Reviews You Can Rely On

Five Ten Hiangle - Women's Review

These narrow slippers excel on smears and steep climbing, making them a good option for clipping bolts outside or in the gym
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Five Ten Hiangle - Women's Review
Credit: Backcountry
Price:  $165 List
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Manufacturer:   Adidas Five Ten
By Jane Jackson ⋅ Review Editor  ⋅  Nov 21, 2019
60
OVERALL
SCORE
  • Comfort - 25% 5.0
  • Sensitivity - 25% 8.0
  • Edging - 15% 6.0
  • Cracks - 15% 5.0
  • Pockets - 15% 5.0
  • Ease of Use - 5% 7.0

Our Verdict

Five Ten updated the Hiangle since our test period.
REASONS TO BUY
Sensitive
Sticky rubber soles
Reasonable price tag for design
REASONS TO AVOID
Uncomfortable heel cup
Hard to get on
The Five Ten Hiangle is the narrow-footed boulderer/sport climber's shoe. The shoe is soft in the midsole, with a single Velcro strap and a narrow opening, which makes the hard to get on, especially if you happen to have wide feet. The soles are super sticky, making them great for smearing and toeing in on steep terrain. Though they are narrow overall, the toe is fairly rounded, which makes the shoe feel like it lacks precision on pockets and finger cracks. If steep climbing in a soft shoe is what you are after, the Hiangles might be the right choice. If sized right, these could also work well as a gym shoe, since they are soft, yet still aggressively shaped.

Our Analysis and Test Results

Performance Comparison



five ten hiangle for women - breaking in the hiangles in yosemite valley. these shoes excel on...
Breaking in the Hiangles in Yosemite Valley. These shoes excel on steep climbs.
Credit: Eric Bissell

Comfort


Marketed as one of Five Ten's most comfortable, aggressively shaped shoes, the Hiangle is meant to be worn through multi-hour gym sessions and all-day cragging sessions. Of course, comfort is extremely subjective, so the following is simply one climber's experience. We sized them up a full number size above our other climbing shoes and a half size above our street shoe size. Even still, these shoes were incredibly tight and frankly uncomfortable for our wide-footed tested. Though they fit our foot length-wise, the Hiangle was tight width-wise in both the toe box and the heel cup. We would strongly recommend sizing these shoes up at least a full size from La Sportiva or Scarpa sizing in order to get a proper fit.

five ten hiangle for women - the wide-footed climber may have a challenging time getting their...
The wide-footed climber may have a challenging time getting their feet crammed into these narrow shoes.
Credit: Eric Bissell

Sensitivity


Their softness and C4 Stealth rubber soles make the Hiangle a sticky and sensitive shoe. We grew to like these shoes on slightly over-vertical terrain where the combination of an aggressive downturn and a soft midsole made toeing in on smears and dishes a walk in the park. The slipper-like design makes these shoes form to the foot like a glove, adding to the overall sensitivity of the shoe. The heel felt a bit baggy in some spots and tight-fitting in others, which also detracts from the shoe's sensitivity when it came to heel hooking.

five ten hiangle for women - the hiangles work well on steep terrain. their sticky rubber...
The Hiangles work well on steep terrain. Their sticky rubber, aggressive shape, and sensitivity kept us on the wall when other shoes might pick.
Credit: Eric Bissell

Edging


We didn't love the Hiangle for edging, mostly because we prefer a stiffer sole when standing on dime edges. The softness that makes them sensitive and supple on smears and even slabs makes them less impressive on routes where powerful edging skills will help you clip the chains.

five ten hiangle for women - moving onto a micro hold in the five ten hiangles. this is...
Moving onto a micro hold in the Five Ten Hiangles. This is border-line edging terrain, which was challenging in these shoes.
Credit: Eric Bissell

Crack Climbing


For us, crack climbing in these talons was a no-go. Perhaps if sized up a decent amount, the Hiangles could work in some cracks, but we found them to be too downturned to be functional in pretty much everything from hand cracks to finger cracks. Though they are narrow overall, the toe is actually fairly blunt and rounded. This makes them hard to fit in small cracks, where a tapered toe box is a better bet.

Pockets


As mentioned above, the Hiangle has a rounded and slightly bulky toe box that takes away from the shoe's ability to get into small pockets. This, paired with the softness underfoot, made these shoes lower on the list in terms of our top picks for pocket climbing. That said, the rubber on top of the toe box makes a great shoe for toe hooking and scumming.

five ten hiangle for women - steep bouldering is the sweet spot for the hiangles.
Steep bouldering is the sweet spot for the Hiangles.
Credit: Eric Bissell

Ease of Use


Though we found the Hiangle's pretty hard to get our feet into, their design is meant to make them easy to get on and off. The downside to the Hiangle here is the fact that the shoe has a very narrow strip of stretchy material on the top. This makes it especially hard for wide-footed climbers to get their feet crammed into these shoes. Once on, the Velcro strap is easy to secure and adjust.

five ten hiangle for women - securing the hiangle with the velcro strap was easy. the stretchy...
Securing the Hiangle with the Velcro strap was easy. The stretchy material under the strap could have been larger, in our minds. As it is, it can be tough to get one's foot into the narrow opening of these shoes.
Credit: Eric Bissell

Value


In comparison to other top-end, aggressively downturned shoes from other companies, the Hiangle actually comes in at a slightly lower price. Their construction is of a slightly lower caliber than say, the Scarpa Instincts, but in terms of a high-performance sport climbing shoe, the Hiangle are of fairly good value.

five ten hiangle for women - warming up in the hiangles.
Warming up in the Hiangles.
Credit: Eric Bissell

Conclusion


With a reasonable price tag, an aggressive shape, and a soft midsole, the Hiangles are a great high-performance shoe for gym climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering. Though they did not necessarily excel in any of our metric comparisons, they performed decently overall, making them a fairly good all-around shoe for sport climbing.

Jane Jackson