Topo Athletic Ultra Venture vs. Brooks Cascadia 14? Opinions and Experiences?

I don’t have an overly wide forefoot, but I switched to Altras a few years ago for the extra roomy toe area and never looked back. Love ‘em.  But, not wanting zero drop, you can rule those out.  But I hike/backpack in the Olympus model because of the Vibram megagrip sole, which is great in wet/dry and equally good on rocks.  The lugs are sufficiently deep enough for mud and soft dirt surfaces, etc.  Don’t know that I’d want to do steep sidehill-ing in them, due to the super high stack height, but my point is to look for something with that Vibram sole if you want something with awesome grip.

The Topos you are looking at have that Vibram sole.  The Topo UltraVenture are on my list to try because the Olympus has become a super ugly shoe if you ask me, not that appearance is all that important considering what I’m gonna do w/ it…just sayin’.  But I think the UltraVenture is more like a Lone Peak, but w/ Vibram.

No experience w/ the Cascadia models, but looks like it’s not Vibram anyway.

I’ve got a pair of Hoka Mafate Speed 2 shoes on the way that I’m gonna try.  Supposedly the Mafate Speed 2 have a wider toe area.  We’ll see.  But many of the Hoka’s are not Vibram and I’m just not gonna bite if they don’t.  Been bitten by a couple pair of Altras (superior and lone peak) that are slick as snot on these east coast rocky/rooted/leafy/wet trails.  No thanks.

Oops.  You said no Hoka also for the same reason I mentioned.  Missed that.  Sorry.

I’d say give the Topo a shot then.  Pretty much exactly what you describe, low drop not zero drop, low stack height.  And if you go w/ one of the Vibram models, plenty of ‘stick’.

BTW, I was looking at the Terraventure 2, not the UltraVenture.  But looks like both could work.

I switched from the Akasha to the Ultraventure. The Akasha is a great mountain shoe, for both running and hiking. Durable too. The rubber compound that La Sportiva uses is better at sticking to rock than anything I have come across in the world of running shoes. Unfortunately, my pinky toe on my left foot is an idiot, and just won’t cooperate with a lot of shoes, so I decided to try the Ultraventure. It’s a great shoe, really awesome. The toe box is roomy, and IMO, just right. Altra has a little too much room for my taste, and the fit of those has always been a little sloppy on my foot, so I haven’t been able to wear them.

The Ultraventure is a lot of shoe, but it offers really good protection and cushion if you’re doing long distance trail running, which is what I use them for mainly. The rubber on the outsole is not as sticky as the Sportivas, but it’s decent, and the lug pattern is decent too for general use. It doesn’t really dig in like something like a Salomon Speedcross would, but again, for general use, it’s been fine for me and I run a lot of technical trails. I wanted to add that I am not a fan of any Hoka’s (yet); I notice several of them have a very pronounced rocker in the forefoot to give the feeling of a more nimble shoe, but it feels very unnatural to me when I have tried them on. The Ultraventure feels very neutral and natural.

Another shoe you might look into is the La Sportiva Captiva. A friend of mine just showed it to me yesterday (he wears the Akasha primarily). It’s not as cushioned as the Akasha, so depending on how far you run it may or may not do the trick, but it has a really nice sock-like liner that gives it a snug fit, and the toe box looks very similar to the Akasha. The outsole is like a combination of Akasha & Bushido. If you are ok with a little less shoe, I would at least try them on.

I really like some of Brooks shoes (for buffed/soft trails the Pure Grit are super comfy, and the Glycerine are my go-to shoe for road running up to marathon distance) but I do not like the Cascadia what so ever. Too clunky for my taste. The Akasha is kind of clunky too… but the protection, cushion, durability, and traction on slab with them is far and above most other shoes.

Happy hunting for the right slipper! :)

Well…I’m pretty excited about the Cascadia 14.  First, they dropped the weight down to around 10.4 oz I think per shoe (1.2 oz less per shoe than the 13’s), and they lower the drop to 8mm from 10mm.  I have already placed a pre-order on REI.com using my 20% coupon.  I’ve been hiking with Cascadias for the last 5-6 years and overall happy with them….But lately I’ve been thinking of switching to Altra Lone Peak’s.  I bought a pair of 4’s and have been wearing them around the house, but I can’t get used to the zero drop.  I think years of hiking with an elevated heel makes it difficult to adjust my gait so that I’m not putting too much impact on my heels, and that’s a contributor for me to low back pain.  I feel like the 14’s may be a good compromise (lower drop, lighter weight) between the older Cascadias and the Lone Peaks.  The 14’s are also supposed to have a wider forefoot, which again is a cue from Altra.

The Nike Wild Horse is another shoe you might look into. I have a pair of them and like them, but they’re a little firm under the foot for my personal taste. I do use them and have used them, just that I preferred the feel of the Akasha, though the Wild Horse is more tactile.

FWIW, I have done 100 mile trail races in the Akasha and the Wild Horse. I don’t know that I would trust the Wild Horse in the mountains with lots of granite and scree though, from a durability standpoint.

I just snapped this pic of the Wild Horse vs. the Ultraventure. They both have a very roomy toe box. (Both of these pairs have around 250 miles on them)

edit: Wild Horse, not Wildcat. I always get that mixed up… too many nights camped at Wildcat camp :)

For years the Cascadia 11, 12 and 13’s have all been the most comfortable shoe I’ve worn (narrow heels here too). Unfortunately, the Cascadia soles have been the slickest of any shoe I’ve worn in wet conditions. I much prefer the soles on the similar-fitting Brooks Caldera. The Caldera sole lugs are not a big as the Cascadia but they have better friction and slide less than the Cascadias on wet rocks and logs.

The Calderas are also lighter than the Cascadia 13’s and have more cushion than the Cascadias – they are definitely my new favorite shoe. The Caldera’s have 4mm of drop, but I put a 5mm SofSole gel heel pad in them under a pair of aftermarket insoles (Dr. Scholl’s sport insoles).

I also had a pair of Caldera 2’s. I did like the toe box in those shoes, but I could not get my heel locked in without using the top eye to lace them “locked” style. In January of this year, I ran a trail marathon in them and severely irritated the tendon on top of one of my feet. YMMV of course, but just putting that out there as another point of experience. I really wanted those shoes to work because I liked the fit otherwise. I did end up wearing the lugs off them fairly quickly however, maybe 200-300 miles of rocky trails. My favorite has been and currently is the Ultraventure.

The thing I can’t get over with the Calderas is the tall stack height.  I like the lower drop (for me 4-6mm of drop is about perfect), but they are a tall shoe, and I feel less stable.  The fit was also a bit high volume for me.