Evolv

Phantom Climbing Shoe

My go to all arounder

I've been using these for months now (I have 1-2 sessions a week) for both bouldering and sport climbing. The 3 main reason I stick with them are 1) they fit really well on my foot (I've got a pretty wide arch, one might say high volume) as a comparison, sportivas we're always too narrow for my foot so I'd have to give up performance or comfort. 2) provides comfortable support on verticals and still performs nice on overhangs Not sure it's The shoe for all, but it's the best shoes I've used so far and I hope they'll stay in production 🙏

Fits my foot great

Finally a shoe that I can use my toe and my heel. Always found shoes that the toe is good but the heel would never stay or never fit correctly. This one has a narrow enough heel to fit my foot.

Go To

Has become my go-to for steep-to-vertical boulders. The wide toe box and narrow heel give a painted-on feel. For me this provides excellent sensitivity while heel hooking or when pulling with my toes on steep lines, which is impressive for a shoe this stiff. The fit is comparable to the OG Mad Rock Drone, except more aggressive. I don’t like the Trax rubber as much as Sportiva’s Vibram XS Edge, but the Phantom mid-sole still allows me to put a good amount of power through small edges. However, I’ve noticed that I’ve got to be much more conscious of applying pressure through the big toe compared to the Solutions or Skwamas. I don’t necessarily consider this a bad thing, but is definitely a consideration on certain boulders or sport lines.

great outdoors

great outdoor shoe, however the lace system is trash

My beloved

Big fan on the Phantoms. Ran my first pair until I had inch wide holes and finally caved to buy another pair. I downsized a half size from my street size 11 to 10.5 and the shoe fits me absolutely perfectly. Toes are turbo locked in. Heel fits my rather knobby kneels just right. Also rocking a pair of zenist pros that I use for compy stuff and smeary slab problems, and using Phantoms (my beloved) for overhang, small chippy problems, and board climbing.

Amazing climbing shoes

These shoes are definitely my favorite so far. I have tried Solutions, Instincts, and dragos. this shoe has so much rubber and after about 2 weeks the shoes will soften up. Super supportive for edges but not the most sensitivity. I would definitely recommend these shoes for someone that toe hooks and heel hooks a lot. The heel is surprisingly padded and was not as sensitive as I would have wanted but is nice when I am bouldering outdoors on sharp holds

Ordered my street shoe size (10) after 4 climbing sessions they stretched about half a size and have a perfect but super snug fit. Only complaint is that the stitching on the back on the inside rubs the back of my foot and hurts if I climb too many days in a row. Otherwise they are great for heel and toe hooks and they are super sticky and give me a-lot of confidence on tiny footholds.

Ridiculously small

Familiarity:

I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

The sizing is pointless. I wear M 5.5 (W7.5). I went two sizes up and ordered size M 7.5 and couldn’t even fit my foot in the shoe. I went one more size up to 8.5 and still couldn’t fit my tiny foot in there. So I returned both sizes and gave up. I would probably have to go 4 sizes up (from 5.5 to 9.5. I know that the fit should feel snug, but this is like I can’t physically fit my foot in there, it’s painful.

Great shoe!

I bought this shoe a few mounths ago

The Beast!

I came from Zenist Pro (my first pair from EVOLV). I wanted something more curved. Phantoms are different than anything what I tried. Really aggressive but perfectly functional shape. The lace system is exceptional, easy put on and off, crank down on feet like nothing else. They are comfy out of box (actually for me more comfy then ZenPro which are also awesome). Really good precision on toes, heel is super sensitive but less powerful than ZenPro which has more structured heel cup - I prefer Phantoms heel, it fits more precise, and the heel rand is pain free (zenist pro goes tear my achilles after hour) Smearing is for now average but for me good enough. Really special feeling shoe, worth the hype. For me all I need - I will stick with these for while.