First Look Review – Five Ten Quantum VCS

The Five Ten Quantum VCS

The Quantum VCS are new to the Five Ten shoe line as of spring 2018 (In Canada). Developed with the help of the Huber Brothers, they’re supposedly a velcro version of the Quantum Lace which was released in Spring of ’17. The overall build is not like your standard Five Ten shoe, this new line might be a game changer in the near future. Though Five Ten has been putting a lot of effort into their bike shoes, not surprising since it’s about 70% of their business, they’re still a top-notch climbing shoe company as the Quantum line can attest to.

I have yet to see any shoes in the new line with the Stealth Onyxx or Hf (high Friction) rubber , currently everything is just using C4. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining C4 might be the best climbing rubber on the market. It would just be cool if FiveTen released some of the new shoes using Onyxx rubber for a hard edging and Hf for a steep bouldering or sport climbing.

Specs:

  • Weight: 8.5 oz (240g)
  • Stealth C4 rubber outsole (4.2mm)
  • Fully Synthetic Clarino upper – Low stretch
  • Velcro closure
  • Wide last construction
  • Breathable Ariaprene tongue
  • Stiffness: Stiff

Fit and Sizing:

The last aka fit of the shoe is as described on the Five Ten website, it’s high volume. I can assure you they are stiff, very stiff. The shoes have a medium volume heel, that is certainly an upgrade over the cup like heel on older five ten shoes.

A problem I ran into with the Quantum VCS was sizing, it’s small compared to the majority of other Five Ten Shoes. I generally wear 41 for a sung “performance” fit, but 41 in the Quantum VCS was beyond painful. Compared to the Quantum Lace 41 witch I was sport climbing in all last summer.

For the record I also use Five Ten Pink and ANASAZI VCS in size 41.5

Stretch:

As I was going for a performance fit I went with a tight size (for me). Expecting the shoes to stretch the standard 1/3 size you normally get with a synthetic shoe. They didn’t stretch at all, making them a little painful. I believe this is to do with the stiff sole and midsole of the shoe.

I would recommend you size them out of the box as you want them to climb. They soften a little but for a sport shoe they don’t stretch much.

Sole rubber stick out passed rand

 

Shoe Construction:

The overall construction of the shoe is great. The heel cavity and midsole of the shoe is very well put together. The rubber on top of the toe is a nice feature for toe hooking.

They have a breathable ariaprene tongue which is a nice for gym and hot summer days climbing.

The rand is softer compared to the sole. This creates a problem, your toes start to bulge over the sole with the soft rand. I bet they could fix this if the change the rand rubber from C4 to something a little more firm.

Also the sole rubber is not perfectly even with the rand. This will make the shoes run the risk of getting some delam if you toe drag to much. (see photo above)

Day 3 of use, notice how rand is bulging over sole

Performance:

Overall I was happy with the performance of the shoe. It excels at vertical to steep face climbing but it’s not my first pick for the gym or a friction climbing. The stiff midsole made edging awesome. I didn’t find them very good for smearing but maybe I fitted them to tight.

For face climbing and even hard finger cracks they preformed awesome! I didn’t get to try them bouldering much because of a knee injury, but the small amount I did they were sweet!

Overall if you like a stiff shoe that has a precise toe then you will love the Five Ten Quantum VCS.

Edging on crystals amazing

Pros: Very well made, amazing heel fit, stiff, C4 Rubber!

Cons: Soft rand, sole was not perfectly inline with the rand (future delam problem though it might just be the test shoes had an issue.)

Overall:  A great sport or bouldering shoe that’s stiff and edges amazing. The heel feels great and with the thick rubber I suspect you will get a long life span. High volume fit with medium volume heel. Velcro for fast on and off.

A pair of shoes was supplied for testing but this did not influence our review in any way.