La Sportiva Mantra Longish term review

I've just bought a pair of la sportiva matras and thought I'd document my experience with them over a couple of months. I've seen a few reviews, but all of them were mostly first time experiences. I'm hoping to give a bit of a better long term perspective. I'll update this post as I go.

Day 1

I had a very positive first session. Going from some Evolv Sharmans, they feel so sensitive. I loved this, as you can always feel when your feet aren't quite right. Saying that, it felt like if I wasn't right, they're very unforgiving. The sharmans let you get away with having a bit of a sloppy foot, but if you do the same with the matras, you're slipping. On the other hand, sometimes the sharmans just slip without warning, as you're missing the sensitivity that will tell you that you're not quite on the hold.

Size wise I've picked spot on. I'm a 9 in the sharmans and I've picked a 41 EU in the mantras, which seems perfect. Note that if you're getting these in the UK beware that the 41 and 41.5 both say they're a 7.5 UK in shops. This also varies between the 2023 mantras and the 2024 mantras where the boundaries are a tiny bit different. Trying them on at home I was a bit worried they would be too big, but they feel perfect in the gym. I've got a wide foot¹ and I feel the shape is perfect for me. Considering they're pretty thin though, they might get a bit loose if they strech, so time will tell.

Week 1

Now that I've spent a little bit more time, I can feel the areas that the shoe is a little weak in. Without the midsole and with thin rubber, the shoe feels very comfortable and easy to fit into; you have to be very confident with toe strength and foot placement. With the outside edge especially, it's very easy to slip off a small foothold where with a midsole you would be able to hold on. In particular, pebble footholds can be agony and make you feel almost like you are risking punching through the rubber. With all that said, I'm still very much having fun with the shoe. Very good on volumes, very good on front-on small edges, very comfortable still.

I've had a couple of sweaty sessions this week, and so the shoes have stretched a tiny bit, maybe 1/4 of a size. I'm pretty pleased with this, and so I would say when buying this shoe, treat the fitting size as the final size as well. The shoe keeps its size very well, only stretching enough to make any sore spots eventually disapear.