New Balance shoes

I wear these:

http://www.newbalance.com/outdoor/trail/WT811/

I also wear the 811's, and they are quite nice, although mine seem to have worn out after not as many miles as I would have liked.

Anybody have any experience with the 840's? They seem to be a step up, but I haven't tried them on yet.

The NB MT1110GTs got a good review here – see
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/nb_mt1110gt_spotlite_review.html

Cheers

907 until they died, now I have 908. The SL-1 last fits my foot really well. I pass on Gortex because my feet get too wet in them…YMMV.
I like a shoe that has enough stiffness in the fore-foot to prevent bruising on rough trails/off-trail. I have found that the "Rock-Stop" NB uses works well. That is what died after 350 some odd trail miles on my 907. It just got soft.

edited to correct last number

Love New Balance mainly because you can get them in widths!!!

The one problem I've had with them…..and my primary criteria for picking a trail shoe from now on is….the sole. If you look at the bottom of the 909 and the 1110….right around the ball of the foot is a 2×4 grid of little rubber posts. (I'm sure they have a fancy name for them like "tread" or "cleats" or something other than the torture devices they are). Anyway, the two little posts immediately under the ball of the foot have caused me tremendous pain because the load isn't distributed. It is concentrated right in the same place mile after mile….just auguring and drilling into the ball of your foot…..to the point that my toes goes numb at the end of the day.

Now the thing I look for is a sole more akin to the 840 that spreads the load around over a larger area.

Of course this is likely a personal problem being 6'6" and heavier than most…..or that I hike a lot on granite… but I thought it should be noted as a shopping criteria. Your mileage will most definitely vary.

Rand :-)

I have the NB MT811AT shoes and have to agree with Rand. I only have about 100 miles on them, but they fit very well, and I have not gotten a blister in them (or any other NB shoe, the only brand I run in). However, they seem like street running shoes that have had a "all-terrain" outer sole added, but are otherwise unchanged. The parts of the sole that make contact with the ground from the arch forward are 23 little V-shaped pieces of rubber. This means that, of the total suface area of the forefoot, maybe 20% is actually bearing the weight. My feet have been sore at the end of the day every time I've worn them, which was usually on soft grass or dirt trail. These will be relegated to running the gravel roads around my house. I am currently looking for somehing else. BUT, I had not considered Rand's suggestion that it may be due to size. I am also a pretty big guy. My pack also tends to be closer to 30 lbs. than 20 because I have to carry a lot of water. That is a total of between 265 and 275 lbs on any given day. YM(and pain level)MV.

I loved the 809s. After I wore out a pair and gained a few pounds I bought some 810s. They just didn't measure up, I tore the mesh on the side on the second outing, and the soles are like moccasins. I don't have a place to look at any of the newer models, locally, so I've given up on New Balance for now. If I lose some weight I might consider them again.

New Balance are so hard to find. I wonder why hardly anyone seems to carry them. Well, it could be my small tourist town is to blame, but are there any stores that carry they good versions of them? We have a Sports Authority but they seemed only to carry the lesser versions.

I ended up buying some Brooks. We'll see how they do. They are a bit on the long side for my feet, but they feel comfortable so far.