Rubber
Even after the first couple of weeks of wearing the Astroman primarily in the gym, I was impressed by the rubber. The Astroman uses the TRAX-XT rubber, supposedly the latest and greatest in the TRAX line that adorns many of the other Evolv mainstays such as the Pontas and Shaman. I can edge confidently on these soles, but I think the stiff sole deserves as much credit for this as the rubber does.
For comparison, the rubber feels comparable to the XS-grip offered by Vibram, just a tad softer than Vibram’s XS-edge, and not quite as soft as the stealth C4 found on shoes by Five Ten.
It has also held up well thus far, despite much abuse both indoors and out. Having never owned a pair of Evolv shoes before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the rubber has turned out to be one of the better features of the Astroman.
Sport
Because of the stiff sole and strong showing on the part of the rubber, I found that I climbed most edgy vertical terrain, such as is found in Clear Creek Canyon, as well in the Astromans as I do in more technical shoes (think Miura). Softer trad shoes, such as the Moccasym, I find to be more challenging on edgy, vertical routes simply because I have to exert more effort to keep my weight above thin footholds. A stiffer sole helps alleviate this problem and partially masks the fact that the shoe lacks any sort of downturn.
In many instances, they climbed confidently on the vertical cliffs at Shelf Road as well, but underperformed the precision toe work found on aggressive sport climbing shoes when it came to steep climbing or pockets. The flat sole and low degree of asymmetry made it very difficult to grab holds on steeper terrain, while the lack of downturn in the toe prevented me from working an edge into smaller pockets. For pockets and overhanging routes, the Astroman simply couldn’t overcome the fact that it is a trad / crack shoe.
Nor should it have to overcome this fact. The shoe caters to trad climbing at the expense of aggressive features such as downturn, so taking a pair of Astromans to your project in Rifle or the Red and being disappointed is more your fault for bringing the wrong tool for the job than any fault of the shoe. This may sound self-explanatory to some, but it is nevertheless an important limitation to be taken into account when deciding if this shoe suits your needs.
Trad
I took the Astroman out to Ancient Art in the Fisher Towers and felt good wearing them on the bouldery first and third pitches. Where previously I would have worn a softer shoe, the Astroman performed flawlessly.
A day later in Indian Creek, I had the chance to run laps in cracks of all different sizes. After a full day at the 4×4 wall, I was confident in their ability. I had my strongest showing yet on cracks in the #1 C4/#2 Friend size, normally very tight hands for me, and I definitely credit the shoes.
Wider than that, where you can comfortably get your foot in the crack, was a dream. The stiff sole and padded tongue made standing in a hand / fist crack extremely easy. Cracks on the thinner side, however, were a bit less secure because of the stiffer sole, and I resorted to wedging my foot into the corner, if there was one, and smearing as best I could. I haven’t yet taken them on granite, but wouldn’t hesitate to do so, given how well they stuck to sandstone.
Durability
Regarding durability, the Astroman seems to be a tank. The materials in the shoe, from the sole to the leather upper, are robust and sturdy. I’ve seen no evidence of problems related to material wear or stitching coming apart. They are not, however, immune from the timeless problem of laces wearing out in cracks. My laces are heavily worn on one side and moderately worn on the other. Yes, I’ve abused them, and, yes, laces are trivial to replace. But in the age of space travel, the Higgs boson, and $150 climbing shoes, I’m continually disappointed that this problem persists.
Other Important Notes
Finally, the Astroman does have a few idiosyncrasies that are worth mentioning. First, the (briefly) aforementioned stripe of padding behind the heel. Ninety-five percent of the time, I’m glad it’s there. It’s comfortable, makes the shoe feel a little warmer in cold temperatures, and helps shield my heel from abuse.
Occasionally, however, the top of it digs into the back of my heel in a way that I describe as being more annoying than painful. It also makes it hard to feel the rock in a heel-hook. But, in my opinion, expecting a crack / trad high-top to excel in categories like heel hooking is a bit like looking for a hat in a shoe shop.
Second, the laces extend up the top of the shoe, all the way to two eyelets that are so far up that to thread them and pull the laces tightly is to loose circulation to my toes. I can appreciate wanting to fully lace the shoes, but the top-most eyelets do this to such an extent that the laces dug into my ankle when I went to point my toes. I’ve since decided to think of them as superfluous and have taken to forgoing the top eyelets entirely.
Bottom Line
The Evolv Astroman is a great choice for long routes in the alpine or in extended crack systems. It is designed to be a focused weapon for trad climbing and all-day use. It definitely achieves this goal, excelling particularly in cracks sized for tight hands or larger.
Because of this singular focus on trad climbing, the Astroman is not a good choice for those looking for a do-everything, one-shoe quiver. But if you are looking for either a shoe to wear on long trad routes, either at the crag or in the alpine, or you simply want something to run laps on your favorite hand crack with, the Astromans are an obvious choice.
You can now read Hannah Trim’s 2nd Look of the Evolv Astroman.
Hey Dave, great review! I’ve been hoping you’d review these!
Quick question: you mentioned the obvious competitor, the TC Pro, early in the review, but I am curious whether you can offer any additional insight into the difference in these two shoes? I primarily climb on granite, both cragging and alpine, in the PNW. Really dig cracks of all sizes, so I’m looking to add a high-top this season to compliment my lace-up Miuras. Obviously, fit is an issue, but I’m relatively certain both will fit. I haven’t tried them on back-to-back, but both felt comfortable individually. So really, it’s the differences in performance I’m curious about, and was hoping you maybe could talk to it a bit more…?
Thanks in advance, man.
Zak,
Great question, and I wish I could say more about that comparison. I’ve worn the TC Pros on a couple occasions for a total of a few pitches, but I’ve never owned a pair and really beaten them in. The shoe in general and the toe box in specific feel a bit slimmer on the TC Pro, but the width of the toe box tapers down pretty quickly on the Astroman, so it’s certainly possible that they both might fit decently depending on the shape of your foot.
I found the TC Pros to be a bit stiffer than the Astroman, especially around mid-sole. I know they have a well-deserved reputation as edging machines, and I think they probably beat out the Astroman in this area. I haven’t worn the TCs on slab, so I can’t comment other than to say the Astroman felt solid as can be hoped for on the slick, slabby holds that populate Eldorado. Comfort is probably a toss-up. The Astromans are a little more plush, with the padding, etc. but the shoes are similar enough in this regard that the real difference in comfort is going to come down to your foot as an individual.
Beyond those initial impressions, I’d venture to say that it’d be hard to go wrong either way. The Astroman doesn’t quite have the name recognition the TC Pro has, but it won’t hold you back in the alpine or at the crag, especially if you’re just looking to compliment a pair of lace-up Miuras, which you can wear for more technical footwork.
Out of curiosity, where in the PNW are you? Index by any chance?
Thanks for the quick response. I’ll prolly try to get them both on my feet back-to-back before I make any final purchasing decisions. I’m halfway starting to toy with wider cracks, so the full high top of the Astroman is appealing.
I rarely ask these types of “which shoe/ski/widget is best for me,” but I figured some context would be helpful to answer the question. Since you asked, I usually gape it up around Squamish, Leavenworth, Index, and alpine rock around the N. Cascades. (Toss me an email if there’s a pointed reason for this question.)
Hey Dave,
I really like your reviews, I think they are right on. It helps that my size shoe is also a 13 and so I selfishly benefit from that. Question for you, what shoe do you like for large feet like ours for thin cracks, specifically finger cracks up to thin hands? I have always struggled with this as its very hard for me to get my ‘large” foot in a secure finger jam. Thanks!
Jay,
Thanks for the encouragement! I really dig writing the reviews and I’m glad you’ve enjoyed reading them. Having a size 13 foot is for sure an obstacle, in my experience. The Astroman is definitely made in large enough sizes, 5.10 makes trad shoes for people like us, and Sportiva stops at size 46 but at least their scale runs a little bit larger than some others.
Before answering, I want to point out that there will have to be some expectation adjustment here: you’re never going to get your feet “in” a finger-lock sized crack. In the smaller sizes you’re going to be looking to smear the outside rand on the edges of the crack and get some stability that way, but it’s not totally analogous to a footwork in a hand crack. Having said that, working with a low toe profile is going to be a big help in the finger sizes, especially for people like me and you. I’d check out the La Sportiva Katana lace-up. The toe profile is lower than on the Astroman or TC Pro, it’s on the stiffer half of the spectrum but not so far as either of those hightops but somewhat more sensitive than the Astroman or TC Pro (though not nearly as sensitive as a 5.10 Mocc or Katana Velcro).
I’ve also spent a lot of time in the moccasym and like that for different reasons: it’s more sensitive and you’ll have an easier time wiggling rubber into a thin crack than you will with a stiffer shoe. I’m in the process of writing up a review of the katana lace as part of our push to move back to sumer content, so check back with us soon and let me know what you think!
Cheers,
Dave
How did the size you bought compare to the TC pro? Same size or larger? I use a 10.5 or 44 astroman so would a TC Pro in 44 make sense?
Mitch- I’ve generally found La Sportiva shoes to be slightly larger for a given size than most other brands out there, but Evolv’s shoes feel pretty true to size to me, so I’d guess that maybe the TC Pro would feel a little larger in the same size but not by much. I wear the Katana lace in a 46 (maybe snug 13 in US sizes) and while it’s a tighter fit than would be ideal, I can still wear them on multipitch routes without trouble.
I think the best thing would be to try them on if that is an option, however if that is out of the question I would recommend starting at a 44 for the TC Pro, though if you feel as though you are in between sizes with the Astroman in a 44, I would round down rather than up when moving to the TC Pro.
One last thought on this: the two shoes have pretty different lasts, so you’ll get a much different feel from one shoe to the next independent of how well the sizes fit. This can mean something like a different shape or volume toe box making a shoe feel larger or smaller than it’s true size, etc. so you may have to try more than one size to get it perfect.
Good luck! post up and let us know what you find out.
Cheers,
Dave