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Evolv Ponta Review

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evolv ponta climbing shoes review
Evolv Ponta
Credit: Evolvesports.com
Price:  $125 List
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Manufacturer:   Evolv
By Chris McNamara ⋅ Founder and Editor-in-Chief  ⋅  Oct 12, 2010

Our Verdict

The Evolv Ponta Was Discontinued in 2016
REASONS TO BUY
Sticky rubber
Relatively comfortable for a high performance shoe
REASONS TO AVOID
No big dislikes
We just expected more performance
The Evolv Ponta climbing shoe is what Chris Sharma wears to climb many of his hardest routes. So it should be one of the best shoes, right? Yes, it performs well on steep sport climbs, but it is limited, falling in the middle of a lot of categories. It can't stand on tiny edges as well as an edging machine like the La Sportiva Miura VS or even the Five Ten Anasazi VCS. While it toe hooks well, we would still prefer a more aggressive shoe like the La Sportiva Solution for super steep terrain and burly boulder problems. And although the price is good for a high end shoe, it is much higher than an entry level shoe like the Evolv Defy or Mad Rock Flash. In summary, while this is a good shoe, there are better shoes out there. How did it compare to others?

Our Analysis and Test Results

Likes


This is a comfortable all-around performance shoe for gym, sport and bouldering. The synthetic holds its size reasonably well over time. The rubber is some of the softest and stickiest available. The shoes feature an extended toe rand for toe hooking on steep boulder problems and sport climbs. Also, these shoes can be left on on longer than most other high performance shoes — they are above average in the comfort department. If you size them just right (tight!) they do edge reasonably well.

Dislikes


There were no major dislikes. We just expected a little more from this shoe since it is the Chris Sharma pro model. While it is advertised as putting maximum power to the toe, it is not a micro edging machine like many other high-performance climbing shoes. It is an all-around shoe for bouldering and sport, it is not an all-around trad shoe like the La Sportiva Miura. Overall, is all-around okay but it did not stand out in any categories like we expected.

Best Application


This shoe excels on the steep stuff. Just look at what Sharma is usually sending in the movies: overhanging limestone.

— Chris McNamara
 
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