trail shoes durability

I just ordered some 811s, never owned any before. I don't know what the Vasque look like, but the 811s look like plastic. I'd be surprised if they last 300 miles. But they are light and comfortable and with the wide width, I didn't have to get shoes so big there are still 2 inches of extra shoe above my toe. Everything is a trade-off, I guess. I just wish the prices of shoes reflected the quality.

I just purchased some 811s as well. I'm about to do some hiking with them in the new few weekends. They're light and comfortable. My feet have no arch, so it's hard to find a comfortable shoe. I'll sacrifice durability for comfort in this case.

never owned NB shoes but the Vasque Velocity are a personal favorite. I thru-hiked the PCT in just two pairs of these (and discarded the first one when it was still usable) but the PCT is not too hard on shoes and still most people seemed to wear them much earlier than I (don't know what people do to their shoes… :)

Also my experiencie about the Velocities' tread wearing down kind of quick but they still work well for on trail hiking.

I just bought my 3rd pair of Innov-8 shoes in less than 3 years.

I am guessing that I might be getting 200 miles out of mine before they need to be replaced.

In the case of my two Terroc 330's the sole lugs had worn out due to the soft rubber compound used.

The rest of the shoe was in great condition.

I still wear one of them for just around town for casual stuff.

Pretty much the general trade off is that the trail runners are disposable, but lighter.

I pretty much have resigned myself to buying a new pair per year.

That said, I hike in the Sierra on a lot of granite and I try to take one trip per month- overnighters, 2-3 trips, and 1 or 2 week long trips in the year.

I have pair of Vasque boots that I just resoled for the first time and are 15 yrs old and the leather is in good shape.

Light vs. Heavy….

-Tony

Go figure, after I started this thread I noticed on Vasque's website that several of their sneakers (including velocity) come in WIDE! I've got to get to a store and try these babies on!

My experience with the velocities is also very good, aside from ripping pinky toenails off due to the non-wide width. I used three pairs to do the entire AT, and I could have done it with two if I hadn't thrown out the second pair in NH due to some poor judgment… But I'm going to give the NB's another shot. I should have a pair of the new 812's in a couple weeks to test out. Can't wait.

Hi all, I feel your pain regarding trail shoes; it's the one item it seems I am constantly replacing in my kit. I have been a Montrail user for over a decade now, going back to the old OneSport days. I am usually getting about 500-600 miles outta my runners, so maybe I'm getting a little more life than alot of folks. I will say that I still have an old pair of Vitesses I wear in the yard and such (10 years old), a pair of Java GTX's I wear when I have to be out in wet conditions (8 years old) and a pair of Wasatch? I wear casually (8years old). The midsoles have become compressed on these shoes such that I longer feel they are comfortable for rocky trails.

I have a couple of tricks I use to try and extend the life of my shoes. I always open them completely up when donning/removing them; this helps to reduce wear on the linings and heel counter. I also seal any toe seams and seams along the rand area. This keeps water and gunk out of the threads and needle holes, which IMO can really increase the life of a shoes' upper. Much like a tarp ridge, this also should add strength to the seam. I also run a bead of seam sealer along the seam between outsole and midsole, and also around the toe bumper seam. This helps to mitigate peeling of the toe bumper and outsole.

When someone comes up with a way to increase the life of the outsole, let me know! Perpetual trail runners sure would save me some money, although I'd miss my shoe shopping sprees!

If the upper is still in good condition, you could always try resoling the shoes. I know most shoes now aren't designed to be resoled, but you can probably still do it. I just saw today that mtnsoles.com is resoling Patagonia shoes, you can contact them to see about other shoes.

I think a lot of shoemakers aim for disposable shoes. They're better off if you buy a new pair every year instead of buying one pair and resoling it multiple times.