Butora
ACRO

A favorite amongst wide-footed climbers, the Butora Acro snuck onto the climbing scene in 2015 and quickly became known as a high-performance sport and bouldering shoe that can compete with the biggest names in the game. For those of you who haven’t heard of Butora, this Korean company burst into the climbing world in 2014 under the ownership of Nam Hee Do – a man with some serious climbing shoe credentials having worked with various shoe manufacturers (including Five Ten and Evolv) for decades. The company’s attention to detail is also second to none, with hardly any glue visible on the outside of the shoe.

Toe Box

These shoes have an asymmetric design with a centralized toe box that directs weight from the midsole directly to your big toes. This, paired with the aggressive last and the spoon-dipped sole, help make the Acro one of the best pocket climbing shoes I have used.

It goes without saying that the rubber on top of the toe box massively aids toe hooks. In fact, Butora claims that the Acro has ‘one of the largest toe rubber surfaces of any downturned shoes’ making hooks secure and comfortable.

But all that rubber does have a downside.  More rubber means more heat trapped in the shoe. That’s why, as well as aiding with friction, you will find pinpoints vents dotted around the toe box, rand, and heel cup.

Heel

I was equally as impressed with the back of the shoe as I was with the front of it. The heel has a generous coating of Butora’s Neo Fuse rubber – and while this helps perform technical heel hooks well – it doesn’t feel as bulky or lacking the sensitivity of other leading bouldering shoes.

I have also noticed that the high-tension heel rand maintains the shape of the heel cup very well while minimizing the movement in the heel – without causing pain in your Achilles – which is a big problem that a lot of climbing shoes face. Another cool feature is that the area of the heel which is not covered in rubber is designed to allow your heel to securely fill the heel cup, helping to reduce any dead space. 

Overall, this is a minimally designed heel design that strikes a great balance between sensitivity and performance which pays dividends heel hooks.

Rubber

As previously mentioned, the Butora Acro uses their own rubber compound called “Neo Fuse” which is reserved for their sport climbing and bouldering shoe. This is the stickiest rubber compound in Butora’s arsenal and can be found in many of its other performance shoes including the Narsha and its newest model, the Gomi.

In my opinion, the 4mm rubber delivers a good balance between durability and friction. While these are semi-soft shoes, they don’t deliver the complete sensitivity of other bouldering shoes like the Instinct VSR. 

That said, the upside to less friction is that the rubber is super durable, and after several months of putting them through their paces, I am happy to report that there is still no evidence of delamination. 

Comfort and Fit

Instead of dividing their shoes by gender, Butora has a narrow and wide version that helps get the fit you want, which is awesome. While finding the right size climbing shoe isn’t always the easiest task, their narrow/wide option paired with the Acro’s velcro closure system is sure to help you get the.

Due to being mostly rubber, Butora Acros take some time to break in and mold to your foot. One of the great things about Butora shoes is that they tend to follow normal street shoe sizes (crazy, I know). For an aggressive fit, Butora suggests downsizing half a size – which is what I did – and found these to be pretty snug. That said, I tend to downsize pretty aggressively for my shoes and was pleasantly surprised with how tight these were and how little they stretched (took about 2 months for ½ a size stretch).

My street shoe is about a 42.5 EU, so I got these in a 42, which felt similar to a 39.5 in La Sportiva. When compared to other shoes, they feel great straight out of the box. While I wouldn’t recommend taking these along for your next big trad expedition, they do offer a slightly higher level of comfort than other leading bouldering shoes.

The Verdict

Here at Climbing Shoe Review, we believe in recommending a shoe based on what it was intended for – and for steep sport climbing and bouldering – and so far the Acros have hit the mark. 

If you are an intermediate climber that wants to try aggressive shoes that aren’t going to break the bank, these could be the shoe for you. We hope your Butora Acro review has given you some food for thought. If you really want to get your hands on these shoes, you can find them on Amazon here. Or if you want to keep looking for your perfect pair, make sure to have a look at more of our shoe reviews!