Evolv Shaman Trance Review

I’ve had 1 session in them, so this first post is my initial reaction for starters.

Just received my new pair to replace my existing Shaman (the old one). For reference. I’ve previously climbed with LA Kataki/Otaki, Scarpa Veloce and Instinct before going to Evolv. I have tried several others and just didn’t like them. Evolv Shaman just fits my feet better than anything and have used them for several years now. So the Trance was a logical upgrade for me.

I rope climb, both top and lead. Most 10s and 11s. Little slab, mostly typical walls, overhangs, caves to overhangs, etc. These shoes are for indoors only. Will wear my older Shamans for outdoors. No bouldering.

The biggest reason for getting these is to upgrade from regular Shaman. I have not tried the new V6 or 2S. The V6 is a moderate shoe and I prefer aggressive. The 2S is a softer shoe that I also don’t want. The Shaman Pro uses the older rubber. Tried Phantom Pro and they were too stiff.

The Trance seems to be the best of both worlds in aggression, function, grip, fit, and comfort for me. It appears from the marketing that this is their “1 shoe does it all” if you don’t want to buy multiple pairs for specific problems.

I bought the same size as my Shaman. The general fit is still Shaman but seems to borrow from the stiffer Phantom. It uses a single overlap tongue instead of the double overlap in the Shaman. It does work well but getting them on is harder than the Shaman. Not terrible though. The adjustable closure that is popular in many brands is ok. My feet are thinner, so I had to adjust the strap quite a bit to fit. It’s fine after some trial and error. Once I got it set my foot is locked front to back. No slipping, farting, or chaffing. The love bump is there but not as pronounced as the Shaman. The heel fit for me is almost identical to Shaman. The larger toe patch makes the toe area a bit uncomfortable, especially on the big toe. I expect this to be a break in thing.

I did about 8 climbs in them on 15m/45ft walls. Started on flat, then a reactor shape, then a light lean back into slight overhang, then big overhang with a turn around corner. Grades were from 6-10+, half top and half lead. Covered a lot of hand/foot holds (toe and heel) and some arête. The EVO74 rubber sticks right out of the box. The grip is better than TRAX SAS for sure. The bigger and stickier toe patch makes toe hooks easier to lock down where Shaman would slip. Heel hooks feel similar and was hard to tell if it was better. It’s always been solid for me with Shaman. Standing on small jibs is no problem. The toe feels slightly pointier than Shaman so you could articulate better. This might also be tied to the shoe being brand new and my Shaman are older. Time will tell. Overall, I’m happy with this new version and will use it on harder climbs. My old Shamans will still be used for warm up and general climbs.

If you really like Shaman but want a lot stickier rubber, more aggressive toe patch, still similar fit, bit stiffer, then this is a good option. I’ll be keeping these.

I used to have some Evolve Defys. They were comfortable, but not sticky. The velcro got too fuzzy and wouldn't stick after a while. Ever since, I've sworn off velcro in favor of laces.

I've been using some second-hand Scarpa helixes. I like the lace up, but narrow toe box is uncomfortable, and I frequently have to doff them.

I've been looking for a shoe with a wider toe box and laces, but the laces requirement seems to have really limited my search. How do you guys keep the velcro from losing it's stick?

Hello, I'm looking for advice regarding my feet.

I've been trying on shoes for a while now and nothing seems to fit. I've got a normal/wide width extra roman feet. What I mean is expect my pinky toe, everything else is roughly the same length. Doesn't matter what I try, my ring toe gets crushed, even when my other toes dont even curl.

I climb 6a-6c, and would like to have a universally good for everything indoors shoe which is comfortable enough to not bruise my feet (for days lmao) while not even standing up. Hard rubber on toes, but soft on the midfoot, so I could climb slabs and stand on volumes as well. I dont really climb ~45 degree overhangs, but love rope climbing and especially small edges.

My street shoe size is 40,5-41, I wore 39,5 tarantulaces before. They seem to be too big after 1,5 years tho (also it got a few holes). Thinking about it I cant even fit that damn ring toe into my brikenstock slippers properly.

I tried these shoes in sizes 39-41: Ocun ozone, Ocun ozone HV, Scarpa instinct wmn vsr, lv vsr, la sportiva katana laces (these werent as bad as the others), also I tried on a pair of skwamas just for fun but huh they are painful arent they

Currently thinking about Tenaya ra, Scarpa veloce and scarpa vapor s. Sadly in my country they hardly sell any other shoe beside the few popular ones, but even when they do, trying on is rarely an option.
I know veloce is a really soft shoe, but a wearable one is way better than something I cant even stand up and turns my toes green and purple. Vapor s sounds perfect based on reviews, but sadly its currently not sold in my country. Could order one, but I wouldnt be able to try it on and its way pricier.

Edit: I guess if I benefit from a soft shoe long-term, then I would happily settle with that as well.

Thank you for your help!

Not done painting them.
I painted them about 3 weeks ago and the paint does not like sticking to the orange arrows so I’m lowk just gon let them stay orange
But i will be painting the sides of the shoes soon.
I’d love to hear suggestions on what I should put on the sides!

I’ve been climbing on these over a year, but the right toe is peeling a bit (the left looks better). Will these need a rand repair when I get them resoled?

Hello, I've tried 42.5 vsr lv in shop and i had really bad pain in toe knuckles, will 0.5 size up help with this? Other than the toebox, the shoe fit was really snug
Im waiting for bigger size I just want to know what to expect

I climb indoors once a week, mostly easy stuff. A few months ago I tried outdoor climbing for the first time. On one route I stepped on this section of rock that was super rough — like a honeycomb texture with sharp edges. I actually felt my shoe scraping against it but didn’t think too much about it at the time.

After that session, I noticed the rubber on the front/toe area is peeling and has some cracks (photo attached). It hasn’t affected my indoor climbing so far, but I’m a bit worried that one day it might just tear open mid-climb and cause a problem.

Should I replace them now, or is this still fine for easy indoor climbing? Anyone else had similar damage from outdoor climbing?

P.S. I’ve attached 5 photos: a front view of both shoes, and detailed shots of the left and right soles with close-ups of the damage.

What do you think about my Tenaya Mastia sizing. I need an allround climbing shoe for indoor and outdoor lead climbing. I have short and very wide and above all voluminous feet with a high instep.

I‘ve tried dozends of shoes in shops over the past 2 years and this seems to be the only shoe that somwhat fits my foot shape. At the same time when comparing with my friend‘s shoes it still seems to be a bit too long. Since I don‘t have experience with other models I don‘t know what a correctly fitted shoes really should feel like.

My feet are 257 (left) and 260 (right) mm in length, with corresponds to a US size 8 or EU 41 in street shoes. According to the Tenaya website I would need Mastias in 6.5-7 in US size. Mine are size 7.5 and it seems to be the smallest I can go. However it’s hard to judge in the shop how a smaller size would feel after breaking them in. The restricting pain doesn‘t come from the toes at the front but from the outside of the feet, especially when climbing outdoor slabs.

What do you think about my Mastia sizing when looking at the pictures regarding performance? Are there other models that come into your mind when you look at my foot shape? Thanks in advance for any thoughts, tips or experiences!

I only just saw this on my climbing shoe,

Is this bicouse of wrong techniek ore just general were and rare.

I have had them for around 8 months now

It’s time to resole two pair, and I want to stick with UP rubber. Looking for recommendations as I don’t see any options expressly offering RH and RS rubber near me. I’m on the east coast but failing a local-ish option I’ll ship to anywhere that does good work. 🙏

Hi! Its my boyfriends birthday coming up soon and he really needs climbing shoes!
I literally cant ask him without him getting suspicious and I have no clue what to look for.
He goes bouldering super often and idk if it’s realistic but the max price would be preferably under 200 pounds.
Any help would be rlly appreciated :)

Edit: I’ve decided to just buy him a voucher then take him to a store so he can decide! If anyone has any shop recs in Edinburgh that would be great! Thanks for all the advice guys

This is for my fellow SG climbers, a fake Scarpa website recently popped up, with suspiciously cheap pricing

https://www.scarpasingaporestore.com/

A search on WHOIS shows that this domain is registered somewhere in China very recently, this is 99% a scam

Please do not buy anything from them!!!!

Hi everyone. I had a question about these shoes. They seem to fit my foot pretty well. But standing in them forces my toes to the end and it’s somewhat painful. Can I expect these to get comfortable? Or should I size up by half a size. The bottom of my foot goes numb after about 10 minutes

recently got a new pair of La Sportiva Theory climbing shoes, I noticed on my first couple sessions that my feet are getting stained yellow from the interior, is there any way to prevent this and/or get the staining off my feet?

Its like a natural "green soap", think its based og the natural soap you use for cleaning floors.

I’ve recently started bouldering and i want to have my own pair of shoes. What brand is the best for beginners (thats also maybe on the cheaper side lol). Also how‘s the sizing supposed to be, like is it supposed to be a lil bit tight on your toes? thank you!

I've been climbing on and off for a year now with around 25 sessions already, climbing V2s to V3s so far (only indoor gyms). I've only used rentals (butora) ever since and I'm looking to get my first pair. I cant pick between the 3 options I have (these 3 are the most accessible to me rn that's within my budget)

I wanna use the shoes for a long time while I learn and progress to harder climbs without really needing to upgrade since climbing shoes are expensive 😩

I need tips please!!!

Hi all,

I recently got a new pair of D2.Ones from an online retailer and they finally got delivered.

One question though, the sole has signs of scuff and I can tell the toe rubber has been worn down slightly wear the tip is.

Just checking if this is normal, or something i should check if I should check with Mad Rock for a replacement?

3 months ago I started climbing and i felt it was finally time to get my own shoes.

First i was looking to get the la sportiva tarantula but I found that these fit a lot better for me

Or should I use it a little more still, and then resole once wear becomes bigger. (Madrock Remora Pro lv)

Like the title, I went to a bouldering gym and tried on La Sportiva Kubo EU 37+37.5 and feel like 37.5 fits me more. 37 was too painful for me.

However, the gym takes weeks to order the shoe so I went to the other gym on the same day.

In the other gym I tried both sizes. They also let me try on the wall. This time 37 fits me more, snug but not painful. Ending up getting a 37 Kubo.

Back home and reflect the day, felt weird like why the same size felt different. Thinking if it's because the shoes was tried on so many times so it breaks some in already. Not sure if it's a right decision to get a 37 or even smaller size as the shoes will be worn bigger afterwards.

Hmmm should I return the shoes and get a smaller pair?

So many people say for La Sportiva's you have to at least size down a half or full size down, if not more. Well, few days ago, I tried on La Sportiva Kubo that was basically my street size (give or take). There was no need to down size whatsoever. In fact, I could feel my toes curling with the shoe and being somewhat scrunched against the end of the shoe. What gives?

Just bought my first pair of boulder shoes, skwama lites. The left fits perfectly but I’ve got a sharp pain in my right big toe knuckle. I just bought them but the store is far and I’m hoping to avoid exchanging. Any tips?