Looking for shoes

[Corey Downing]

Looking for a new pair of trail runners. My current pair are New Balance MT 101s. I like that they are lightweight and not too structured but need something with a wider toe box and possibly 0-drop heel. Most of my hiking now is in California, so grip in the mud is less important.

Currently considering the Altra Superior – http://www.altrazerodrop.com/fitness/en/Altra/Men/superior-men. Anyone out there tried these out or have other suggestions?

Bonus points if you can point me to some stores where I can try on lots of different brands in the Bay Area.

[Nelson Sherry]

Inov8 has some great options with lots of toebox room and heels with very little our no lift.

[Martin M. Clark]

I've used LOTS of minimalist trail runners. If I had to throw out my favorites

If your looking for something similar to the MT101 i'd say the merell mixmaster is a pretty good shoe to compare it to. It's slightly heavier, but has a more flexible sole, and more durable shoe overall without a huge weight penalty.

Similarly the Altra superior would fit the bill and is now my ALL TIME FAVORITE HIKING SHOE. I've been using this shoe for the past 4 months for hiking and think it's the ideal hiking shoe. Wide toebox, durable upper, comfortable protection for rocks, grippy, and tough. and they look good!

Merell Trail Glove – Super minimal, yet an awesome shoe. I think this is as minimalist as I'd be willing to go for a hiking shoe. I ran a 30 miler in them and my body really felt it. It's an excellent shoe but as with the inov8's durability is an issue.

I really like inov8's a lot. I use the flite195 daily for road running, but would not want to hike in many of their shoes. When I thru hiked in 2008 i destroyed a pair of inov8's fairly quickly and was a little disappointed with their overall durability. With these shoes I've also found that for better or worse they have a lot of ground feel. Which is a good and bad thing depending on the terrain. I think that other than durability inov8 makes excellent shoes.

order from runningwarehouse.com

they have excellent customer service (all of the shoes i've mentioned above)

and free 2-day shipping and free returns

hope this helps

[Corey Downing]

Ordered the Altra Superiors, should have them on Tuesday. If they pass initial inspection I'll take them out next weekend :). Thanks for the great info!

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