looking for good, light trailrunners

[Doug Johnson]

My hiking shoes are typicaly 11.5 (normal shoes 10.5 or 11) so I ordered the 11/11.5 and they are great.

Furthere, there are 3 insolve volume choices to fine-tune the fit that work quite well. I'd bet the size you're getting would be correct…

[Lucas O’Neill]

Doug,
how are they in wet conditions? Do they retain water? How quickly do they dry?
Thanks!

[Miguel Arboleda]

Thanks Doug, I'm going to see if I can order a pair!

[George Matthews]

Interesting review. Might have to try them.

Your 'hiking with baby pics' are fantastic.

[Doug Johnson]

Thanks George!

I haven't had them in day-long soaking conditions yet. But I dunked them in a bunk of puddles and tidepools, and at least once over the ankel. They drained nicely and the uppers didn't soak hardly any water. They dried quickly.

Great shoes- still zero complaints. Very impressed.

[Brian Strong]

G: What did you wind up purchasing?

[George Matthews]

Hi Brian,

>> G: What did you wind up purchasing?

Inov-8 TerRoc 330 Indigo/Slate
Size Men's 11, Width Medium

Fortunately, Paul and Brett comments were valid for my feet.
Heel and toebox good fit (1/2 size bigger than measured size of 10 1/2) and are really like "tight fitting tractioned slippers". So far only tested in my house and yard, but will post a review after my next trip.

[Brian Lewis]

I've been closely following this thread and was torn between trying the Golite Sun Dragons and the Montrail Vitesse. I went with the Sun Dragons. I've not put many miles on them yet (just three or four "few mile" walks from home).

Doug says in his review they come with insoles that adjust to three different foot widths. Warning: in my haste to try these out when I got them home, I didn't even notice the variants and just wore them in default (widest) configuration, which doesn't work for my feet at all. I was a lot happier when I added the "normal size" add-on piece.

Again, with just a few miles on these, I have to say that I really like how wonderfully cushiony they feel — I like this a lot, others might find it too much so (dunno). And the toe box is large; in general I'm a big fan of shoes that are shaped more like feet are.

Size/Volume: Like Doug, I got the size 11/11.5. I normally wear a size 10 shoe and like others I size up for hiking shoes. These are fairly roomy inside, even with the correct insole width, I feel like I have to lace them up fairly tight, yet there's not a whole lot of extra room past my big toes, maybe half an inch or so. Hopefully my feet won't grow much beyond that on long trips … TBD. I'm fighting off minor heel blisters (from a failed attempt at the perfect shoe) so I've been wearing these with a liner sock *and* a light hiking outer sock. I'm a little concerned at how much volume of shoe there will be when I go to just a liner sock.

Weight: In Doug's review, he says that the size 11/11.5 weighs 14.9 oz — that must be on a per-shoe basis, not for the pair. At first blush this was surprisingly different from what I found, but out-of-the-box I first weighed mine with the default (wide) insoles and got the pair to be 788 grams, 27.8 oz, or 13.9 oz per shoe.

The difference is at least partly in the insoles, however. The way you convert the default "wide" insole to a normal or narrow is to *add* an extra insole piece on, which of course adds weight. Either the normal or the narrow size extra pieces weigh 19 grams (for both) or 0.7 oz. That gets me to something like 14.3 oz per shoe. I can't explain the 0.6 oz per shoe discrepancy with what Doug reports for the same size — maybe he wasn't able to clean all the dirt off the soles before weighing them or something (my weights were right out of the box clean). Or it could be a difference in our scales, or variants in factory runs on how much the shoes actually weigh or some combination of any or all of those factors.

I'm looking forward to seeing how well these dry out when soaked — that and just putting a lot of miles on them are my biggest concerns just now. I wore a pair of water shoes (true mesh uppers) for a few miles one day and these the next; with the water shoes I can literally feel the wind wistle across the top of my socks. Not so with the Golite Sun Dragons; they feel a lot like other trail runners in this regard to me. I hope these drain/dry out well enough, and are durable enough to take as my only shoe on very long trips.

Brian Lewis

[Brian Strong]

Bump!

G? Done any testing in your new shoes yet?

-B

[David Thul]

Greg,

I have worn the Slingshot and I love them. They don't have a lot of cushioning or stability so if you are a neutral runner and like to feel the ground they are great. They have great rubber on the bottom. My major complaint is the low volume of the shoe causes the tongue to often fit crooked. Also, the silverish stripe on the side wore off after a very intense bit of bushwacking up some rugged streams in western CO while doing some field work. Thats just cosmetic though. These shoes fit very true to size for me, and coordinate very well with other LS sizes, my climbing shoes, mountaineering boots and trail runners are all the same size. The toe box is pretty small on these shoes but I didn't find it uncomfortable and I have fairly wide feet and an enormous big toe.

As a fix to the tongue issue, I would recommend the LS Raceblades. They are also super light but have a stretch fabric tongue which will keep the trail crap out and the tongue in its proper place.

Both of these shoes are very rugged and a good price. They both have very little in the way of cushion and even less for stability but are a pleasure to run in.

I just picked up a pair of GoLite Sun Dragons and like them as well. I only have a few runs in them so I will update everyone when I get more trail time in them. As of now, I hate running in them on pavement (I know they shouldnt be there anyway :)) but they are great on the trail.

[Jason Brinkman]

I have a pair of Vasque Velocities that I've used for everything under the sun – trail running, hiking, casual, yard work, etc. They seem to be more durable than most other runners or trail runners that I've tried. I bought them because the looked cool and fit well – I only later realized what I had. I just ordered another pair – some colors are on clearance right now. They'll be my pair for multi-day trips this summer. Some newer model Vasques appear to have similar construction, but I have no experience with them.

[George Matthews]

Hi B

No overnighters carrying a pack yet, but my feet like them so far

Will report back after this weekend (first bp using them)

[Brian Strong]

Looking forward to it!

Brian

[George Matthews]

With a total pack weight of 14 lbs, the Inov 8 Terroc 330 shoes did well. They felt very light. I believe this gave me a psychological boost. The soles were sufficient to absorb rocks and roots, and grip loose dry and damp hardpacked dirt. The toe "bumper" saved my toes quite a few times. The mesh kept my sweaty feet reasonably dry.

They come laced with loops in the top two holes. I tried this for a while, but changed to traditional lacing because it was difficult for me to pull the right way using the loops (I'm lace challenged I guess).

My next hike is in a couple of weeks and will be four days. That will be a much better test. But so far so good.

[Brian Strong]

They should be here in a couple days. Thanks for the review.

[Terry Morris]

I love my Soloman XA Comp 3.light breathable. though the cushy inner lining may wear out a little more quickly than i would want. I have hilked with these shoes with way too much weight and been very comfortable, Not anything close to a even a hot spot. I like to feel the trail so they work for me, except that like all low shoes things tend to find their way inside.

Which led me to be curious about the S-Lab XA Pro3, that seem to have a light weight top to keep out trail debris.

http://www.salomonoutdoor.com/us/products/S-Lab-XA-Pro-3-W-2-51-1-0-418383.html

Anybody tried them??

[Robert Devereux]

How is the width at the toe box on Inov-8 shoes? I have a lot of trouble finding shoes that have a good fit at the toes. Generally my smallest toe gets compressed too much, even if I go up half a size. Keen avoids this problem, but most other companies don't. I'm trying to decide if it is worth trying Inov-8. Otherwise I'll try Keen again.

[Drowned Lemming]

Different Inov8 shoes use different lasts – for example, I need a half size larger for the Mudclaw 330 ('Performance' last) than I do for the Roclite 315 ('Endurance' last), but I find that the toe boxes on both are wide enough for me. Oddly, the shoes feel tight across the toes when first put on though.

As a comparison, the Montrail Namche is an excellent boot, but the toe box is too narrow for me – all right for a short day, but long (or fast) days mince my little toes. I have not had this problem with any Inov8 shoe.

[Adrian B]

I tried the Terroc, Flyroc & Roclite 315 on briefly in store, and I found the Terroc & Flyroc had a wider toe box/front foot than the Roclite.

Because I've got wider rather than narrower feet I went with the Terrocs (and they were awesome although sadly have worn out after about 350km).

So I think I'd say the Terroc & Flyroc at least have a wide-ish toe box.

[George Matthews]

Terroc 330 toe box is fine for me. Other brands that I've tried seem to crowd my small toe. I ordered 1/2 size larger and lucked out. Really great fit for me.

[Scott Peterson]

After using the Flyroc's for 5 days, with an average pack weight of 18 pounds and mileage under 10 a day, I was very surprised how well these shoes performed. I have a wide foot, and the toe box was very comfortable. I expected my feet to feel more tired given the lack of extra cushioning, but they felt fine after a long day. They grip very well on slick rock as well as talus and snow. Also, these shoes dry out quicker than any shoe I have used…including some old Teva sandals! In some cases, they were almost completely dry only 30 minutes after airing them out!

My only complaint would be the aggressive nature of the heal lock. The proprietary lacing configuration for the shoes allows you to really lock down the heal…and I created pretty good blisters my first day out. I advise lacing in a standard configuration and being careful not to over tighten. The cup held my heal well enough without the tension on the laces…but once the damage was done, all I could do was manage the blisters.

While these are great shoes, I would say the Vasque Velocity is the best for someone with wide feet or higher volume feet. These shoes are not quite as light, and will take a little longer to dry out, but I have never gotten a single blister in them as long as I use Sportslick on my toes or Injinji socks.

[Jon Ormsby]

I've been wearing a pair of Inov-8 Roclite 305's for a few months now and love 'em. I don't think they are supportive enough for trail hking however, so I just ordered a pair of the 318 GTX's. Tried them on the other day and really liked the support and feel. Plus REI has them on sale right now for only $79!

[Robert Devereux]

Thanks for the input. I decided to try the Inov-8 TerRoc 330. Since there's not a local place to try them, I went with Zappos for easy returns. I also ordered Keen Southern Traverse, which looked to be their lightest weight, non-waterproof, trail shoe. My past experience with Keen made me think they might be good. I figured one pair of shoes would get returned.

The TerRocs ran into the same problem I have with most shoes, the toe box narrows a bit too early and compresses my little toe. It's not as bad as many shoes that I have tried, it causes annoyance rather than discomfort. As long as I am moving, I can generally ignore it. Aside from that, the feel is nice. I almost feel like I'm not wearing anything.

The Keens really disappointed me. The toe box was too tight. Normally my right foot is the only one with problems, I had it both feet with the Southern Traverse, not just on the sides, but on the top also. The fit was different than in any of the other Keens that I've tried, I felt like my feet were being constricted. The excessively
thick heel makes walking feel a bit weird, especially compared to the relatively low TerRocs.

The Keens go back, the TerRocs stay, at least until I get a chance to try the Vasque Velocity.

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