Good Indoorshoe, too soft for route-climbing but good for gymclimbing and toe strenght-training
The sole is pretty indoor-resistant and lasts a whole lot longer than the vibram soles do.
I bought it only for training cause my leathershoes always got holes from the plastic walls.
the synthetic material is way better for indoor-use
they are pretty soft and not good on small holds (good workout for your toes) but very sensitive and good for friction climbing
all in all a very good training shoe but i wouldn´t recommend it for someone as his "only" shoe

I love evolv products and this shoe is only another well made product. I love the comfort, they are well priced, and the fact that they are made with vegan rubber. I highly recommend these shoes to any level of climber.

This was my second pair of shoes after having 5.10 coyotes. I love these shoes they have allowed me to push my bouldering grade as well as top rope and sport climbing. I wear a 10.5 street shoe and got these in a 9.5 and they fit amazing. They are an excellent value for the price. The one major con is that they stink like none other especially if you do not wear socks with them. Other than that i would suggest them to anyone looking for a good pair of gym or even outside shoes that wont break the bank.

Great shoe for a first timer. Great for indoor climbing but wore through them very quickly, but ultimately I would recommend this shoe since it has a low cost and good performance.

Great for a first shoe or for a gym shoe. Good all round and they've lasted a long time for me.

These were one of my first rock shoes. Boy were they comfortable! The plush lining and the padded tongue were a nice touch as these are the most comfortable rock shoes I've ever worn. But of course there is a down-side...because of the thick lining you lose sensitivity and performance. My foot was never fully secure and even though I sized them down, there was still some play in the toe box area. And of course due to the heavy lining and synthetic construction...they smelled horribly. My climbing buddies and partners always let me have it when I pulled out my Defy's.

Otherwise soft midsole construction and mild heel tension made this a great shoe for the gym or all-day climbing.

Definitley a good starter shoe.

These are what I wear at the gym to keep my Pontases from getting any worse-for-wear. I find them really good for training, as they are basically similar to the Pontas, but a bit worse. That means when I strap on my sending shoes, I just feel a bit more confident – if I could stick it in the Defy, the Pontas will make it cake.

I think there's a need for a real training shoe (and maybe I'm just unaware of it already existing) – one that is not necessarily intended to be _bad_, but that puts rubber in fewer spots, is really soft, etc. Makes you focus on placement, helps build strength, so then you can put on something that's coated in super-sticky rubber and feel like superman. That's currently how I use the Defy. It makes me work just a little harder.

Like many others whose reviews I've read, these are my first climbing shoes. I'm well satisfied right now, although I can only imagine how I'll feel about them as I get more advanced and the shoes themselves gain more...experience. I've only got a few hours on the wall in them so far.

I was attracted to them because they're vegan, made with recycled rubber, and resole-able. To me, there are more than just environmental benefits to this. The non-leather uppers won't stretch too much, which means that I don't have to put up with extremely tight shoes that will eventually go floppy on me. It also means that I don't have to pay to replace my entire shoe when I wear through them; replacing just the rubber costs less than half as much (this figure, of course, is based on the price I paid for the shoes and the resole cost advertised online). I didn't want to buy a shoe that I would eventually just throw away, and the idea that these could stay with me longer made me feel better about it.

As a former dancer with a slightly funny-shaped foot, I expected I would prefer a woman's shoe. I have a fairly narrow heel, and most of the man's shoes I tried on initially had a bit too much slop for my taste. I also have a wide toe box, which made some of the woman's designs feel too cramped up front. I was about to walk out of the store with a pair of Evolv Elektra VTS (even though I wasn't a big fan of the color) when I walked past a table with clearance shoes. Being a girl with an eye for a bargain, I had to look. I'm glad that I did, because I found these shoes for about half the price of the Elektras. My Defys are a bit bigger than the Elektras that I had selected, but they're also more comfortable. My heel stays in. My toes aren't too squished to move. I'm a little bit concerned that I bought Defys that are a size or so too big, but I was about to buy Elektras a half size too small (even adjusted for climbing). As it stands, I'm pleased with the fit. So long as the shoes don't stretch too much, I should be pleased for quite some time.

Ultimately, I like these shoes. Even if I made a rookie mistake in choosing them, they were cheap and they're getting the job done. At the gym, I noticed that these are pretty popular shoes and at least some of the folks wearing them know what they're doing, so I figure I must have done something right, although I expect that climbing shoes are just like any other gear: when you're starting out, you only think you know what you want and as you learn more about the sport, you learn more about what you need from your gear.

Pretty cool, especially if you're just getting into climbing.

The Defy is a great shoe. They have proven to be very comfortable and I like the sensitivity it allows to feel the rock. The softness of the shoe is great to strengthen your feet, yet is still supportive enough to not get too fatigued.

My only complaint is that when my feet get sweaty the synthetic lining feels like a wet, slimy sock and my foot starts moving around.

This shoe would be good for any climber (especially vegans) who want a comfortable all-around type shoe.

My brother has these as his first shoes. I don't know what it is but they just don't fit my feet right. The heel feels really sloppy but any smaller and my toes would be completely smashed. I found this to be true with other evolv shoes too which is a shame because they hve some pretty cool shoes. My feet fit into LaSportiva shoes much better. So for those of you who are looking for a good beginner shoe, make sure you try on different brands. You're feet might be shaped funny like mine.

A really comfortable shoe that appeals mostly to beginners. The last and rubber on the shoe arent too great in terms of performance and friction but they do last really long. theyre really cheap and pretty comfortable but really just dont cut for the harder climbs. theyre pretty straight indoor shoes but if youre more of an advanced climber, i would look for something a little bit better.

These were my second pair of shoes, and they did a great job, climbed up into harder 11s and slightly hard problems in them. All-around performance on rock and plastic is there. Outside of some stretching and tough to battle funk, their versatility, comfort and durability, even with resoles, is excellent.

Might as well get the cons out of the way. As mentioned by other reviewers, these shoes hold sweat and tend to be tougher to keep from getting some funk. Along with that sweat comes a more literal swimming feeling that has caused my heel to pop out of the shoe while heel-hooking. This slipping issue came later, and is mostly due to me not sizing down enough. This leads into the fact that they say synthetic doesn't stretch, and they are wrong. While length-wise they did not stretch much the width definitely increased and the velcro only partially compensated for sum of it.

The pros to these shoes starts when you first put them on. The basic design allows for comfort and fit for most foot shapes and the velcro adjustments are placed well to help keep them on without pinching. That design also allows for climbing in all sorts of situations. They weren't masterful in any one area but were average to above in most every scenario I can remember climbing with them. I was climbing 5.10 when I got them and still used them as my primary shoes, after one resole, for another two years up into hard vertical elevens and overhung 12s. I felt comfortable wearing them for longer climbs or to give a quick belay in between routes while training. I still have them and can't bring myself to throw them out, because of sentiment and they still climb well with comfort.

I liked my Evolv Defys. They were my first shoe ever, and lasted almost a year in a gym before the toe started wearing out. I would highly recommend them as a first shoe. No real weaknesses, plenty of grip, relatively comfortable. Only downside is that if you don't let them air out WELL, they will STINK. Mine even got a little of 'teh funk. Oh, and a solid price makes these shoes a solid value.

pretty good shoe. great for heel hooking. pretty good on overhangs and pockets as well. decently warm in the winter months. They started to stink for me, unlike most of my other shoes. couldn't kill the smell

This is a nice shoe for beginner through advanced climbers. I've gone through about 5 pairs of Defy's. I typically use my pair when I'm teaching or setting. I find I can leave them unvelcro'd and the relatively well. It performs well enough in the gym that I use them on most everything saving my good shoes for harder climbs and outside. I find it lacks in friction and edging performance when compared to my 5.10 Anasazi's. I also find that heel hooking can be difficult after the shoes have been on for a while and the foot is sweaty (and yes, I remember to velcro the shoes before heel hooking). All in all, this is a great gym shoe for the beginner and intermediate climbers. At the price, advanced climbers can't beat it, and as a setter it has been a great setting shoe.

This is a fantastic entry-level shoe that is a great value for the performance and durability you'll get.

That being said, they're not super high-performance shoes - but they are reliable performers that provide everything a beginning climber needs and nothing they don't. They edge well-enough, they pull well enough, and they heel well enough for most routes up to 5.10s, and they will last and last and last.

Depending on how quickly you break into the tens, you won't need to resole them or otherwise deal with them at all - they're trusty reliable shoes that will not fail you. The rubber is sticky, though not as sticky as the higher-performing brands out there (i.e. Sportiva), but the shoe is super comfortable and relatively inexpensive (although the prices have been steadily rising over the years).

Bottom line: a comfortable, reliable shoe that is inexpensive and will grow with you for a good while. It lacks all the high-tech features of high-performance shoes but it really is actually all that you need, and nothing you don't.

This was my first shoe ever and I loved it. I got it at a great price on Steep n Cheap and havent regretted it since. When I first put these shoes on my feet fell in love with me because I quit wearing those terrible rental shoes and finally got put into something comfartable. I would say these shoes are the perfect ones for beginners. They dont scrunch my feet up to much but just that right amount so when Im done climbing at the local gym my feet are just getting raw. I believe this shoe to have every good component for a new climber and even advanced if money is tight. At $80 retail price its a good bang for its buck

I have freakishly short and wide feet, and these shoes are the rare pair that does not hurt. I bought them one size smaller than my street size and my toe is tucked nicely to the end without squeezing the sides; buy the size you want because they do not stretch. The friction and the edging are excellent.

i do have two criticisms of the shoe. The heel is wide and therefore slips a bit; this makes it less than ideal on overhangs and bouldering, especially if you have a narrow or deep heel. Also, the toe rand wears through quickly. Like another reviewer, I blamed my footwork but i noticed a pile of defys in the gym and every pair had signifigant toe wear. Considering the comfort and the price to performance ratio, This may be aan acceptable trade-off if you are willing to resole them or buy new ones more frequently.

I love these shoes for gym training. Not too expensive, so I don't worry about wearing them out on gym problems. They smell terrible though, but can last multiple resole jobs.

Even at full price, this shoe represents a great value. This was actually my first ever pair of rock shoes. They're great for getting into sport climbing or bouldering. I wore a hole through the rand pretty quickly at the gym, but I know that's just because my footwork was so sloppy.
WARNING: the synthetic upper means that these shoes will start to smell terrible soon after you start wearing them! It's great because you don't have to downsize these to start with, but oh man... they stink.

This synthetic holds up to heavy sweating much longer than a leather one.

Im on my second pair of these shoes. Relativly cheap, and SUPER comfy! I usually wear like a 10 or 11 and have these in 9.5 and love them! I have no problem wearing them for extended climbs. The only bad thing is they have funk!