Butora Acro Comp Review (2023): Good Bouldering Pick for You?
The Butora Acro Comp is a high-performance machine of a shoe, with great Sensitivity and a modest price tag.
Bottom Line
South Korea is home to many of the world’s best sport climbers. Butora is a South Korean company, so it’s no real surprise that these climbing shoes are in their element indoors. We think indoor climbers will love how sensitive the shoe feels; it’s almost like climbing barefoot. Heel hooks and toe hooks are a breeze thanks to the insane grip offered by the Acro Comp’s super sticky rubber.
The incredible sensitivity that the Acro Comp provides makes them an excellent choice for edging, steep climbing, and smearing moves, too. Additionally, the Acro Comps boast some other big features, like the enormous scumming patch and high velcro strap. All of these elements turn the Acro Comp into an indoor bouldering powerhouse that can tackle even the hardest project.
To top it off, the Acro Comp is still a good bit more affordable than many of its competitors. While the shoe’s durability isn’t exactly elite, it’s more than acceptable if you primarily plan on using your Acro Comps indoors. We’d find it hard not to recommend the Acro Comps if you’re looking for a new comp shoe or indoor shoe in general.
- The Acro Comp is a touch more affordable than its competitors
- Excellent fit for climbers with wide feet
- Softness and extra grippy rubber mean the shoe conforms and sticks to just about any hold
- Less-than-optimal durability, especially for outdoor climbing
- Climbers with narrower feet may find the heel cup excessively roomy
- The Acro Comp brought on Achilles Pain in some testers
Introduction
The Butora Acro Comp is a unisex, specialized, aggressive slipper that especially suits indoor climbing and bouldering. It’s incredibly sensitive and performs best when hooking and edging.
Anyone with wider feet, in particular, will likely find that the shoe offers a great fit, though it does also come in a narrow version. Butora suggests coming down a half size in street shoes to get the Acro Comps as snug as possible.
The AC is also available in a tight-fit version for women or anyone with narrow feet.
Our Performance Breakdown of the Acro Comp
Comfort
Generally, we found the Acro Comp to be a reasonably comfortable, snug shoe. The tension rubber insole provides more than ample support to the foot’s arch. This is important for longer, more technical climbing sessions, where using a less supportive shoe can lead to foot pump. However, it’s worth noting that the sensitivity of the neo fuse rubber means you really feel the wall when edging in particular. Unless you have especially strong feet, expect to feel a little pain on smaller edges. Some climbers did also find that the shoe brought on Achilles pain.
Like other shoes made for elite indoor climbing, the Acro Comps use velcro closure. This keeps the shoes snug but does limit how much you can adjust them. The Acro Comp actually comes in both standard and narrow versions in terms of fit.
The standard, wide version of the Butora Acros felt practically 3d molded to our testers’ feet, especially at the forefoot and toe box. However, some climbers with especially narrow feet did find the heel cup a bit too roomy, even in the narrow version. We’d recommend that most climbers go down half a street shoe size to get the most accurate fit. Try before you buy, though!
Performance
Butora has marketed the Acro Comp as a softer version of its Acro model. This gives the shoes extra sensitivity and flexibility, making them particularly suited to indoor bouldering and sports climbing. However, it’s also fairly specialized; we would recommend another model if you’re looking for something more versatile or hard-wearing.
Edging
One thing that the Acro Comp doesn’t lack is edging prowess. The high tension heel rand helps the shoe maintain its structural integrity, even when edging problems force you onto the tiniest of holds.
The shoe’s softness makes even basic edging feel slightly insecure at times. The mildest edging isn’t usually a problem, though. Some shoes feel incredibly solid and supportive when edging as if you’re standing on a flat surface. That’s not the Acro Comp, but it won’t let you down on edges; you really feel them!
Hooking
Hooking is one of the Acro Comp’s greatest strengths. The shoe’s outer simply uses more rubber than many other models; this helps you stick when toe hooking in particular. Also, the rand does a great job at sustaining tension and providing torque throughout the midfoot. This is a big help for steeper hooking problems in particular.
Smearing
Put shortly; the Acro Comps smear like a dream. The shoe has one of the largest toe rubber surfaces we’ve ever seen, which certainly helps. You can also expect a decent amount of flex in the midsole, which allows you really dig into the wall. The stickiness of these Butora shoes makes smears feel very secure.
Jamming
Given that the Acro Comps are almost as soft as silly putty, you probably won’t be too surprised to hear that jamming in them isn’t the most comfortable experience. We also found that jamming degraded the soft rubber outer fairly quickly.
How Does the Acro Comp Hold Up to Different Climbing Styles?
Sport Climbing
Sport climbing is a blatant strong suit for the Acro Comp. Volume climbing, in particular, is a dream, thanks to the shoes’ incredibly sticky rubber outer. This outer makes sports projects so accessible; you won’t have to worry about sliding off glassy, slippery plastic holds.
Gym Climbing
The gym is where many of the Acro Comp’s strengths come through. This aggressive, sensitive shoe is perfect for technical, shorter routes. Plus, artificial volumes and holds wear the shoe much less than outdoor routes tend to.
Bouldering
While we would describe the Acro Comps as bouldering shoes, we feel we need to distinguish between indoor and outdoor bouldering. The shoe performs excellently indoors and outdoors, but its durability for outdoor routes is somewhat lackluster. So, this is worth keeping in mind if you do most of your climbs outdoors.
Having said that, bouldering is one area where this shoe shines. The Acro Comps pack several bouldering-friendly features, like the toe scumming patch and extra rubber outer. These features make quick work of maneuvers like toe scums, hooking, and edging.
Trad/Crack Climbing
To put it bluntly, the Acro Comp is clearly not a crack climbing shoe. The aggressive fit and profile of the Acro Comp make extensive crack climbs in the shoe fairly uncomfortable. However, shorter trad pitches involving jamming are undoubtedly doable with the Acro Comp.
Conclusion
The Butora Acro Comp is an elite shoe for bouldering and steep sport climbing. Its aggressive, downturned profile makes precision hooks, and in particular toe hooks, feel effortless. The shoes forefoot flexibility gives you enough torque for smearing, while the sticky Neo Fuse rubber outer clings to just about anything. We’d also say the rubber outer is a lifesaver for steeper or edging problems.
This shoe is highly specialized, so it’s not something we’d recommend to climbers looking for a more versatile option. Beginners with a more limited arsenal of climbing techniques will likely struggle to get the most out of the Acro Comps, too. Still, if you’re looking for a new indoor slipper that is more affordable, you may just find that the Acro Comps are a perfect match.
Facts
Technical Specs
| Weight | 8.8 oz/249 g |
| Fit | Performance |
| Shape | Asymmetrical |
| Downturn | Aggressive |
| Sole thickness | 4 mm |
| Stiffness | Soft |
| Closure | Velcro |
Do you need help?
Whether you’re looking for your first climbing shoes or interested in leveling up, picking the perfect pair is as much art as science!
Discover our 2023 selection of the best climbing shoes with a detailed buying guide.
Use
| Activities | Bouldering, sport |
| Level | Intermediate, advanced |
Technologies
| Outsole | NEO Fuse |
| Midsole | ABS midsole |
| Upper | Synthetic, natural leather |
Reference: Botura’s official website
Where to Buy It?
We buy most of our stuff from REI.com. Their service is excellent, and it’s a co-op, so they treat their employees well and answer to their members, not shareholders.
Note: we receive a commission when you buy through us. This keeps our team of writers/climbers going!