Evolv Pontas II Climbing Shoe

The Pontas had been my go to shoe for about a year, and when I heard that Evolv was planning on redesigning it, I was worried. This turned out to be totally unnecessary because the pontas is reborn and better than ever. I loved the original pontas and sent all my hardest routes in them, but I did have a few gripes with the original, and now those are no more. The Pontas 2's heel fits even better then the original, with no bagginess, or slippage. Its also a touch stiffer and feels better on the skin. Also the addition of the third strap really helps pull the midsole up into the arch of your foot making an much more precise feel and removing all stretch that occurs in a well loved shoe, or even just after a long day of cragging. The edging is certainly as good if not better than the original, and the new VTR3D makes the rand all the more durable (not that that has ever been an issue with evolvs.)To sum it up I'm super psyched on the new design and I'm certain it will slay your projects regardless of the angle.

So I never climbed in the original Pontas, so I can't really make a comparison between these and the first version, but I have worn many, many different climbing shoes in 10+ years, and I've been quite a fan of these since I picked them up.

(For reference - I work as a routesetter and climbing coach, and have usually climbed in Anasazi Lace-ups for a stiffer technical shoe, testarossas for a steep sport shoe, and Speedsters (or the old school Mantra S, for those that remember it) as a gym shoe.)

The style of this shoe is flat and pointy, and it climbs very similar to other shoes in this category (think Anasazi lace-up). The three velcro straps work about as well as laces for tensioning the fit throughout the whole shoe, and the heel cup is decently deep and secure enough that my heel hasn't slipped out on strong heel hooks. Decent toe cap rubber over the rand for toe-hooking. If you have decent footwork and can place your toes well, I think this shoe will serve you pretty well on just about any terrain - while many new shoes are pushing the downturned toe as a necessity for hard climbing, these feel they will perform just as well on steep routes as on thin vertical routes.