If you do decide to invest in a pair of climbing shoes, here are some of the best rock-climbing shoes for beginners to consider:

Simond beginner climbing shoe from Decathlon:

Simond beginner shoe

To be honest, this is not a great shoe. The rubber is not sticky enough and the fit is bad. But pretty much most of the beginner footwork is equally bad. However, the price is significantly lower than anything else out there. The shoe sells for Rs 3,500 in many decathlon stores and is on sale often at Rs. 2,500 and sometimes even as low as 1,000 Rs.

Climbing shoes are expensive and as a beginner, with your immaculate footwork, you could run through a shoe in a few months. Which is why it isn't a bad idea to buy this shoe, run through it quickly, sort out your footwork and upgrade to an intermediate shoe.

Note: The shoe also causes annoying shoe bites around the heel area in many cases. Protect those heels (with climbing tape of course) if you buy these shoes.

Decathlon also has a couple of other better shoes.

Simond intermediate climbing shoe: Which sells for about Rs. 5,000.

Simond advanced climbing shoe: Which sells for about Rs. 7,000.

However, the best option in our opinion is to wait for that foreign-returning friend or the next international travel and buy your shoe.

Here are the best beginner rock climbing shoes to consider :

The La Sportiva Tarantula: The Tarantulas are probably the most popular beginner shoe. The rubber is great and it lasts a long time. The fit is great too and works well for beginners. Also, check out the lace-up version called Tarantulace if you prefer with laces.

La Sportiva Tarantula Beginner Climbing Shoe

5.10 Rouge VCS: The 5.10 rouge is the 5.10 equivalent of the Tarantula. It uses Stealth C4 rubber used in the advanced 5.10 shoes and is extremely sticky. The shoe also works very well for those with wide feet.

5.10 Rouge VCS Beginner Climbing Shoe

Evolv, Madrock, and Scarpa (the other popular international climbing shoe brands) have their own beginner versions but we would advise going with one of the above unless you can get them for a significantly lower price.

Here is where you can buy the best climbing shoes online:

In the US, check out:

1. www.campsaver.com

2. www.rei.com

3. www.gearexpress.com

In Europe, check out:

1. www.bergzeit.com

2. shop.epictv.com

In the UK, check out:

1. www.bananafingers.co.uk

2. www.rockrun.com

If buying from abroad is not an option and you want to buy the above international brands immediately, there are a couple of options in India you can try. They will be more expensive than buying from abroad but worth checking out.

1. www.stepinadventure.com

2. Allied enterprises: Contact letsplayclimbing

If you google for the above shoes, you will also get to a website called Trekinn.com. Although the prices look too good to be true, there are significant issues in buying from them. In most cases, you end up paying up to 50% extra as duties (payable during delivery). Many times the shoes get stuck at customs and takes forever to get.

Sizing your shoes:
One of the biggest issues in buying online is sizing the shoes. Rock climbing shoes if not sized correctly are either too painful or ineffective. So, try out shoes during your initial climbing sessions. There are also online climbing shoe sizing guides you can use on:

1. www.bananafingers.co.uk

2. www.epictv.com

There you go! Hope that answers all your questions on the best climbing shoes out there. Now go buy those shoes and get outdoors!

Also Read:

1. The Most Common Rock-Climbing Terms Explained

2. Overcoming the Fear of Falling on Sport Climbs

3. Rock Climbing and Bouldering Grade Conversion Table

4. The Most Interesting Stories on Rock Climbing Around Bangalore

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