip off is when it is due to sloppy footwork.

Smearing 4 out of 5 stars

Aggressive climbing shoes are typically bad at smearing because you have to fight against the downturn of the shoe and concavity of the toe box when you smear. However, the Miura VS is so well-rounded that it is an exception to this trend.

Cracks 3.5 out of 5 stars

The stiffness of the La Sportiva Miura VS, while being helpful on microscopic edges, comes at the expense of crack climbing performance. If you do want to crack climb in this shoe, it can work for thin cracks and lay backs if you size the shoe a little looser.

However, for those who will be doing lots of crack climbing, the original Miura is a better option. It has softer rubber, is less aggressive, and is more able to be torqued against the walls of a crack.

Sizing & Fit

The Miura VS is a leather shoe so it will stretch as you wear it. We recommend you get the shoes either 1-1.5 sizes smaller than your street shoe size (in US sizes). Then, after your first pair, you can decide whether or not you’d prefer a tighter fit or looser fit. Our reviewer actually buys his pairs 2-2.5 sizes smaller than his street shoe size because he prefers a skintight fit.

You can expect the Miura VS to stretch quite a bit. The first time wearing them, you might have trouble getting them on your foot. However, after a while of wear, you’ll be able to get your foot in much easier while maintaining a super snug fit.

Also, due to how our reviewer sized his pair, after 1.5 years of wear the rubber on the heel has frayed slightly from the shoe’s leather. While this hasn’t interfered with his performance, it could be noted as a minor design flaw.

The VS in the shoe’s name stands for “Velcro straps”, so as you might expect they have a Velcro closure style. This particular shoe has three straps. The straps are great for getting the shoes on and off quickly, but, as mentioned above, they can interfere slightly with toe hooking.

After two years of wear, the straps on our reviewer’s first pair of Miura VSs started to lose their stickiness and would come undone by themselves. Though not pleasant, we have to admit that two years of wear is a long time before this starts happening.

Overall, the Miura VS fits like a glove. There are no places that the shoe fits awkwardly or doesn’t hug your foot tightly. You can expect a skin-tight fit that remains for the life of the shoe. You can also expect it to fit well on a variety of foot types. Our reviewer has narrow feet and the Miura VS still fits his feet very well.

Durability

You can expect the Miura VS to last a long time. Our reviewer owned his first pair for two years and during that time got them resoled once. His current pair has already lasted him 1.5 years and he expects them to last much longer. Treat them well, use proper footwork, and you shouldn’t have to buy a new pair for up to a couple years — though you might need to get them resoled.

Comfort

The La Sportiva Miura VS is very comfortable given its aggressive build. Of course you wouldn’t want to run a 5k in it or leave it on all day, but relative to other aggressively downturned shoes it is surprisingly comfy. The three Velcro straps make it easy to adjust the shoe to your foot’s shape. Also, the shoe has an upper leather lining and padded tongue which helps make it more comfortable. Though some online reviewers have complained that the shoe is highly uncomfortable, our La Sportiva Miura VS review came to a slightly different conclusion.

Like any aggressive shoe, the Miura VS is uncomfortable in the beginning while you’re breaking it in and stretching it out. But, the shoe becomes much more tolerable once it conforms to your foot’s shape and length. Our reviewer said he can even wear the shoes for an entire gym session if he so wanted, though his feet would start to hurt after an hour or more of straight wear.

Here you can see the aggressiveness of the Miura VS compared to the Evolv Defy, a flat-soled shoe.

The Miura VS compared with the Evolv Defy

Video Review

Final Thoughts

This shoe is highly recommended for any intermediate to advanced climbers who would like an all-around high-performance shoe.

Our La Sportiva Miura VS review determined that — while the shoe excels at edging — it can also be used in a variety of settings with success. These shoes are so versatile that they work well for many types of climbing, including bouldering, sport climbing, and slab climbing.

However, having said that, if you are going to be doing lots of crack climbing or bouldering on very overhung problems, look elsewhere for a shoe that meets those specific needs. The original La Sportiva Miura is great at crack climbing, while the La Sportiva Solution is designed specifically for advanced bouldering.

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