While it is comfortable and fits well, I don't really care for the rubber. Seems a bit stiff and not precise, and I am unable to smear effectively. It is not comfortable enough for long wear. In my mind, those things combined make these shoes imcompatible with pretty much any type of climbing. I guess they are good shoes for heel hooks. Still, I stopped wearing them outside and exclusively wear them at the gym hoping it will wear out. Sure, they are cheaper, but I say shell out more money for better shoes.

I have a symmetrical foot that is very hard to fit in the majority of women's sport shoes. They are either too wide (esp. in rear foot) or too asymmetrically cut and painful for me. This shoe takes care of both issues.
It is just supportive enough but not overly stiff, it edges exceptionally well, and the padded heel makes heel hooking painless and aggressive. An added bonus from evolv is that they will split size their shoes for an extra $30-35 (something I found I needed to do after buying these shoes). evolv's customer service is also out of this world stupendous!
Athenas should be sized the same as your street shoe size.
They are excellent on sport routes but forget about wearing them for anything that requires smearing or jamming (I had to wear them once on a 5.10 trad pitch b/c the holes in my trad shoes blew out even larger on the previous pitch, and I was falling all over the place in the Athenas, plus they are super painful to jam in cracks...duh).
The rubber seems to be equivalent to La Sportiva and def much better than Scarpa (the only other rubber I have climbed on).

I've owned these shoes for quite some time, and even had them resoled once. These are very comfortable shoes with very sticky rubber. I love the velcro - I dont know if I could ever go back to lace ups for my level of climbing. I never really noticed any stretch in these shoes.

Since I can't seem to post a review for some odd reason:

Actual Rating I'd give this product: 4.50
I have owned these shows for approximately 1.5 months and am now able to review the Athenas with a more subjective summary.
Through a promtion at the climbing gym I regular, these shoes were purchased for approximately $49. Originally, I intended to purchase just one new pair of shoes to replace my MadRock Flash; I didn't plan purchasing boulder/competitive-esque shoes. However, I had an opportunity to demo the Athenas around the gym for a bit (as I had w/ the Defy - which I've already reviewed) and decided that for such a low price why not give it a go.
The shoe itself has a very nice firm synthetic rubber sole whose arch is such that it makes for nice heel hooking when bouldering. The velcro straps are great for a quick no-hassle release - I'm not much for lacing up. The yellow, black and white colours are neutral and don't scream, "I'm a woman specific show!!!" The inside is comfortable for the most part. The top of the shoes were the velcro crosses is quite cushy - just like the Defy. However, where my left and right big toes met the upper portion of the shoe (synthetic rubber covered approx. 1" of this area on the outside) it would sometimes rub and cause discomfort. I compare it to that of getting one's cuticles pushed back but w/ too much friction. Grant it, I knew that w/ the synthetic rubber the shoe would NOT stretch and figured that between climbs I could take the shoes off, which would offer a quick remedy.
Alright, fast forward a bit. Once the shoes arrived, I took them for a spin around the gym and then outside the following weekend. The temperature was quite chilly, which made climbing all the more akward for me. That said, I didn't get much use nor a good feeling at this point as to whether or not I liked the shoe. I figured it would take some time before getting used to a new shoe w/ a thicker new sole (then that of my old MadRock Flashes).
The next few weeks I continued to wear the shoes around the gym (I picked up Ultimate Frisbee and went back to Moutain Biking, so my weekends were packed). However, this past weekend - March 19, 2005 - I finally got to use the Athenas and really take them for a spin.
Now, I haven't mentioned much about the edging of these shoes because at this point my usage of these shoes extended to indoors (mainly) and one go outdoors (managed one memorable slab problem). Ah, but the perfect opportunity to take them to my first bouldering comp ever (to date, I've been climbing for 6 months). Boy, what a difference does nice weather and a new pair of shoes make!
The Athenas were ideal not only for edging but (aforementioned), heal-hooking, and problems that extended not just to bouldering but various slab problems (other then the one I mentioned in my first outdoor go) as well. The pushing of cuticle irritation seemed to lessen, which could be attributed to a few factors (being a woman, you girls know what I mean). The one bummer, my right ankle started to rub sore; but thankfully, no blisters (my feet are flat so the constant pushing the entire foot into an arched shoe repeatedly caused this to happen).
Overall, I really do like these shoes - they are wide enough for my feet but fit like a glove. With regard to shoe size - I choose my street shoe because of the synthetic rubber (unlike my Defy where I went a size and a half, irrc). Again, these puppies WILL NOT STRETCH.
I hope this was somewhat helpful to those women who want to try out a new bouldering-esque shoe. This said, I don't think I'd use it for an all-around shoe - I'll use my Defy for that.

Overall, good shoe for the price I purchased - wouldn't purchase for a kid though - too much dosh imo.
BLK aka Jen