REASONS TO BUY
Good for crack climbing
A narrower fit than the Five Ten Moccasyms
REASONS TO AVOID
Not great for edging
Soft
Evolv Addict Review
If you're of narrow foot and looking for a comfortable climbing slipper, look no further
Credit: Evolv
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Our Verdict
The Evolv Addict is Evolv's take on the classic crack climbing design first pioneered by Five Ten with the Moccasym. They've made several tweaks that have resulted in a shoe that as far are testers are concerned, is lower volume and narrower than the Mocc. Also, they don't stain our feet bright red! If you're a fan of the Moccasym design and you can't quite find the right fit in the Five Ten Moccasyms, the Addicts could be a good alternative. They offer very similar performance to the Moccs. If you're looking to scale miles of granite cracks, you may want to consider a more supportive shoe like the La Sportiva TC Pro or the Butora Altura.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Comparing these shoes to the similar Five Ten Moccasyms reveals some slight differences in performance, mostly related to fit. Our testers felt the Addicts edged a touch better than the Moccs, but the wider, higher volume Moccasyms felt more comfortable to more testers. For a shoe, more versatile and higher performing in cracks of all sizes, have a look at the La Sportiva Kataki. These shoes may appear to be agro down-turn foot binders for sport climbers, but our testers found them to be awesome in thin cracks, and the lace-up design ensures that they stay on your feet.
Like other soft, crack climbing slippers before them, the Addicts are not great for edging.
Credit: Matt Bento
Performance Comparison
A new take on an old style. These shoes are easy to pull and off, and don't stain your feet red like the Moccs.
Credit: Matt Bento
Edging
The Addict edge a smidge better than the Five Ten Moccasyms, but they don't come anywhere close to the edging performance of the La Sportiva Genius or the Butora Acro. This shoe is very soft, and they edge best when sized tight. These days, modern shoe designs like the La Sportiva TC Pro and the Five Ten Quantum offer support and good edging performance without having to size them so tight that they hurt.
If you've got narrow feet, these shoes will feel more comfortable in cracks than the Moccasyms.
Credit: Matt Bento
Crack Climbing
Regarding crack climbing, our testers felt that the Addicts performed equally to Moccs. If you have a wide foot, the Moccs feel more comfortable in hand-sized cracks. A slender footed climber would feel more at home in the Addicts, which hug the foot tighter and don't “roll over” on a narrower foot.
These shoes are not our first choice for pocket climbing, but they do perform a little bit better than the Moccs.
Credit: Matt Bento
Pockets
Since these shoes don't edge as well as stiffer, downturned shoes, they don't perform very well in pockets. They are slightly pointier that Mocc, but if you're headed to Wyoming or Spain to pull down on limestone pockets, we recommend more aggressive shoe like the La Sportiva Solution or the Scarpa Instinct.
soft and sticky, these shoes are nice on low angle slabs, but aren't a good choice for vertical edging.
Credit: Matt Bento
Sensitivity
Once they're broken in, the addicts are great for low angle slab climbing. Our testers could smear on holdless friction climbs with ease, but as soon as the angle kicks back and feeling out micro edges, we prefer a shoe that lets us feel the edges and supports our foot as well, like the Editor's Choice Award Winning La Sportiva Kataki, or the less sensitive but supportive La Sportiva TC Pro.
The Addicts may fit in narrower cracks than the Moccs, but when climbing in shoes this soft, your big toe may be the limiting factor.
Credit: Matt Bento
Comfort
If you've got a narrow, low volume foot, these slippers feel comfy and are easy to put on and pull off, thanks to the leather pull tab on the top of the shoe. The Addicts won't feel comfortable in hand cracks as the Moccasyms if you are a wide footed climber, but on a narrow foot, they won't slide around, saving you from blisters. These shoes are also more difficult to get on a high volume foot but fit more securely than the Moccasyms. The laceless slipper design means there aren't any straps or laces to smash down on the top of your foot when it's in a crack. Our testers agree that velcro straps can be uncomfortable in a crack, but laces are low profile, and we like our shoes to fit securely on long multi-pitch crack climbs. A few of our testers like to wear socks with these shoes on longer climbs.
These shoes float up cracks as thin as a .75 Camalot.
Credit: Matt Bento
Value
At $100, these slippers are a bargain, of equal quality to the Five Ten Moccasyms, for $25 less. If you're on a bargain hunt and you want a shoe for technical edging and steep climbing, check out or Best Buy Award Winner, the Butora Acro.
A robust leather pull tab makes these shoes easy to put on, even though the elastic feels tighter over the top of the foot than the Mocc.
Credit: Matt Bento
Conclusion
While the Evolv Addicts are a new version of the slipper design, they're not a huge improvement. They suffer from some the same drawbacks as the Moccs: poor edging performance, and very little support. For your next crack climbing road trip, check out our Editors' Choice, the La Sportiva Kataki.
—
Matt Bento
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