TX Guide VS TX Guide Leather
I’ve had the pleasure of walking, hiking, approaching and climbing in both of these La Sportiva approach shoes. So I thought I’d share my experience. I honestly loved them both for different reasons and quickly realized that even though they hold the same name apart from one being leather they are vastly different shoes. I typically put all my shoes through a special kind of abuse, the terrain I travel across can vary from sand to sharp crystals. At times I’ll climb entire rock routes in my approach shoes and of course mountain scrambles as well. Sometimes its a matter of going light and only carrying one shoe, other times it comes down to all day comfort. Recently I’ve used my approach shoes on big-walls while hauling and jumaring and both TX Guides work well for this too. You usually want a semi-stiff shoe for standing in aiders and some sort of toe protection which both of the TX Guides have.
My experience with the TX Guide out of the box was that they were snug fitting. During their break in period I found my toe box so snug that often my toes would hurt a bit after walking a lot in them. I loosened the laces and that seemed to help with the initial break in period. After about a week or so of wearing the shoes on mostly trails with a bit of cross country they broke into nicely. I found this particular model to be super durable and climb super well. Both shoes come with a sticky Vibram Dual compound Mega-Grip sole which sticks really well to all surfaces including wet rock. I’ve done easy boulder problems in them and handle well on climbs where friction is key. The synthetic material seemed to hold up a bit better while foot jamming compared to the leather pair but that may have been due to the fact that the leathers held water longer and therefore became soft. When I wasn’t climbing in them I would loosen the laces to the point where I could use them as slip ons and thats mostly how I wore them around town or while doing really short approaches. I found them to be pretty convenient this way.
When the Leather TX Guides came out I was pretty excited to check them out. Typically leather shoes don’t hold odor like synthetic shoes do. I found this out long ago with climbing shoes. If your foot is going to sweat or you’ll be doing long approaches its important to have an extra pair of socks, preferably wool. This will keep your shoes and feet fresher for longer. Both shoes synthetic and leather breath quite well but always good to have on fresh socks especially if you’ll be walking through any type of moisture like creek crossings or snow patches. The lacing system on the Leather TX Guides is really well thought out. You can get them really snug or loosen them up a lot. I found this to be super helpful for using them as climbing shoes on easier rock scrambles or when carrying a heavy pack. The laces are also protected really well on the leather version. The only reason I would say the synthetic shoes is slightly more precise as a climbing shoe is because of the pointier toe box design. The leather version is a bit more squared at the toe box where as the synthetic has more of a point. Its really a matter of your foot shape as well. Everyones foot is different so I would say go with what fits the shape of your foot if you plan on using your approach shoes as climbing shoes like I sometimes do. Another advantage of the leather version is you can apply some sort of waterproofing to the leather and have a mostly water resistant shoe. Less absorption of moisture will help with the longevity of the leather.
TX Guide Leather after about 5 months of use - TX Guide after about 1 year of use
Hope this review helps you decide between the Synthetic and Leather versions of the TX Guides. I thought they were both excellent shoes. As you can see from the photos I put them through the ultimate test and they still do what I need them to do. Get me to the climb or scramble some easy stuff.
Click on any of the photos above to visit La Sportiva’s website with specs on each shoe, pricing and availability.
