Scarpa Velocity Review 2020

The revamped Velocity shoe has more to offer than a mere beginners shoe.

I’ve had a pair of Scarpa Velocity shoes for quite a while now, I used them mostly as a pair of work shoes when I worked as a Mountaineering Instructor. They were ideal for all day wear, once one I never needed to take them off and perfect for leading and teaching clients trad climbing on mountain crags. The combination of comfort and durability means they are still going strong now and although due for a resole soon they still perform as well as I need them too.

The new, revamped Velocity shoes are a superb improvement on the previous model and brings the model right up to date. They are more streamlined, vegan friendly and resolvable using the Scarpa Resole Service. Let’s delve into the specifics of the new design.

The Velocity shoe was, and still is, made for comfort. The medium foot width will accommodate a wide variety of foot shapes with the toe box giving just enough room for a bit of expansion on warmer days without compromising on toe precision. There are no half sizes in this model so I opted to go down a size to a size UK7 (EUR 41). This is because I wanted a shoe that would perform a little better on harder climbs. My normal shoe size is a UK 8 and often fit a UK7.5 for Scarpa climbing shoes so they currently come up a nice ‘performance fit’. They would be OK for personal multi pitch climbing but too tight for client work so if comfort is an important factor for you then you may need your normal shoes size.

The vegan friendly, microfibre upper is as comfortable as leather and hasn’t shown any signs of stretching – yet. Also, Scarpa seem to have improved the material as it doesn’t smell as bad as it has done in previous models. If they begin to smell they can be washed quite straight forwardly in warm soapy water and air dried. I wouldn’t recommend drying them out on a radiator as this dries out the microfibre too harshly and stiffens it up. The Wave-Closure system replaces the double velcro fastening of the previous model. It is nicely padded and is plenty big enough to cover a full range of foot shapes. This is then finished off with an elasticated mesh insert, which again helps secure the foot into position. I would have liked to see a velcro spot on the tongue, this would have helped to further secure the shoe as if you have narrow feet the Z shaped fastening reduces the contact area.

The sole unit offer reasonably stiff midsole so the Velocity performed well on a whole variety of footholds from polished limestone, sandstone micro edges to rounded gritstone. The shoe is made on the centre biased FFX last so there are none of extreme foot positions you find on more performance shoes such as the Furia. But then the Velocity shoes are way more comfortable than any performance based shoe (and a lot cheaper too) and with the Scrapa Vision rubber should last longer too. The Vision rubber has been sticky enough for all the climbing I have done in them – which has been bouldering to Font 6b+ and Sport climbing to F6c so more than enough for beginner to intermediate climbers. As I said earlier the Velocity can also be resoled using the Scarpa Resole Service which we have reviewed and is excellent. This all fits in with Scarpa’s ambition to reduce carbon and waste. They are fully vegan friendly, including the glue – which has been the stumbling block in the past.

The shoe has a great heel section which is comfortable and fits tight enough for heel hooking without being painful at the achilles. There are two heel tabs which help pull the shoe on and means the shoe can be secured to a climbing harness for descents or long belay sessions on multi pitch climbs. Finally the colour way has been given a real update and I really liked the black and blue details which give it a nice modern look.

So, in conclusion, the Scarpa Velocity has benefitted from a complete overhaul. They are a thoroughly modern shoe for the modern climbing era. As sustainable as they can be, super comfortable and precise enough for harder climbs if you want to use them for that. If you want comfort I would suggest your normal approach shoe size and if you want performance drop a size down.

The Scarpa Velocity has a very reasonable SRP of £85.00 and they are come in sizes 40 to 48 in full sizes and one colour. There is also a women’s specific version with sizes 35 to 42 and again in one colour option. They can be purchased directly from Scarpa UK and specialist retailers.

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Disclaimer – CGR reviewers and writers are never paid to provide a review and the website does not take advertising or link to affiliate sales. We are a bunch of keen climbers and travellers that accept sample products and offer an honest and independent review of the item. The reviewer will often keep the sample after reviewing it for both hygiene and safety reasons and more often it’s in no fit state to return!