evolv addicts (climbing slipper)

mountainhick wrote:I am 10.5 street shoe size. I want all day comfortable flat fit without slop for the long term (not necessarily immediately out of the box, can tolerate some break in). Should I order 10.5 addicts?

Ordering a new model of Evolves without first trying them on? You'd have better luck buying a rope at Batteries Plus.

WillamR wrote: depends on what you want to climb. Crack would be street size, face a half size down, if you want them to edge well for face climbing (not comfort fit) it's a full size down.

Do yourself a favor and go try them on. I downsized a half size and that works well for me on cracks, slabs, and face. But as I mentioned before, footwork and technique are my main strength as a climber.

Thanks all for the input. I placed my order.

Yes, of course better to go try on. No argument there for those of you near shops to do so. I don't have that luxury.

So far they seem moccasym-ish. I've mostly gym climbed and sport climbed outdoors with them though, and they have been great for that. I wouldn't expect them to be edging masterpieces, obviously, and I've only climbed one crack.

I had an REI gift certificate and they didn't have my moccasym size, so there ya go. I'm reserving complete judgment as I've only had them a month now, but they seem fine so far and more than adequate as a "stop gap" shoe while I get my work horses resoled.

Earth Treks had a Evolv demo night last night so I tried a pair of Addicts. My shoe size is 11.5 so I tried on 11.5s figuring they be too tight. I ended up with 12s after i couldnt get the 11.5s on my feet. The 12s climbed great. I felt more comfortable climbing the fake crack at the gym than my Muiras. I thougnt you mignt wanna know.

I have climbed with the Addicts on about 15 multi-pitch trad routes from 5.6 to 5.10 and in the gym. I love them for trad climbing that has a lot of cracks to conquer. They are fantastic for jamming in to hand and fist cracks. They also do really well with smearing. They can edge relatively well for what they are, but they aren't great at it compared to something like a Katana or Muira designed primarily for edging. The flat construction and lack of stiffness won't allow it to ever be a great edging shoe. On overhanging routes they just don't hook to things like a downturned shoe will or have any where near the power. However, I felt that they edge a lot better than Moc's do because the addict's toe is more pointy and it has a small edging insert in it. I personally like these a lot more than 5.10's Moc. They definitely got me through some hard edging on less than vertical to vertical, but they weren't optimal for it.

I demo'ed a pair a couple nights ago, mostly in the gym's wooden finger-crack, and I can say that they were far more confidence-inspiring than the evolve Quest AF shoes I so love for all-day wearing and general use, and wish they still made...as well as the random 5.10 shoes I got on sale to salvage what was left of the quests while I get back in shape. The fit was equally as good as the Quests, though I think a half-size smaller than my shoes (also climb in them with socks in just above freezing weather, hence the fit). Narrow in the toes for tight cracks, generally good-feeling last and upper. I tried on a pair of Mocc's in the same size and they were off in every dimension for my feet. I'm actually very tempted to pick up a pair if I can find them reasonably priced in my area.

Defy works pretty good. Can get a tight and loose pair for @170$. The heel isnt much but these work better than shamans or solutions in many situations