REALLY GOOD SHOES(?)

[Summit CO]

Since all my money was going to winter footwear, for summer I my inventory is: 2 y/o Teva sandals, 5 y/o Teva low hiker shoes that are literally falling apart, and some 8 y/o Timberland midboots that are almost out of tread.

OK… my new job is letting me reoutfit myself from my threadbareness.

After much trying on of various brands of trail runners (salomon, asolo, merrel, etc etc etc), I was once again reminded that my feet are insanely picky and only a few brands fit. While I was busy trying to find a pair of Teva X-1/C trail runners (because Teva fits me, and those things weigh 1.3lbs/pair) I thought about looking beyond trailrunners.

After trying pairs on, I was concerned that trailrunners wouldn’t offer sufficient support or durability offtrail (like in scree). Noting that most trail runners (except the Tevas) weigh in between 1.6 and 1.9lbs, I thought I might be able to find something beefier without much weight penalty.

I came across these incredibly sick shoes:

1.4lbs/pr (11.5oz/ea)
Timberland Delerion (made for their adventure race team which is cosponsored by GoLite)

Adventure racing shoes should offer more support than trail runners!
Crampon lip!!!!
XCR!
Gaiter fast connect!
Wicking fabric!
Dual density footbed
all sorts of durability plates and overlays
Some sort of interlacing system with the laces to the footbed for stability.
“Dual density outsole with harder perimeter for edging and sticky interior for traction on slick surfaces.”

Seems like the ultimate lightweight trail shoe… but nobody carries Timberland around here… so does anyone know anything about these shoes?

http://www.timberland.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2012287&cp=1779753.1905061.1813463&parentPage=family

Or these boots:

Cadion
2.18lbs/pr (17.5oz ea) 2.09lbs/pr (16.5oz ea) for non goretex

Pebax shank (instead of metal)
XCR/Schoeller
Memory foam ankle
wicking
crampon lip
vibram
extra armor
etc
http://www.timberland.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2012285&cp=1779753.1905061.1836461&parentPage=family

Seems incredibly versatile and light for a higher performance semi-technical boot! Once again, nobody around here so who knows about this?

One last one:

Summitscape
Weight Unknown but I’d guess <2lbs/pr

Climbing rubber toe for super stickyness in that class 3 and 4 stuff!
Vibram
XCR
etc

More ankle support than a sneaker, light weight (I think), and excelelnt traction although I’d thinkt he climbing rubber would wear away before anything else unless it was exceptionally thick.

So Anyone had any experience with these Timberlands?

[Russell Swanson]

Summit,

Regarding the Delerions, I haven’t tried them myself but those shoes were the subject of a few threads recently (in the past 6 months or so). Do a search for them.

Seems a lot of folks liked them other than one major gripe…something about the stiffness of the tongue, or some such, causing discomfort.

Can you be more specific as to your fit issues? I find that the more you describe what doesn’t work with the footwear you have tried, then the more good advice you’ll get about what to try next.

[kevin davidson]

Really—like your pack question—the one that fits you best. They may be seriously sick shoes but have you tried them on? These are 3 very different pieces of footwear. What are your needs?

In terms of trail runners—there are many others besides the Delerions, of course ( I have a pair of the discontinued Delerion Pros, which I love, w/ caveats–see my reader review). Shouldn’t ignore Montrail, Salomon, Merril, New Balance and others.

As for the 2 heavier shoes you posted, you should also take a look at Lowa Tempest Lows or Mids. I find the Timberland marque to be very inconsistant—some stuff is well designed and made, others, less so.

XCR membranes in shoes make for hot dogs. Good for cold, wet conditions but not warm ones. They will eventually leak.

[Andrew Hedges]

I agree with Kevin about gore-tex – I don’t like it in shoes because my feet get hot and steamy even on dry days; “hot dogs” is a good description of the effect.

[Summit CO]

“What are your needs?”

Goretex is not a requirement, it jsut seems that those seem to have goretex. The Cadion has a nongoretex version that I’m leaning towards.

What I need is a shoe with at least slightly more support than most trail runners I tried on.

Durability in and performance on steep slopes, scrambles, scree, rock, bushwacking is desirable.

The boots are in there because they would replace the Timberland midboots I’ve been using as a light duty summer SAR boot while still working for backpacking if I didn’t get something else.

“In terms of trail runners—there are many others besides the Delerions, of course ( I have a pair of the discontinued Delerion Pros, which I love, w/ caveats–see my reader review). Shouldn’t ignore Montrail, Salomon, Merril, New Balance and others.”

I tried every Merrel, Salomon, New Balance, Montrail, Columbia, Lowe, and Asolo trail runner I could get my hands on.

Every pair either had bad heel slip, outside forefoot pressure, and/or lack of support issues. I think ski boots are easier to fit on me than trail runners (ski boots I wear Garmonts and Nordica).

“Can you be more specific as to your fit issues? I find that the more you describe what doesn’t work with the footwear you have tried, then the more good advice you’ll get about what to try next.”

My feet are very hard to find a right fit. I have a high instep, medium forefoot that gets very wide for a short bit, and a narrow heel that has little contour vertically as it approaches the ankle, then the ankle suddenly pokes out . This means the salomons squeeze the daylights out of my forefoot, as do the lowe and asolo and most have trouble holding onto my heel. Some Montrails and New Balance were close to fitting.

I have a feeling I’ll be taking advantage of the order-multiple-sizes-return-what-doesn’t-fit.

The problem is NOBODY carries those Timberlands around here and NOBODY carries Teva X-1 or X-1/Cs (or any other Teva shoe).

[kevin davidson]

There’s no magic bullet for hard to fit feet. Unfortunately there are no heat moldable inner boots to custom fit the fit a la ski boots such as my Scarpas. But there are aftermarket footbeds such as Superfeet, and Merrell, Montrail and others make such— which add to the shoes support and often help solve fit problems. First thing I do w/ all my footwear is to take out the stock insoles and replace w/ Superfeet (Performance Green). I also try all new footwear w/ same.

If you ever found a really good fitter of ski boots(they are worth their weight in gold and have a greater skills set for footwear fitting than the average Jill or Joe in a mtn shop) they might help you figure out a way to make many of these shoes and boots to work for you.

Some of your indicated uses call out for an approach shoe— everyone from La Sportiva to Scarpa plus all the usual trail runner suspects make a version of these. Stickier rubber for lower grade climbing, more support, and more foot pro.

[Author]

Posts