Evolv shoe recommendation

So: I won a pair of Evolv shoes (Yay!) I get to choose the model but don't really know the options. When I started climbing about 7 or 8 years ago I owned a pair of Defys purchased at an REI garage sale for about 10 minutes before the terrible fit and the agony created by translation of any minor bump on the wall to my toes made me sell or give them away. Since then I've avoided any Evolv shoes but now Evolv gets a second chance...

I have pretty well settled into lace up Miuras for my go-tos and climb NC and WV rock mostly. Ideally, I want shoes to complement the Miuras plus stretch a bit to conform to my feet not produce agony while wearing them.

After 10 min of research I'm considering:
Astroman - I seem to see a lot of positive feedback on these. Might be helpful for my aspirations toward more+better crack climbing.

One of the bouldering shoes - don't have a burly dedicated bouldering shoe in my arsenal yet.

Cruzers - cheap lightweight approach shoes. Be a shame to waste the whole value of the gift cert for this though since they are so cheap to begin with (and on sale at the moment).

Just looking to narrow down the options before I begin the tedious process of selecting, sizing, finding them to try on, and then figuring out which I can expect will and won't stretch.

Thanks people,
Matt

If you like the lace up miuras and want a great show for crack climbing I'd go with the lace up luchadors. Size them really big. For flat toes I wear a size 8 street shoe and wear a size 9 luchadors for crack.climbing. the Velcro luchadors a great too edgw very well. For steep stuff go nexo size .5 down for.street show. For all around go shaman. Size same as street shoe

I'm pretty well versed in Evolv shoes, and I love the pontas the most, followed by luchador lace then nexxo. They all have their situations, sizing to you're street shoe will give a snug fit, especially in the nexxo

I love the astroman for cracks. Cheaper shoe than the tc pros but i got a lot of mileage out of mine which is a benefit to a new/inexperienced crack climber. i went a half size larger and wear socks with them for comfort. Plus a big hell yeah to the pontas, fav all around shoe

Just saying, if you love the pontas like I do, grab some up, they're discontinued and going out of stock

Don't waste your certificate on the cruisers. They're comfortable and climb well enough, but don't give the support for anything other than easy approaches you could do in sandals or sneakers. They're better for long 5 easy slab routes than a rigorous approach. I only really wear them when I'm going to the local crag with friends who I'm going to set up sub 5.8 top ropes for and don't feel like changing into climbing shoes. I have a pair of Evolv addicts which are my warm up/lap shoes would probably be my crack shoes too if I had any decent cracks to use them on. Comfy and perform well enough.

I love my Astroman's

Perhaps we should start at the beginning -
- Defys - what caused pain and terrible fit?
- Miuras - why and where do they hurt?

I tried Geshidos(they don't make them anymore)and I hated them. Picked up a pair of Shamans and I love them, sized in street shoe size. they are aggressive but comfy still. I have a wider fore foot and a low volume shallow heel. most shoes leave a big ol' dead space in the heel for me, but the shaman fits great! so if you have a foot shape like that, that might be a good aggressive shoe for you. though I think the Nexxo is a bit more sensitive, the shaman has a thicker sole but the fit for me is so good that I'm ok giving up that sensitivity.

Response to Amarius:

Defys: I tried sizing these things a few different ways but even baggy and loose elsewhere the toe cup always created a pressure point on the top of my big toe. Whenever I misplaced a foot and banged the wall or a hold with my toes it created blinding pain. I've had a similar issue with some other tight fit shoes that bunch up my toes but nothing quite so extreme as this. I think I need either a close fit from the get-go or enough stretch to spread the load.

Miuras: Great fit all around, and I've been sizing them down over the years to dial in the optimal choice. I wear 9-9.5 street size and started in 42.5 and am now in 41.5 for comfort and 41.0 for aggressive and I can wear those for a couple hours without starting to create pain.

I don't really enjoy having to take off my shoes between climbs, although that might be a side effect of primarily wearing comfy lace-ups. I've never really found that trading pain for a close fit yielded an improvement in my climbing. If my foot hurts I can't place weight on it, simple as that...

All: Thanks for the feedback, this is really helping me get a sense of what to aim for.

Also, generally how's the rubber on these shoes?

Matt Westlake wrote: Also, generally how's the rubber on these shoes?

Very sticky, but does tend to wear fairly quickly. I absolutely love the geshidos, it's unfortunate that they are now discontinued:(

Has anyone tried the Axiom's yet? I haven't heard a thing about these shoes or had the chance to try them on, but they look nice to me.

I have the Astroman because TC pro not made in my size, I tried stuffing my foot in their biggest size and then wore out a pair Grandstone which never fit well. I usually get street shoe size in Evolve and 5.10 but after trying 13, had to get 13.5. I also picked up a pair of the Sparks thinking long all day comfy shoe and they have turned out to be great for multipurpose crack climbs. The Astroman is great for general crack and especially big cracks, they are pretty hot with all the padding. The rubber seems like 5.10.

I had certificate like that and got myself a pair of Evolv nexxo if you're looking for a dedicated bouldering shoe. I'm not normally an evolv guy but I'm very impressed.

Went half a size up from street shoe (half a size up from what the Brannock device said [those weird shoe sizing things things you step on at store]) and it's tight but not painful once they've been showered in and climbed (inside) in a couple time.

Anyways this shoe is pretty cool, but there isn't much info/reviews out there on them. I think I like them better than the solutions.

If you're looking for a slab/crack shoe I think there are better options out there than the astroman (based on what I've heard) but I've never climbed in them before.

DGraham wrote:If you're looking for a slab/crack shoe I think there are better options out there than the astroman (based on what I've heard) but I've never climbed in them before.

I own the Astroman and I love it. However, it is a very specialized shoe. It has an extremely stiff midsole--stiffer than any of the other 14 some shoes I have owned in the past. This makes it great for crack climbing and really crappy for just about everything else. It's not that the shoe cannot edge, it can quite well, but rather the problem is there is zero sensitivity when standing on crimps so you can misstep easily and blow it.

I used the Mythos before the Astromans for splitter cracks and I found the Astros are a fair bit better. So Astromans are great for splitters, but I wouldent recommend them for other forms of climbing. That said, Peter Croft invented the shoe for some of his hard alpine routes which involves face climbing, so your experience might differ.

+1 for the Astromans

Don't mean to hijack, but for the Astroman owners, have you had any stretch? I've seen people rec slight downsizing, street shoe sizing, or upsizing. I own the biggest they make (13.5) so upsizing is not an option... wondering if they will stretch out adequately or if I should sell them before I beat them up. I've read every thread on MP and Supertopo on these shoes but would still like some more opinions.

Mine have stretched a little bit but I dont think they would stretch anymore than 1/2 size. I wear a size 8 in street shoes but i had to get a 9 1/2 to get my toes flat in the astromans, this is just my experience though.

You might want to sell them but dang you got big feet dude

I love both the geshido and to my surprise the bandit. Everyone raved about the shamans and I got them and they hurt my feet a lot and I just don't think having a shoe that aggressive is necessary for me. Like everyone said don't waste it on a discontinued shoe though.. The luchadors do seems pretty cool and if I could choose a shoe they have out right now I would probably take my chances with those..

The luchadors are my favorite shoes right now, now that the pontases are no longer made

Mine stretched slightly, but not that much. They more or less formed to the shape of my foot, but they dident really get any longer.