La Sportiva  TX4 EVO ST Approach Shoes - Men's

Excellent materials. Durable. Nylon- or polyester-reinforced upper. Stiffer than original TX4. Geared towards hiking instead of V0-V2 climbs. Sharp, chic styling. Lacing mechanism is way better than original TX4. Laces slide easily. Sizing is pretty far off. I usually do 47.5 for Sportiva. I'm a 13 US D width men's. The 47.5 felt like 12.5 US D width men's. My toes were about 3/4 to the end of the rubber toeguard. My original TX4s were 47.5. Sportiva needs to better research their sizing. I've only had issues with Sportiva lately. Not other Italian brands like Scarpa/Asolo.

so i haven't even been able to wear them out yet, but I'm giving them 3 stars based on 1) having worn tx4's for years and loved them (lots of stars) and 2) deducting stars for the sizing be so crazy off compared to the old tx4 model. I ordered my usual size (44.5) and they were super tight. at REI today I had to size up to 46 in the tx4 evos to be comfy. I'm hoping the ST sizing is similar for reordering the STs online. this happens to me ALL THE TIME with sportiva boots and approach shoes. please get it together sportiva!

I had a pair of these TX4s from a few years ago, size 44.5. Loved them and wore them Through thick & thin. When I decided to get these in "Yellow" I paid heed to the Sizing comments and stepped up 1/2 size to 45; and they fit just fine. Very nice support and "linear tracking", they are replacing a pair of Topos that make my knees twist inward, causing pain after walking a mile or so. Dinged these badboys one star because they are NOT YELLOW. More of a French's Mustard color; which really bummed me out, because I love Yellow and ordered these for that specific reason. Keeping them because I love the way they feel on my feet and what they do for my gait. So once again, I think you might consider going up 1/2 size from older TX4s, but that's about it. Sorry for the other guys' issues; but I had no such issues.

TLDR: If you are thinking of buying these to replace your old TX3s or TX4s, expect a lot of trial and error to find what size, if any, works for you now because these look similar but are pretty different shoes. The old (pre-2025) TX3 (nylon mesh) and TX4 (nubuck) non "EVO" versions of this TX4 shoe were sort of cult favorites due to their unusually wide forefoot and burly but still reasonably flexible construction. Sort of like beefed up trail runners that you could take for a multiday hike with a light load if necessary. Personally, I mostly used them for many, many 10-15 mile day hikes throughout the Sierra, the Santa Cruz mountains, and the Berkeley Hills. I've burned through four pairs in the last several years. For reference, I measure 9.5 on a Brannock device, just barely an E width, my toes are apparently slightly shorter than most, and I have pretty high arches. These new version are a very different shoe. First and foremost, the sizing is completely different. I wear a 43 or 43.5 in the old version. I purchased a 43.5 and 44 in the new "EVO" version and even the 44s are slightly too small - my toes rub against the front going down any steep slope, unlike the old versions which had plenty of room. This is partly due to the sizing just being way off (they are just physically shorter for any given size), but also the shape of the last is the slightly different despite the mfg literature I found saying the last is the same. Across the ball of the foot to your pinky toe, the width is about the same, but it tapers inward more sharply toward the front of the shoe, leaving less room in front for your middle toes than before -- you can clearly see this by comparing the removable insoles, and I also definitely noticed it as soon as I tried the shoes on. Also, the overall volume of the shoe seems lower -- the shoe hugs the underside of your arch a bit more and the toe box seems slightly lower in height. The end result is a shoe that constrains your foot more and just has less room for your toes to move and flex to do their thing. Some may think this is more supportive, but I much preferred the old last that let my toes splay naturally out a bit and my (rather high, fwiw) arch to flex more naturally. On the plus side (for me at least), the new EVO version is quite a bit stiffer -- apparently there is some plastic shank now in the mid-sole. The result is the shoe resists twisting more and, most noticeably, there is much less flex between the heal and ball of the shoe. The result is you will sort of walk with more of the clunk clunk of real hiking boot on pavement. It's definitely not true hiking boot stiff, but the shoe has lost most of its trail runner softness and flex. For easy day hikes, or very short trips through rocky terrain, I preferred the more flexible feel of the old shoes because it is more comfortable and the shoe could confirm more to better grip uneven surfaces. BUT for longer hikes over rocky terrain, especially with any sort of a load, I really like the stiffer soles --- my feet were much less tired and tender after, say, a tough, rocky 15 mile, 6000', day hike with a small day pack of water, food, extra clothing etc, for my spouse and me. The tongue on the new version is attached on both sides, unlike the old which was attached on just one side. The result is the tongue stays better centered than sliding off to one side like before. I prefer the new. The removable foam insole of the new version have less of a "metatarsal bump". The old foam insoles had a very slight increase in thickness running along underneath your middle metatarsal bones in your arch. A lot of shoes these days have this, and I hate it -- it makes my toes numb and/or painful after a couple hours, so I quickly replaced the insole in my old TX3/4s. The new versions have much less of a bump. Still there is a very, very slight bump, so I replaced my insoles anyway. Overall, I prefer the new version slightly because of the greater stiffness, but because the sizing is so off, I will be exchanging these for an even larger sized 44.5 to see how those work.

I shoulda strived to order these shortly after midnight on member discount day. Poof! Gone. Hope they aren’t a limited run and are restocked.