An excellent shoe for vertical to slightly overhanging routes.

As mentioned before make sure you size them correctly, they will conform a little to your foot but they won't stretch. My street shoe size is 9.5, I went with size 10 in the Pontas and they're very snug...snug enough to relegate them to bouldering and single pitch stuff. These shoes fit my wide feet well although the toebox is a little narrow, this is part of the reason why I can't wear them for multipitch/all day stuff. The lacing system is quick and easy allowing for convenient removal between climbs. It also allows you to cinch these shoes down very tight.

As with all Evolv models construction is superb and the Trax rubber performs as well as anything out there. This model is fairly stiff making it an excellent edger and okay for smearing. The heel cup is a little baggy but much better than my other laceup models (Five Ten Newtons and pink Anasazis). With the laces cinched down fairly tight the Pontas heelhook pretty well.

Overall I'm pleased with this shoe. As for the smell...I haven't noticed anything unusual about these. I think it comes down to proper care (airing them out after climbing and not leaving them on for hours at a time).

I usually use Yosemite Bum for resoling but I wanted Onyx rubber on my Five Ten Newtons. I had my shoes back in 8 days! Excellent workmanship with no incidental stretching. I'll definitely use R&R again.

I'll skip the description since you can read the other reviews and visit their website. First off, kudos to Evolve owner Brian for helping me determine which size to buy. He promptly responded to all of my emails.

After consulting with Brian I decided to order my Kaos in my street shoe size (10.5). This was absolutely the right decision, any size smaller and my toes would have been mangled. For me the heel fit of the Kaos is the best of any shoe I've ever tried. The low volume toebox means my toes are curled slightly, not exactly comfortable but then I didn't buy these shoes for all day trad routes. I've had my shoes for 5 weeks (regular amount of use) and they have not stretched at all.

I was impressed by how well the Kaos edge. Looking at the soles I would have guessed these shoes to be more "floppy" but they stand on just about anything. Other qualities I like are the shoes' ability to toe in to small pockets and heel hook/scum. The other thing I am not completely satisfied with is the smearing. I feel the C4 rubber does a slightly better job. That said I still very impressed with the Trax rubber.

Overall I give the Kaos a 4.5 rating.