evolv  Zenist Climbing Shoes - Men's

These are my favorite shoes for most indoor climbing. I love the single velcro strap and pull loop on the tongue; they make the shoes super easy to slip on and off. The soles are very soft so they are extremely grippy and sensitive and perform well on most indoor problems but the smallest edges. Being a soft rubber, they do wear faster than my other shoes, but I would call that a downside so much as a characteristic of soft rubber. As far as the fit, I have wide feet and I think these are my most "comfortable" shoes. They are soft and light so they seem to mold to my foot well.

I've had these for a short time so I can't speak to their longevity, but they have performed very nicely so far. I pretty much only do indoor bouldering and regularly climb v6. I got these because I wanted a softer shoe to compliment my stiff Miura VS (the Evolv Shamans are another example of a stiff shoe). Soft shoes are better suited to smearing and walking on volumes, while stiff shoes are better suited to edging on tiny footholds. But the Zenists would be a fine all-around, and I've found them perfectly serviceable for edging as well. Evolv shoes run REALLY small. My street shoe size is 9.5 men's US / 42.5 EU. I have a pair of Miura VS in 42 and Projects in 42.5—they're both super tight for me. Got my Zenists in size 44, if you can believe that, and they are just as tight as both my other pairs. If I put them alongside my Projects, they are pretty much identical in length. Like most Evolv shoes, these are vegan and use synthetic material rather than leather for the uppers, which was a major factor in my choosing them over other similar comp-style shoes, like the Solutions or Dragos.

Phenomenal shoes, my first non La Sportiva pair of climbing shoes and I couldn't be happier. These shoes are absolutely perfect for training/modern indoor style bouldering. Their soft construction makes them absolute weapons in smeary/volume footwork intensive blocs. The rubber toe patch makes any toehook, even the the most desperate, an absolute breeze and their highly sensitive heel is just as good for low friction footwork. While these shoes definitely excel in more smeary footwork, their edging capabilities are more than enough (though perhaps a bit painful) for the occasional slab. Sizing wise, I own 2 pair, one 10 and one 10.5 (I physically couldn't put on the 9.5s). I normally wear a 9.5 street (nike and vans) and wear a 8.5 in LS Solutions and a 9 in LS Katana Laces. The 10.5s make excellent warm-up/training shoes, while the 10s are absolute blades for any indoor project and work pretty well for outdoor bouldering, although they lack some stiffness I would prefer. The 10s require frequent on/off as they're fairly uncomfy in the long term, but the velcro strap makes easy work of the repetitive nature of this. The 10.5s I only need to air out once or twice in a session, so they're great for my training/fore-running for setting. I've been climbing with both pair consistently indoors about 70-30 (majority to the 10.5s) 3-5 days a week for 4 months now and the 10.5s are just starting to show substantial wear on the tow between the rand and sole, but I'd guess they have another 2(?) months left in them. Overall these shoes are my new absolute indoor favorites, and couldn't recommend them more if you're looking for a super solid pair of indoor focused shoes.

I use these shoes for warm-ups, bouldering and super long overhang routes because they are super comfy without giving up any performance. Love the sensitivity due to softness so that I can feel every nuance of the rock when I'm toeing down hard, heel hooking or toe hooking. Durable construction means they'll last. Nice work coming up with this design, Team Evolv!

Very soft shoe. Very good sensitivity. Stiff enough so you can stand on small gym holds just fine, though it takes additional effort. This is my go-to for gym bouldering of all types (overhang, face, slab) and they work well for it all. I switch to something stiffer for rope climbing. Unexpected benefit: feet have gotten much stronger since using, making my feet endurance for long sport routes noticeably better. I have owned la sportiva otaki, scarpa veloces, butora gomi, scarpa origin, black diamond zone, and black diamond aspect. This is the softest of that range and a notch stiffer than the veloces. Veloces I found too soft and very difficult to stand on small holds. These replaced those, and I've bought a second pair as back-up for when they need to be resoled. Though I haven't done it yet, resoling should be pretty easy for resolers to do successfully since they're simply constructed without any unique molding or anything like that which can be tricky for resoling. Lastly, they're extremely light, and my footwork seems much more graceful because of it. When switching to other shoes, things get clunky, and I'm misplacing feet, kicking the walls, etc. Some slight cons, the toe patch rubber isn't super sticky, though these still hold toe hooks well. Also, can get a bit stinky compared to other shoes.

I picked these shoes up after my Shaman's retired, and I'm very happy with the change. Compared to the Shamans, the Zenist are definitely softer (especially in the heal) and fit a tiny bit more narrowly in the toe box. The break-in period was rough, and it took about 3-4 sessions of putting the shoes on and off to get the best fit. However, once the break in period was done, these shoe are phenomenal. The soft backs really let you heal hook with confidence. They perform great on everything from tiny foot chips to textured volumes. I'll be using these for a while!

Read Evolves sizing recommendations before buying. I normally downsize so I had to exchange them when they didn't fit. I mostly boulder and these were great for smearing and they do well on volumes. They are also supportive enough for me to climb top rope in them. Warning, they are fairly slippery before they're broken in. I think the Scarpa Drago's perform a bit better but the Zenist are excellent for the price. Neither pairs are in different leagues of performance and Zenist is now one of my favorite pairs.

I didn't want to ding the shoe's rating so I gave it a 5 even though I technically didn't wear them. Based on another review, I downsized to a 10 (I wear 10.5-11 street shoes) for a more aggressive fit. It took a lot of strain to even get it on my foot and was in no way climbable, and this was on my foot that's almost half a size smaller than the other. I remembered I had bought some Evolv Shaman's last year and I checked and they were size 11.5. Felt weird sizing up aggressive shoes, but I do believe I have wider feet. I ended up returning the Shamans because they didn't break in well for me even though they're a great shoe. All that to say.. buying climbing shoes online SUCKS because unlike street shoes you don't want any wiggle room (literally and figuratively). So I'd recommend going with your street shoe and going from there.

I have been climbing in my Zenist’s for a long time. The first time I bought them the stitching was all messed up and coming out, the Evolv team was kind enough to send me a new pair. Now these shoes are sensitive, so sensitive that once you get used to them every other shoe will feel like wearing a brick on your foot. They don’t have a ton to offer outdoors but are more than functional. The gym is where they shine, these shoes are bouldering machines. Who needs stiffness for support when you have so much sensitivity that you can just paste your foot over a chip and trust it. I love the easy on and off and the fit, they are durable and have lasted me over two years now. I look forward to trying the zenist pro with the new heel lock and closure system when my current zenist’s blow out. The black and white color way also looks soooo steezy.

Evolv knocked it out of the park with this shoe PROS: Very sensitive, phenomenal on board climbing and standing on gym volumes. Works pretty well outdoors surprisingly (but I do still favor the phantoms for real rock), The toe rubber hooks very well, and the construction of the shoe it top notch. CONS: The one and only gripe I have is how poorly the heel fits my foot. I thought it was just me, but after talking to about 5 other members at my local gym that have the zenist…..they all have the same complaint! The heel is just SOO baggy and flimsy. Sizing: A nice glove like fit down sizing a 1/2 size from my street shoe with toes fully curled. After one to two sessions the shoe felt broken in fully. My foot is on the wider side with an egyptian toe shape and a “normal” shaped heel. I wouldn’t recommend down sizing any more than a 1/2 size.