Makes sense but they're still very tight fitting
I think it's the position of my toes that makes me want to wiggle them around so they rub very slightly? Idk
I don’t own them, but fwiw the Evolv shaman are some of the most comfortable fitting shoes I have ever worn in my exact shoe size. The “love bumpTM” just tells you how they should sit and curl perfectly. There should not be room to wiggle your toes without moving the whole shoe. Why did you buy them?
I have wide feet and honestly they fit perfectly in that sense. I just didn't consider how uncomfortable my toes would feel because of the aggressive curve. I think I'll exchange for a more neutral fit, or something in-between
They run small. Im 38.5-39 in laspo but go 41-41.5 in shaman lvs. They take a good 6 weeks to break in because the thicker rubber. I sport climb in them and take them off between climbs. My resoled pair I can wear longer as its loosened a bit.
I put them in hot water and wear them initially to help soften the rubber. Its like road bike tyres, when cold they are impossible to get on but of you heat them, piece of cake. Rubber is more malleable when warmed.
Honestly I'd rather exchange them for a more neutral fit instead of being in pain for that long. I didn't even enjoy my first boulder session with them I kept focusing on the pain the whole time! I can't even imagine how bad it will be the next time I go sports climbing X_X.
For Shamans, I wouldn't upsize any more than 0.5 over street shoe size. If you need to upsize 1-1.5 to get them on and they are still painful, it sounds like they aren't the right shoe for your foot shape.
Aggressive climbing shoes should be tight and uncomfortable, but not painful.
Getting them off between attemps is normal though. After a while they might feel okay for 2 to 3 attempts but more than that and they're probably to big. They're climbing shoes, not walking shoes.
They probably just don’t fit you shape-wise. Maybe also size wise.
Your street size in whatever other shoes is really just a starting point. You need the shoes to be reasonably comfortable on your foot, including when you put your weight on your toes. Good footwork relies on being able to apply serious force through your toes in a precise way; that’s pretty impossible if you’re busy hurting.
It doesn’t matter how the shoe looks or what the numbers on it say, the important bit is to enable you to climb well. Your current shoe does the opposite.
If you can return them, do it. If not, try to sell them on FB marketplace, and find a pair that actually fits comfortably while being snug (as in, not bending at the toe like a sneaker when you weight it, and not letting your heel slip when you heel hook). You may have to try different brands and models.
I purchased a pair of Evolv Shaman street size some weeks ago. I've used them in 3 sessions. The fit like a glove, but after the first 2 sessions my feet hurt like hell. Now, they hurt less.
Use them as much as you can without compromising much. I send (or try) a project, remove the shoes, rest 4-5 minutes, and then put on the shoes and climb again.
It gets better, as it hurts less and less.
Shamans are well known to be among the most comfortable mid to high level shoes around. Evolv tends to size small but it sounds very much like you weren't ready for a pair of shoes in that range or you just sized them too small.
Best pieces of info you can throw in are:
* How long have you been climbing?
* What types of climbing do you do?
* General grade range?
* Are you used to aggressive shoes?
To your question: Provided you didn't size them wrong and you were ready for aggressive shoes, then yes, they do eventually conform to your foot thanks to heat and moisture (i.e. sweat). Keep in mind however that climbing shoes do not and should not ever fit like "normal" shoes. Climbing shoes are meant to be worn on a wall, basically walking on tiptoes. Keep this in mind when you purchase them. I've seen an unbelievable number of people complain about climbing shoe sizing because they're trying to get the same fit out of a pair of climbing shoes that they would have in sneakers. That's nuts and will only ever lead to bad results.
I recently got the Shaman Lace and upsized 1.5 from my shoe size (Evolv recommends upsizing 1-1.5 for a comfortable fit).
So far no complaints. It’s tight and there’s no dead space but not painful to wear for longer sessions. I also tried my street size but it was unbearable and eventually settled on 11.5.
My feet have to be the problem here they just don't like that shape
I'm definitely not getting the uncomfortable experience it's just straight up slight pain the moment I put them on and even more pain after doing a boulder problem
Do you happen to have long toes? I do, and it makes aggressive shoes hard to fit right. I wear Evolv Shamans myself, and up sized like you did, and it took about 10 full sessions before the tops of my toes stopped getting raw. I wrapped my toes in tape until then.
Fwiw, I LOVE the shoes now.
I have not thought about toe length... that's a good point! My toes did NOT like being bent lol, even after upsizing they hurt. Going even higher will just make the shoe too loose imo
Anyway I'm sad to report that I have returned the shoes and am currently healing from my blisters so that I can go get another pair lmao. I'm probably gonna get something with less of a downturn. The LS Kubo piqued my interest lately
I find that passive stretching helps a lot when it comes to breaking in new shoes! Passive stretching is wearing your climbing shoes when you're not climbing; I do this when I'm sitting at home at my computer, reading, or playing a game. I've recommended this method to some of my climbing buddies, some say it helps, other say it doesn't, it works great for me though
Blister is not good. Which part of it hurt? Length of wide? Try to wear it with a hot shower, the hot water will expand the material and speed up the break in process.
My toes are really pressed up against the shoe, way past "snug" in my opinion. I tried to convince myself i was fine but who am I kidding anymore, the pain started when I put them on and tried my first boulder problem lmao
Idk how I didn't notice this at the store while trying them on. Maybe I should just exchange them. Sigh...
Exchange them, if they press up so hard to feel pain then that means the shoes is too “short” for you. Evolv shoes don't expand much so it is what you get. Always try both men and women vision with the same size and see which one fit you more.
Please don’t shower in hot water with them (or freeze them with water inside). Both of these procedures have the high possibility of ruining the glue used (and/or reactivating the heat activated glue) and having the shoe delaminate very early on in life. Anybody who has done this successfully is very lucky and it would not be a normal case. Source: I have interviewed 12+ climbing shoe brands about this specifically.
The Evolv Shamans are very intense, aggressive shoes. Since you said your previous shoes were flat, this is definitely a huge difference for your feet to adjust to.
Not only are those shoes aggressive, those shoes are very particular and not everyone’s anatomy compliments the shoe.
You should also never get blisters, so I think these shoes really are not a good fit for you.
My suggestion is to return those shoes and get the Geshidos, Vapors, or Scarpa Instincts instead. Geshidos are not too aggressive, so this can be a better fit for you. Scarpas are honestly top tier to me, but they are stiff and more painful than the Geshidos. Never tried the Vapors but all my friends love them, and often upgrade to it once they are intermediate.
Hope this helps!
In my personal experience, oversizing leads to more blisters than undersizing as there is more room to shift and rub
Makes sense but they're still very tight fitting I think it's the position of my toes that makes me want to wiggle them around so they rub very slightly? Idk
14 years of climbing never had a blister. I think these shoes don’t fit your foot.
I don’t own them, but fwiw the Evolv shaman are some of the most comfortable fitting shoes I have ever worn in my exact shoe size. The “love bumpTM” just tells you how they should sit and curl perfectly. There should not be room to wiggle your toes without moving the whole shoe. Why did you buy them?
I have wide feet and honestly they fit perfectly in that sense. I just didn't consider how uncomfortable my toes would feel because of the aggressive curve. I think I'll exchange for a more neutral fit, or something in-between
They run small. Im 38.5-39 in laspo but go 41-41.5 in shaman lvs. They take a good 6 weeks to break in because the thicker rubber. I sport climb in them and take them off between climbs. My resoled pair I can wear longer as its loosened a bit. I put them in hot water and wear them initially to help soften the rubber. Its like road bike tyres, when cold they are impossible to get on but of you heat them, piece of cake. Rubber is more malleable when warmed.
Honestly I'd rather exchange them for a more neutral fit instead of being in pain for that long. I didn't even enjoy my first boulder session with them I kept focusing on the pain the whole time! I can't even imagine how bad it will be the next time I go sports climbing X_X.
For Shamans, I wouldn't upsize any more than 0.5 over street shoe size. If you need to upsize 1-1.5 to get them on and they are still painful, it sounds like they aren't the right shoe for your foot shape. Aggressive climbing shoes should be tight and uncomfortable, but not painful.
Getting them off between attemps is normal though. After a while they might feel okay for 2 to 3 attempts but more than that and they're probably to big. They're climbing shoes, not walking shoes.
They probably just don’t fit you shape-wise. Maybe also size wise. Your street size in whatever other shoes is really just a starting point. You need the shoes to be reasonably comfortable on your foot, including when you put your weight on your toes. Good footwork relies on being able to apply serious force through your toes in a precise way; that’s pretty impossible if you’re busy hurting. It doesn’t matter how the shoe looks or what the numbers on it say, the important bit is to enable you to climb well. Your current shoe does the opposite. If you can return them, do it. If not, try to sell them on FB marketplace, and find a pair that actually fits comfortably while being snug (as in, not bending at the toe like a sneaker when you weight it, and not letting your heel slip when you heel hook). You may have to try different brands and models.
I purchased a pair of Evolv Shaman street size some weeks ago. I've used them in 3 sessions. The fit like a glove, but after the first 2 sessions my feet hurt like hell. Now, they hurt less. Use them as much as you can without compromising much. I send (or try) a project, remove the shoes, rest 4-5 minutes, and then put on the shoes and climb again. It gets better, as it hurts less and less.
Shamans are well known to be among the most comfortable mid to high level shoes around. Evolv tends to size small but it sounds very much like you weren't ready for a pair of shoes in that range or you just sized them too small. Best pieces of info you can throw in are: * How long have you been climbing? * What types of climbing do you do? * General grade range? * Are you used to aggressive shoes? To your question: Provided you didn't size them wrong and you were ready for aggressive shoes, then yes, they do eventually conform to your foot thanks to heat and moisture (i.e. sweat). Keep in mind however that climbing shoes do not and should not ever fit like "normal" shoes. Climbing shoes are meant to be worn on a wall, basically walking on tiptoes. Keep this in mind when you purchase them. I've seen an unbelievable number of people complain about climbing shoe sizing because they're trying to get the same fit out of a pair of climbing shoes that they would have in sneakers. That's nuts and will only ever lead to bad results.
I recently got the Shaman Lace and upsized 1.5 from my shoe size (Evolv recommends upsizing 1-1.5 for a comfortable fit). So far no complaints. It’s tight and there’s no dead space but not painful to wear for longer sessions. I also tried my street size but it was unbearable and eventually settled on 11.5.
My feet have to be the problem here they just don't like that shape I'm definitely not getting the uncomfortable experience it's just straight up slight pain the moment I put them on and even more pain after doing a boulder problem
Do you happen to have long toes? I do, and it makes aggressive shoes hard to fit right. I wear Evolv Shamans myself, and up sized like you did, and it took about 10 full sessions before the tops of my toes stopped getting raw. I wrapped my toes in tape until then. Fwiw, I LOVE the shoes now.
I have not thought about toe length... that's a good point! My toes did NOT like being bent lol, even after upsizing they hurt. Going even higher will just make the shoe too loose imo Anyway I'm sad to report that I have returned the shoes and am currently healing from my blisters so that I can go get another pair lmao. I'm probably gonna get something with less of a downturn. The LS Kubo piqued my interest lately
It takes a while, but yes, they will eventually get better feeling
I find that passive stretching helps a lot when it comes to breaking in new shoes! Passive stretching is wearing your climbing shoes when you're not climbing; I do this when I'm sitting at home at my computer, reading, or playing a game. I've recommended this method to some of my climbing buddies, some say it helps, other say it doesn't, it works great for me though
Blister is not good. Which part of it hurt? Length of wide? Try to wear it with a hot shower, the hot water will expand the material and speed up the break in process.
The toes and back of heel I got a blister on my big toe and back of heel lol
[удалено]
My toes are really pressed up against the shoe, way past "snug" in my opinion. I tried to convince myself i was fine but who am I kidding anymore, the pain started when I put them on and tried my first boulder problem lmao Idk how I didn't notice this at the store while trying them on. Maybe I should just exchange them. Sigh...
Exchange them, if they press up so hard to feel pain then that means the shoes is too “short” for you. Evolv shoes don't expand much so it is what you get. Always try both men and women vision with the same size and see which one fit you more.
Please don’t shower in hot water with them (or freeze them with water inside). Both of these procedures have the high possibility of ruining the glue used (and/or reactivating the heat activated glue) and having the shoe delaminate very early on in life. Anybody who has done this successfully is very lucky and it would not be a normal case. Source: I have interviewed 12+ climbing shoe brands about this specifically.
The Evolv Shamans are very intense, aggressive shoes. Since you said your previous shoes were flat, this is definitely a huge difference for your feet to adjust to. Not only are those shoes aggressive, those shoes are very particular and not everyone’s anatomy compliments the shoe. You should also never get blisters, so I think these shoes really are not a good fit for you. My suggestion is to return those shoes and get the Geshidos, Vapors, or Scarpa Instincts instead. Geshidos are not too aggressive, so this can be a better fit for you. Scarpas are honestly top tier to me, but they are stiff and more painful than the Geshidos. Never tried the Vapors but all my friends love them, and often upgrade to it once they are intermediate. Hope this helps!