NB Leadville discontinued…whats the next best option?

Thanks for the heads up.

The best option is to search the net and buy some shoes.  I just ordered two more pair at $94 from Backcountry.com.  So now there will be three on the shelf, plus the two in rotation. There are many sites with the shoes at full retail $125.

The Leadville is a great shoe for me so I don’t mind investing to put off the pain of finding a replacement.

I did find them in my size (blue color) and picked up a couple pair on sale + promo code from joesnewbalanceoutlet.com

No wonder I couldn’t find Leadvilles at local stores or REI!

I was in the market for a new model of hiking / backpacking shoe last weekend, wound up with the Hoka One One Challenger ATR 4. After an 8-mile day hike on Sunday, so far, so good. Not sure how they compare to NB Leadville, guess I’ll never find out.

I tried and disliked: Altra Lone Peak 3.5, ASICS GT-2000 6 Trail, Brooks Cascadia 12, Salomon XA Elevate, a Swiss shoe I’ve never heard of with compressible loops in the soles, and the Topo Athletic Terraventure (close #2 choice). The Challengers just felt right.

— Rex

@rex

I just bought a pair of Inov-8 Roclite 305’s last week and I currently have a pair of North Face Ultra Endurance.  It sounds like you like the Hoka One ATR4.  I was looking at those as well and heard they offer excellent cushioning and some of the most cushioning of many trail runners as well as very comfortable.  I also heard they were more unstable than other shoes.  Let me know how you like them after you have used them a while, I would like to try out of a pair someday.
<p class=”bbp-user-nicename”>@ardavis324-2-2,</p>
If you go to http://Inov-8 site, when you look at shoes they have a fit scale that runs from 1 – 5 with 1 being closest fit (Grade B) to 5 being 2E size, don’t know if this would help you at all in finding a shoe that fits comfortably.  With that said, I can’t recommend my Inov-8 shoes yet as I haven’t received them.

in my opinion the Leadvilles were a New Balance copy cat of the Cascadias (you may or may not agree). However, the last couple years have seen the Cascadia toe box a bit narrower than before. Still you may want to try them on.

The NB 910v4 is a similar shoe to the Leadville.

The NB 910v4 is a similar shoe to the Leadville.
The Leadville came in a 2E and a 4E width in all versions. I will not try anything under 4E. And we do like that Vibram sole!

The original 910 (I reviewed them early 2010) was reasonable, and came in a 4E. The latest v4 comes in a ‘wide’, but that is just a 2E.
Alternatives in 4E?

Cheers

I have super wide, finicky feet. This is awful news for me- I love my Leadvilles. They remind me a lot of my Cascadia 9s that I really loved before they started making the toebox narrower with the newer versions.

If you liked the width and volume up front, it seems like the Topo Athletic Terraventure would be worth a look. I have the Topo Runventure 2.0s, and the footbox is quite wide (certainly wider than the New Balance Leadvilles felt in 2E).

I was looking for a wide toe box, lots of cushion, lots of breathability, and room for orthotics. My feet are average width, so I don’t have the challenges of some. “Stable enough” works for me, I’m very rarely off trail, and wear my shoes very loose – practically untied.

You are almost certainly looking for something different.

After scouring a bunch of review sites (RunRepeat & OutdoorGearLab were pretty useful), I went into stores with a short list, then asked for suggestions. Will Rietveld has a good review of the Topo Athletic Terraventure. Designs can change so much from year to year that a review of the Brooks Cascadia 11 tells you almost nothing useful about the Cascadia 12!

I could have spent all weekend trying 35 models of Salomon trail runners, or Inov-8’s 29 models – if I could even find them.

But I didn’t. The Paradox of Choice.

— Rex

After using up my supply of Cascadia 9s, I got the Topo Athletic Terraventure.

It is slightly wider than the Cascadia 9, with more volume in the forefoot. 3 mm drop too.

They’ve been great for running, but I haven’t tried any long trails with them yet

I see that NB continues to mess with success.

Are they still making heel cups insanely roomy, like they did about four years ago when I had stop buying their shoes?