Montrail Hardrock quality decline?

[Andrew King]

While browsing around for a good sale on Hardrocks to line up a replacement pair, I happened upon a thread at Whiteblaze that talked about how the current production models of these shoes are inferior to the ones made before Columbia Sportwear bought out Montrail. Sad if true. Has anyone else had this experience?

[Ken Thompson]

Columbia has owned Montrail since Jan. of '06. Me, I have bought some since then that are holding up just fine. A few hundred miles on my newest pair. Looks like I will be shopping also. Love the Montrail fit for my long skinny size 15 feet. Plus the fact that they actually make a 15!

[Andrew King]

It's not quite as bad as I thought. Upon reading further, the issues are more with the change in fit, apparently there is more padding in the tongue and heel areas now. No particular mention of any durability issues. I purchased a couple of pairs last year that I've been happy with. For sure though, I needed to get the wide sizing option to avoid toe issues.

[mario hosay]

I dont think there is a noticable decline in the durability. But I personally dont like the color scheme and design that montrail is using in their recent footwear line. They dropped Tamarack and TRS Comp from their line. Two of my most favorit hiking shoes.

I think Columbia is trying to make montrails look more eye-catching than functional. Its a sad story, cause Montrail were the best fitting shoes for me. And I really liked the wide range of choices in their Hiking shoes and trail runner lines.

I think Mountain Hardwear is the nest to bite the dust.

[Margo Costas]

Even though it took quite awhile to break in my comps.

I just got some garmond's that feel great so far. I might have to get another pair before they change something, that seems to be the MO.

I had read about the durability issues of the garmond flash but since they fit so well I'll just have to get new ones more frequently. I love the way the tongue does not shift and the bit about how it's shaped to your ankle must be true because it's one of the few boots I've tried that fits securely in the heel yet does not hurt my ankle.

I used to like vasque sundowners but there were subtle changes when they moved to china. They seemed durable enough but there was something different in the footbed, the newer pair never felt as comfortable. It could have just been normal variation though.

[ERIC PAYNE]

I used 2 pairs of Hardrocks on my AT thru-hike last year. I'm really not sure what people speak of when they talk about the new poor quality because I unbelievably put about 800 miles on each pair. Maybe the pre-Columbia models would last 1,000 miles? I had a heck of a time trying to break in the second pair, but that's not the shoes fault I guess, but my flattening feet.

I'm using Inov-8s on the PCT this year, mainly because of the breaking-in issue, as well as enhanced breathability over Hardrocks. Should be interesting to see if I switch back to Montrail. Their website says the shoes have changed in '08 to make them more breathable. I'd like to see someone address this. Have they gotten lighter as well by using thinner/more breathable fabric?

[Rob Mcrae]

It is interesting that I stumbled across this thread — I recently bought a pair of Montrail's on ridiculous sale, and lamented when I tried them later that they simply don't fit or feel the way they used to. For years i bought Montrails size 9.5 without ever trying them on – they were so perfect I would special order them.
This last pair has made me think twice, though.
I had no idea that the company changed hands at all. Maybe that has somethign to do with it, maybe not. but that does strike me as interesting.

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