Profile: slightly asymmetric, slightly downturned
Rubber: EB’s Optimax rubber (full sole); 5mm
Best for: beginners with a wide forefoot
Pros
Comfortable, beginner-friendly shoe
Good edging ability
Solid all-rounder
Vegan friendly
Cons
Lacks toe and heel features
Summary
The EB Electron is an affordable and comfortable beginner shoe with a precise toe box that will help develop good foot accuracy. It’s slightly more downturned and asymmetric compared to other beginner shoes so it also helps new climbers get used to more advanced shoe shapes without being painful or uncomfortable.
I’ve been very happy with their performance on the wall and am always happy to wear them for extended periods thanks to its comfort. I’d love to compare these to other, more popular, beginner shoes one day.
Performance
From the moment I first slipped these on, the EB Electron has been comfortable. As stiffer shoes, they perform very well on edges but can slip on smears if you’re applying pressure consciously. EB’s Optimax rubber may not rival the stickiest out there that only encourages you to weight your feet adequately. When done so, they rarely slip.
Like all beginner shoes though, the emphasis is on durability rather than stickiness. But I still wear these when I know I’m being lazy about applying pressure and want to practise better footwork.
What it lacks are features around the toe and heel. There’s a small toe patch but it’s not super sticky so it requires strong calves to make the most of it. But the heel is particularly problematic. The sole rubber doesn’t extend much up the heel so it can be painful to really crank on heel hooks that make contact higher up the heel. If the heel hook is more on the bottom corner of your heel then it’s fine.
Edging
The 5mm Optimax rubber provides ample support for edging. Even the tiniest foot chips are no issue, although they do lack sensitivity. The edge of the sole started rounding off after nine months of use, so it loses some of its edging prowess at this point. The toe box shape is also quite pointed so it’s a great shoe to hone your foot placement and accuracy.
Smearing
When rubber provides support for edging, it usually lacks stickiness for smearing. This is the case with the EB Electron. However, the shoe is still soft enough to ensure maximum rubber contact when smearing, but if your foot isn’t weighted fully, or if you’re not applying pressure in the right direction, slips can occur more regularly than shoes with Vibram’s XS Grip2 rubber or any other similarly soft formulas. Although the rubber covers the full sole of the shoe, it’s still flexible enough to ensure maximum contact when smearing on volumes.
Fit
For reference, these are the details about my feet.
- Roman-Egyptian toes
- Wide forefoot
- Medium heel
- Medium arch
- UK 9 / EU 43.5
I got these in my street shoe size. This was a snug and not overly tight fit. They did stretch a little so if I got these again, I would size down half or a full UK shoe size.
They work well for my wide forefoot and my medium-to-narrow heel size. I have Roman-Egyptian toes but I felt these would fit a greek-shaped foot better.