Evolv Talon- Break-In?

Hello All,

As part of my switch from being entirely a trad climber to now being mostly a sport climber and boulderer, I decided to finally join the 21st century and get a proper pair of super-tight downturned shoes. Previously, I'd been using moderately-tight Miuras for a long time. I've been looking into getting a pair of downturned shoes that would "grab" better on really steep terrain (sport and boulders).

I got my hands on a fairly cheap (clearance) pair of Evolv Talons. They are sized very tight; I wear a 9.5 street shoe, and the Talons are in an 8.5. I can get them on easily, but if they were any smaller I would not be able to; my toes are totally curled and jammed into the end of the shoe. Out of the box, I can wear then for 5 minute intervals without too much discomfort, but after that the top knuckles of my (very bent) toes start to hurt. Perhaps a half-size up would have been better, but I was only able to get this size cheaply.

This leads to two questions:

How do you size your aggressive shoes? Is a bit of pain to be expected when they are new? I am somewhat concerned that I may have gotten them too tight, and am thinking about returning them.

Also, this is my first pair of super-tight downturned shoes, and I am wondering what to expect for break-in for these shoes. How long, etc. Also, any tips or tricks for accelerating break in would be appreciated.

personally I would never wear a shoe that hurt that much. fit 'em like a glove, not like chinese foot binding... if you wear shoes like that you will do long term damage to your feet.

i also don't send very hard boulder problems...

but it seems to me that footwork itself matters a lot more than shoes that hurt

Jon Moen wrote: How do you size your aggressive shoes? Is a bit of pain to be expected when they are new? I am somewhat concerned that I may have gotten them too tight, and am thinking about returning them. Also, this is my first pair of super-tight downturned shoes, and I am wondering what to expect for break-in for these shoes. How long, etc. Also, any tips or tricks for accelerating break in would be appreciated.

Generally, yes the shoes should hurt somewhat when new. I don't have any experience with Evolvs so I can't tell you how much they will stretch. I've yet to find a pair of shoes that doesn't stretch.

To ease the break in process, get your shoes wet, preferably with warm water, then wear them for as long as possible or until the water dries. Some folks wear their shoes in the shower, but I think that's a bit overkill. I'll wear mine 1-2 times, with water, while I'm vegging on the couch, then start wearing them in the gym for longer and longer periods. After 3-4 gym sessions they should be good to go; still tight bot not oppressively so.

I bought a pair of Evolv Talons in 9.5 and wear about a 10 in street shoes. I can say that they don't strech very much at all so you might have gone too far down in size. I think what you did might have been appropriate though if you were buying a completely leather shoe like La Sportiva Solutions.

My Anasazi's had a major hotspot over the knuckle of my big toe when they were new. I got them wet and stretched that area by putting a wooden spoon turned sideways (the first thing I thought of) inside them until they dried. To my surprise, that actually worked pretty well.

Evolvs tend to run close to your street shoe size, even in their agressive models. They also don't stretch much. You'll find that they break in a bit over time as they mold to your feet, but it sounds like you may have gone too small for that to make any difference for you.