The American climbing shoe manufacturer Unparallel recently added a new model to its range: the women's version of the Flagship. We have tested the shoe for you and present it.
Fortunately, the times when only unisex shoes - and in practice that meant men's shoes - could be found on the market are long gone. Today women are equally spoiled for choice when it comes to the right pair of shoes for climbing.
At the beginning of the year we got over the Climbing shoes from Unparallel reported and gave us three men's models Action Talk TV examined more closely. Now double unparallel with a women's version of the flagship. Here, too, we went into the hall and ran to the rock.
Combined rubber coating - two-part outsole
The Flagship Women was developed specifically for women and people with narrow feet. Like the men's model, the Flagship Women is characterized by the particularly soft rubber compound (VC Pro) that is used in the toe and heel hook. The somewhat harder RS rubber is used in the area of the outsole of the shoe. And speaking of the outsole: With the Flagship Women, it is divided into two parts, i.e. interrupted. Only the midsole is continuous.
The highlight of this division of the outsole is noticeable when you step on and move your body position. While the continuous midsole gives the shoe the necessary rigidity, the two-part outsole allows a rotary movement of the rear part of the shoe, but this does not result in your rotary movement of the front part of the shoe when stepping. If we couldn't explain this in words, check out the video below. This is where this peculiarity is explained.
The Flagship Women is perfect for tough routes on the rock.
Precise queuing and hooking
The Flagship Women is not a shoe for feel-good climbing. The stiff toe box with its hard rubber ensures a good position and power transmission on the smallest of steps and the aggressive downturn is perfect for difficult projects on the rock and ambitious indoor climbers.
The Unparallel Flagship Women in the test on Actiontalk TV
Facts about the Unparallel flagship climbing shoe
| locking system | 1-point Velcro fastener |
| preload | Aggressive |
| Stiffness midsole | Hart |
| Sole | Split sole |
| Toe area | Sole with 3.5mm RS rubber, toe hook patch with VC Pro rubber |
| Verse area | VC Pro rubber |
| Ideal for | Rock climbing and indoor projects at your limit, steep routes |
That might interest you
- Tips for indoor climbing on volume from Tomoa Narasaki
- One of the hardest flash inspections: Tomoa Narasaki with Decided (8b +)
- Craziest Moves - Dave Graham bouldering Petrichor (8c)
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Credits: Images unparallel