An “approach shoe” is an everyday necessity for a lifestyle climber. Whether approaching your outdoor climb, your climbing gym, your hike, or simply your walk to work — this category of shoe ends up doing it all, for most climbers.
In this post we’ll look at the La Sportiva TX 4 Approach Shoes.
What Is An Approach Shoe?
Put simply, an approach shoe is a hybrid between a hiking boot and a climbing shoe. They are designed for approaching (hiking into) rock climbs in the mountains, and have features designed with an eye towards stability on third, fourth, and fifth-class terrain. Skilled climbers will often climb easier pitches (up to 5.6 or so) in their approach shoes.
What Features Make A Good Approach Shoe?
Durability, comfort, stiffness, and climbing performance are the four areas you should look at, generally. A good approach shoe should also come with Vibram rubber, ideally in a dot pattern tread (although some manufacturers use other patterns, the dot pattern is generally considered to give the best grip on slab).
So, with that in mind, let’s review the La Sportiva TX4s in each category.
Why You Should Trust Our Review
Our tester is a dedicated climber who has used the La Sportiva TX4 approach shoes for three years, hiking hundreds if not thousands of miles in them, in all seasons and in several different mountain ranges.
TX4 Comfort
The Sportiva TX 4 is a crowd-pleaser, with several testers reporting a good fit. It offers a slightly wider forefoot than usual on a La Sportiva shoe, allowing for a little slop which is nice on long hikes where you may experience foot swelling, or on cold days where you may want to wear a warmer sock. The lacing system allows for adequate adjustment along the length of the tongue.
TX4 Stiffness
The TX4 is a stiff, heavy shoe. That means it hikes and especially climbs great. The downside is that the shoes are heavy on a harness and don’t compress particularly well if you want to put them in a pack. Still, for our money, the performance far outweighs the downside of added weight.
TX 4 Durability
Durability is the main weakness of these shoes. Specifically, the durability of the laces and the cord used to construct the lacing system. If you know any serious climbers who use this shoe frequently, chances are their laces look like shit. In our experience, the lacing system can survive about 6-9 months of heavy use, before breaking.
Many climbers may not use their shoes so heavily, and thus may be fine. But in our opinion, this is the mjaor flaw of these shoes and not one that can be overlooked.
The good news is that La Sportiva WILL warranty shoes for this issue (at least in North America), meaning you can get a free replacement pair after the original ones break. You can submit a La Sportiva warranty request here. This is kind of a hassle, however, and not everyone may want to go through the trouble.
Besides the lacing system, the uppers and soles are quite burly and will last through a lot of punishment.
La Sportiva TX 4 Bottom Line
The TX4 is one of the most popular approach shoes, and for good reason. It climbs well, has a burly construction which won’t get chewed up by talus or gravel, and climbs quite well for an approach shoe. It doesn’t look too bad in a casual context, either.
The shoe does have one major flaw, which is that the TX 4 Lacing system isn’t durable. Especially if you lace your shoes up hard, as you might want to for a long hike, the lacing system will eventually break on you.
The TX 4 is also available in the new “La Sportiva TX4 R” model, which comes in different color schemes. The “R” stands for “retro” (coloring and styling) and “resoleable.”
Gym to Crag 