Unparallel TN-Finity | Climbing Shoe Review

Powerful, precise and properly versatile, the new Unparallel TN-Finity takes pretty much everything I loved about Tomoa Narasaki’s first Unparallel shoe - the TN Pro - and gives it a sharper, more modern edge.

I’ve been a huge fan of Unparallel shoes for a while now, and particularly the models designed in conjunction with arguably the finest men’s competition climber of our time, Tomoa Narasaki. The TN Pro remains one of the best shoes I’ve ever worn, excelling on steep terrain, boards and minuscule footholds, while models like the Flagship Pro pushed things in a softer, more progressive direction. The TN-Finity finally feels like a combination of the absolute best those two worlds have to offer.

At heart, it’s still very much a TN Pro-style shoe: aggressive, supportive and designed to generate a tonne of power through your feet. This newer model, though, comes in a touch stiffer, the construction feels more considered throughout, and Unparallel has borrowed some of the most successful ideas from its newer performance shoes and woven them neatly into the mix.

Power. Lots of it.

If there’s one word that sums up the TN-Finity, it’s power.

Unparallel has gone with a full-length injection-moulded RH rubber outsole, rather than the split-sole setup that seems to feature on almost every modern performance shoe at the moment. The injection-moulded construction gives the outsole greater density and structure than a conventional cut-rubber sole, and when that’s paired with a fairly stiff midsole, pronounced downturn and substantial rand, the result is a shoe that feels supremely confident and solid underfoot.

There’s been a very obvious shift over the last few years towards split outsoles, softer midsoles, thinner rubber and increasing amounts of flex at the top end of the climbing shoe market. All of that has its place, of course, but the trend has become so dominant that a genuinely stiff performance shoe now feels almost rebellious. That’s particularly interesting when it comes from Narasaki, a climber best known for dynamic, modern competition climbing.

The TN-Finity’s full-length sole therefore feels almost counter-culture cool in the current landscape, and it’s refreshing to see a climber like Tomoa pushing a design philosophy that bucks the current comp trend.

More importantly, though, does it actually work in a modern climbing environment on the foot of someone considerably more ordinary than Tomoa Narasaki? Thankfully, it does.

On a board, the TN-Finity is exceptional. Small screw-ons and marginal footholds become noticeably more usable because you can drive through the front of the shoe without it folding underneath you. When you’re stretched out and trying to maintain tension through your feet, there’s a solidity running from heel to toe that softer shoes simply can’t replicate. In essence, it’s exactly what I loved about the TN Pro, only with more punch, greater structural integrity and a noticeably more refined feel.

Built for Real Rock

That support translates incredibly well to real rock too. This is probably where my own preferences come into play most. I’ve always gravitated towards stiffer shoes because so much of my climbing is either outside or on boards, where tension and precision matter more to me than being able to completely pancake a shoe across a giant indoor volume. The ability to toe into small edges, crystals and limestone jibs is pretty much
non-negotiable, and the TN-Finity is outstanding in that regard.

It gives you a remarkably positive platform on tiny footholds. Rather than feeling like the shoe is wrapping around the feature, you can properly stand on it, load it and dominate it. On technical rock, that extra support makes a substantial difference, particularly when footholds become increasingly marginal.

There’s obviously a trade-off. A stiff, full-length sole is never going to smear quite as effortlessly as something super soft like the Flagship Pro, but I’ve been surprised by how little you actually give away here.

The RH rubber deserves a special mention here. In my experience, it offers the best balance of friction and support of any rubber on the market. With 4.2mm out of the box, the TN-Finity can be forgiven for being a touch numb to begin with, but as the shoe beds in you start getting progressively more feedback through the forefoot. Crucially, though, however long you’ve been using the shoe, it never loses the underlying structure that gives the TN-Finity so much authority on smaller footholds.

Old(ish) Dog, New Tricks

The TN-Finity isn’t simply a stiffer TN Pro with a fresh colourway.

One of the biggest upgrades is the RS rubber toe patch, which has effectively been borrowed from the Flagship Pro. It gives you a larger, cleaner and much more functional hooking surface, making the TN-Finity considerably more capable on modern indoor problems. The toe patch was one of the genuine weaknesses of the TN Pro, so this feels like a particularly worthwhile evolution. Toe hooks now feel far more secure and deliberate, and you can really pull through the rubber without feeling the upper shift around or your foot move inside the shoe.

Perhaps more importantly, the softer RS rubber over the top of the toes also makes the shoe noticeably more comfortable. The TN Pro’s stiffer rand rubber could feel fairly uncompromising across the top of the foot, whereas the TN-Finity feels much more forgiving without sacrificing performance - a very welcome change when popping this shoe on for the first time!

The moulded sole unit is another significant step forward. The TN Pro already had an excellent platform, but the TN-Finity feels like Unparallel has managed to extract more tension, precision and rigidity from the same overall philosophy. Pair that with the thicker rand rubber around the front of the toes and the lateral rigidity of the shoe - particularly through side-to-side movements - feels considerably more substantial.

That extra structure is especially noticeable when you’re twisting through awkward footholds or trying to maintain tension from less-than-perfect positions. The shoe just feels harder to deform, and in the right context that translates directly into confidence.

Familiar Unparallel Fit

Sizing’s been dead straightforward for me.

I’m a UK 8 street shoe and wear the TN-Finity in a UK 7, which is exactly the same size I’ve used across every Unparallel performance shoe I’ve owned, including the TN Pro, Flagship Pro and Souped Up.

Fit-wise, it’s very recognisably Unparallel: relatively narrow through the heel and midfoot, asymmetric through the front and precise without feeling excessively restrictive. With a synthetic upper, this can be slightly unforgiving at first, but quickly relaxes in an extension of your foot after a few sessions.

The TN-Finity does feel slightly more comfortable through the forefoot than the TN Pro, though. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s wider, because the overall profile is still fairly narrow, but it feels shaped a little more naturally around the toes and less claustrophobic through the front of the shoe.

Round Up

The TN Pro was already a superb shoe, but the TN-Finity takes that same powerful, supportive character and sharpens it in almost every meaningful way.

It’s a touch stiffer, the moulded sole delivers even more authority on small footholds, the Flagship Pro-style toe patch dramatically improves its modern climbing credentials, and the whole package now feels more complete and more polished. Most importantly, Unparallel hasn’t thrown away what made the TN Pro so compelling in the first place. The TN-Finity still gives you a proper platform to pull against, and for board climbing and real rock that’s exactly what I wanted.

At the same time, it’s versatile enough that I never feel like I’m dragging some specialist edging weapon around the climbing wall. It still smears well, it still performs on volumes, and the updated toe construction makes it considerably more useful on contemporary indoor terrain.

That versatility is ultimately what makes it stand out and if I had to own one performance shoe for everything, this is probably the one I’d pick. Powerful, precise, increasingly sensitive as it breaks in and genuinely accomplished almost everywhere, the TN-Finity might just be Unparallel’s most complete shoe yet.