Brooks Pure Grit- A quick look.

I tried a pair on a couple weeks back. I was impressed with how comfortable they were even just standing around. I ended up taking home a pair of the pure flows instead (had intended to shop for a new road shoe in the first place), but have since ordered a pair of the pure grits because I couldn't get over how well they fit my feet.

My experience with the split toe is similar to Eugene's. It hasn't made any apparent difference in the shoe's performance yet but hasn't been a problem either.

REI has them on sale still too, I think. EDIT: just checked again, some colors are on sale for $69.

Also just wanted to add thanks to Eugene for the thorough review. Good to know others are liking the shoe so far.

Great write-up. Thx for the info and pics.

the split toe just seems goofy.
could you feel it during your runs or did its existance sort of disappear as you hit the trails?

would you wear it for 50+ ?

The split toe seems a great place for small stones embedded in mud to gather during your run. Have you encountered this issue – is it full of gunk after the messier runs?

I'll add a few more details when I have a bit more time but the short of it:

I use both.

MT101 for shorter distance,
PureGrit for longer distance since it is pretty comfortable.

Both have adequate protection (rock plate and all that padding).
Both i feel could use more traction (especially the MT101) in general.

Pure Grit did not do well in a mix of mud, snow and ice but does fine in the mud.

Last I tried some on, I was impressed. They seemed to be a nice sweet spot between plush and minimal. If not the MT110, I'd likely be running in these. I still might try them when my MT110s are worn out; seems like it my be a better 20+ mile shoe for me than the 110- a little more cushion.
Only negative that I've heard is that the traction could be better; seems like the lugs could be a little more pronounced.
I'll put up a similar review/comparison of the MT110 with pics this weekend; I have about 200 miles of trail on them so far.

Thanks Eugene.

@Art,
I would definitely wear these for 50+ miles Art, they're very comfortable, moreso than the Montrail Masochists that I wore back in '09 which were quite cushioned. I think Brooks nailed the density of the midsole, it is responsive and still smooths out the rough stuff. I haven't owned them long enough to comment on longterm midsole compression, but so far so good. The Cascadia 7 recently came out and I'm keeping that shoe on my radar for next October as a 50 mile shoe, but from the photos that I've seen the toebox doesn't look very accommodating.

The split toe is a slight gimmick IMO, it has simply gone unnoticed on me while running. I'm cool with this in part because I like everything else about the shoe and didn't view the split toe as a selling point when I purchased the shoe. Brooks may have found quantitative data in their R&D supporting the split toe aiding in toe off but my experience with the shoe so far on trail tells me otherwise. One thing you don't see easily is that the split toe design does NOT continue into the interior of the shoe, it only extends up 1" on the front of the outsole. What is obvious is the flexibility of the shoe and this is where the split toe I do believe plays a role, particularly in torsional flexibility of the outsole which is pretty impressive with the Pure Grits.

@Doug,

Small rocks and trail debris do not get embedded in the split toe, not once have I caught anything inside this area. This isn't an issue because the split toe doesn't extend into the interior of the shoe, like Vibram Five Fingers for example, which are notorious for getting things lodged in between the toe.

Hey Eugene,

Nice write up.

After reading the review of them by Tom Caughlan I almost bought a pair of these.

The thing that keeps me from spending the money on them is that I unbelievably love the spikes on the Inov-8 X-Talon 212. I have over a thousand trail miles on mine and no matter what I am hiking on – be it established trail, road hiking, rock faces at the top of mountains, etc – I have just completely fallen in love with the soles.

As I said I have been thinking about buying the PureGrits as well as the new Brooks Cascadia 7 (which they thankfully solved the horrible problems that the 6 had) but neither of them really had the same feel of grip and protection that the Inov-8 X-Talon 212 have given me.

Granted the Pure Grit has a much more aggressive sole than the Cascadia’s but still nowhere near as good as the X-Talons. I am really hoping that in next years model Brooks becomes a bit more aggressive with their soles on the PureGrits.

Great review. I tried on a pair a month or so ago and also found them really comfortable. Like John, I like a more aggressive sole and was looking for something I could also backpack in and was a little unsure how they'd be for bp'ing. Seems like they'd drain/dry super fast.

John, I've also found the 212s to be surprisingly long-lasting. Seems like they reach a wear-plateau and just keep going. I feel like mine should be totally worn well past flat and they still somehow have some quite respectable lugs at 800-900ish miles. Uppers are in great condition.

Great writeup Eugene.

I have been using these shoes for a bit now. As a heavier guy I appreciate the cushion of the PureGrit's midsole. The low heel rise makes it easy to maintain a midfoot strike.

I have 2 problems with this shoe:

1) The fit is narrow enough that I have to use a size 11 to get the width I need, though I usually wear a 10 or 10.5 in shoes with roomier toeboxes.

2) The sole's grip is not that great on slimy surfaces like mud on a hillside.

I am interested in trying the New Balance MT110, which is said to address many of the complaints aired against the earlier models. I like being able to get the width I need without having shoes so long they belong on a clown (or at least they feel that way).

Good write up Eugene. Sounds like a good shoe for me as long as I don't take it backpacking.
Those of you that use the MT110 how would you rate the durablity of the mesh? The 101s are not that great but they do have one thing going for them. The plastic overlays on the toe and on the side seem pretty durable. Even after the mesh was totally trashed this area held together preventing a catastrophic failure. There was a big hole that let in dirt but I could still wear the shoes. I wore them most of the summer that way just to see if I could really make them unwearable. It never happened. This makes me feel better taking them on long hikes. Even if I trash the mesh I'm confident enough of the shoe will survive to get me home.

The mesh on the mt110s is one of the things I was most excited about. There's a couple reviews online of people with 500+ miles with hardly any wear on the uppers. Another plus is that should absorb hardly any water (other than the thin liner). Looks like it should be a super durable shoe (other than the part of the sole with the midsole exposed).

I kicked a rock and tore the "mesh" on one of my MT110 uppers on top of my toes. The nice thing about it being perforated plastic as opposed to fabric is that tears don't seem to run. You can hose these off and they look new; no staining or fraying.

"You can hose these off and they look new; no staining or fraying."

That's too bad, dried up blood on your shoes pairs well with misfired snot rockets stuck to your shirt and salt stain riddled running shorts. ;-)

In all seriousness, the design of the MT110 upper looked pretty stout with the synthetic one piece perforated overlay, definitely unique. What I don't understand is why they didn't make the MT110 with a continuous one piece rubber outsole, the blown foam instep with foam lugs doesn't make any sense to me. Was their intention to save weight here?

"What I don't understand is why they didn't make the MT110 with a continuous one piece rubber outsole, the blown foam instep with foam lugs doesn't make any sense to me. Was their intention to save weight here?"

That's the really stupid part of this shoe. The lugs on the instep disappeared in about 3 or 4 good trail runs. I think it's a real compromise in the overall durability. And what's more sad is that the rubber is SO good. If they could have covered the entire bottom it would be amazing.

As far as I can tell, the lack of rubber in the middle is purely to save weight/increase flexibility.

I'll put up a review with pics similar to Eugene's. A lot of question have been getting asked about these.

For the MT110, they pretty much made the shoe that Anton Krupicka wanted. He was known to do a few modifications on the 101 and those modified 101's became the 110.

Here's a story about it: http://www.irunfar.com/2012/01/the-making-of-the-new-balance-mt110.html

I've been shopping around for shoes for the PCT and have found these intriguing. Glad to find a review about them I was about to post a thread asking anyone if they had any significant use on them. Looking at using these for 400-450 miles a pair, do you guys think they'd hold up that long? I do most of my running in 101's and Trailgloves. I love the 101's and these seemed very similar.

Here's my only gripe:

I think the blown foam lugs were nearly gone in only 40 miles. Contrast them with how sharp the rubber lugs still are; this is after over 200 miles.
If the sole was completely rubber, they'd have a real winner. The rubber lugs are the best I've used yet. The lack of rubber in the center certainly lightens them and adds to flexibility. But for me, these are lesser concerns than versatility and durability.

Despite this, I still love the shoe for running. As a forefoot striker, the lack of lugs through the center isn't much of an issue.

This does, however, pretty much eliminate them as a backpacking/adventure shoe (with the exception of short trips). In sloppy conditions I'd want the midfoot rubber. Whereas I used to use the MT101 as a running and backpacking shoe (also for adventure racing/obstacle courses), this is more of a purely running shoe. But that's OK; that's what they built it for. I'll use my Inov8 Roclite 295s for adventuring and backpacking.

I've worn out two pairs of 100s, two pairs of 101s, and 1 pair of MT10. These are my favorite for running (also best traction) of the lot. But backpacking fans of the MT101 will likely be disappointed; due to the foam instep, this is now more of a running shoe.

@Matthew: According to that article, Anton trains and races in the 110's. If you check his blog, he runs 200+ miles a week. I'm sure you could email him through his blog and ask him how long a pair lasts him. He lives in Trust Fund, opps, I mean Boulder.

Anton was at a movie showing in SB last week for the film "Unbreakable" which was a documentary on the 2010 western states race.

Anyway part of the film shows Anton using a butter knife to modify the tread on the bottom of his shoes, around the midsole. Looked like he basically cut of the lugs.

In the Q&A after the movie he was asked how many pairs of running shoes he goes through a year. He said about 30!

Both of those are interesting to me, but neither would fit. So far the only performance-type shoe I've found shaped correctly for me is the Altra Instinct. The Lone Peak (supposedly on the same last) is too narrow in the toe.

I wore the Instinct on a hike Saturday in the snow. Surprisingly my feet stayed pretty dry over 10+ miles despite the mostly mesh upper.

Anyway, note the more boxy/square nature of the toe box versus most "anatomical" shoes.

Man you people and your wide feet…I tried on some Lone Peaks and felt like I could fit both my feet in one shoe (despite my big toe hitting the end of the toebox). Guess my feet just grew long instead of wide (size 13 usually and I'm 5'8").

My feet are pretty normal except for the more squared primitive shape across my toes. I credit going barefoot a lot throughout my life and never tolerating pointed shoes.

Oddly the left foot (I'm right footed) appears a little more squared.

Craig, that wear on the instep is nuts in comparison to the rest of the outsole which looks absolutely rock solid. I think I have gone a bit "soft" in my footwear preference as of late-pun intended- a bit of midsole cushion goes a long way for me and the MT110 was simply too dainty and slipper like of a shoe (*only tried them on and pranced around the house in them). I'm definitely still desire neutral design and minimal differential in the shoe but with some added softness to the ride.

@Nicholas,

'Unbreakable' was a pretty solid flick which kind of consolidated all the last few years of footage, interviews, and hype on all those big name runners into a good documentary. 30 pairs of shoes a year sounds about right considering he has been averaging over 100 miles per week the last few years- insanity! I think those off the chart 200 mile weeks were several years back when he and Skaggs were logging miles when Skaggs set the Hardrock course record and Anton blew Leadville wide open.

@Chris,

You have some seriously wide feet! I've seen the Lone Peaks and played around with them and they are quite wide. Everyone has a different foot shape, so what Altra considers "natural" may not be the case for someone with an arrow shaped foot like myself. I like the wide toe box in the Lone Peak but don't think that I would want such a wide toe box on technical trails and rocky ascents where having a secure fit throughout the full length of the upper is important for me.