So I'm shopping for new pair of trad shoes, mostly for crack climbing. Any experience using Evolv's? I've tried on every company's shoes and Evolv is the only company that fits my feet nice and snug. The "Defy" looks OK, as does the "Evo." Thanks!

i got the demortos last spring, and they are such a great shoe. they edge well and are really comfortable for crack climbing. my partner had evos, and they are really a beginner shoe. if you want crack shoes, go with demortos.

Heck. I'll climb offwidths and chimneys in my Evolv Maximus's sometimes. (wall boots)

i just got back today from the creek and i climbed in defys and bandits for the last couple days and the defys held up way better than the other and for me they were way more comfortable, the only down side is the velcro kept coming undone in cracks ranging from thin hands to thin fists. but i can't say it was a problem beyond aesthetics.

I've done a ton of crack climbing in Evolves. In fact, I've climbed cracks in nothing but evolve's for about 5-6 years.

I think their current best offering for really difficult cracks is simply the Defy or Defy ES (even softer) with shoe goo over the upper to keep it from wearing out.

The Quest AF is really nice too, much stiffer and designed more to be worn all day. Beware though, if you take it to the creek, it will wear out extremely fast due to the stiffener in it. They'll last quite a while anywhere else though.

I have the Evolv Defys. Personally, I really like the shoe in general and I have done some mild crack climbing with them. They are not the greatest shoe for the price range (I am partial to Red Chili's) but they do their job well. Many review sites state that it wears out quickly due to the softer rubber, which is possible on any high friction soft rubber shoe. Overall, they are a really good all around shoe. But personally, they smell.... They really smell.

I have several pairs of lightly used Evolve climbing shoes that I'm selling for a friend. I'll post up particulars and pictures this week. I'd prefer to sell in the Front Range so we can do a shoe fitting. I'll happily drive out to where you are to fit them even if you don't end up liking them.

bandits with the toe flat or barely knucked. Then you can actually edge with them when you have to step out of the crack.

I also love anasazi Verde's fit the same. You can wear socks to make them slightly tighter (depending on gold toe vs athletic socks) for when you really want to edge better. Yet they are fit loose enough to toe into rand smears and/or not kill yourself with handcracks.

Bandits don't stretch.

I also hear if you get the green Evolv laceups fit really loose they toe in like crazy on thin cracks

Really liked my Defys at first.

then the smell came, worse smelling shoe ever, and honestly they wore out in about 2 months. Pretty sad.

They do climb well, until your toes are coming through the rubber.


Good luck!

Yes I do. It's the only pair I used until someone gave me a pair of 5.10 pitons. I love evolvs. I can usually squeeze in a few more pitches if I wear socks during climbing. I know you lose major cool points with the sock thing, but I don't care I would rather climb.

+1 on the Evolv Bandits. Awesome for mixed crack/face climbing. Great at edging and as long as you don't size them too small you can stuff them in a crack quite well. Great Eldo shoes. I have used them in BoCan, Yosemite, the Gunks, and on the Diamond as well with success.

I'm not sure how great they would be somewhere like the Creek though...I go with roomy 5.10 Mocasyms there. However, mine are sized a bit too tight for the Creek and I've never bought a larger pair of them.

uhhhh, +1 on the smell factor:

I'm vegetarian so the shoes fit my style - no leather...however, they do smell more than leather shoes...no doubt. I have to wash mine every month or two if I'm climbing a lot. I just wash by hand with a bit of soap and a toothbrush.

I also found some natural spray scent that seems to work well for that.