Trail runners: closest thing to the old La Sportiva Fireblades?

[Aaron]

Fireblades were the best shoes for my feet I’ve ever worn.  Perfect fit, perfect sole, with just the right amount of control and stability.  If there was any complaint, maybe the rubber was a bit on the soft side and I wore through them too fast, but the feel was worth it.  No foot pain ever.  I don’t have flat feet at all, but somehow I can still tend to pronate in certain shoes.  Fireblades seemed reasonably popular, so of course La Sportiva discontinued them years ago (probably 2010 or 2011?).  Since then I’ve been using Wildcats.  I stocked up on several pairs when I found them on sale, but I’ve always felt grudging about it.  They just don’t feel quite the same as those Fireblades did, and frankly (it’s of less importance than finding a shoe that doesn’t kill my feet), I always thought the styling was bad, doubly so after wearing them for years. I’ve gotten to my last pair of Wildcats and I want to move on.  Anybody else out there who was a Fireblade fan, and did you ever find a perfect replacement?

[Art …]

I was a Fireblade fan for a couple years (2009-10), but they were a bit narrow for me so I eventually gravitated to Brooks Cascadia. Salomon XA Comp and possibly Brooks Caldera are two other shoes that are similar to Fireblades in my opinion and seem a little narrower than Cascadias.

I thought the Fireblade rubber was on the firm side, one of the reasons I liked them. don’t remember about the wear. Don’t think the Wildcats run anything like the Fireblades.

I still have a couple pair of Fireblades that I wear on a  rare run.

[Aaron]

It may have been the semi-sticky quality of the rubber, it just seemed to wear down faster than other shoes I’ve worn.  They always had great traction… while it lasted.  My feet aren’t particularly narrow, so I’m not sure why they fit me so well, but I can’t remember ever having a bad day in them. Could be I was always wearing them large, but never really noticed.  I hoarded a few pairs when I found out they were discontinued and I wore the hell out of those things.  Before the Fireblades I wore Salomon for a while, but I found the lacing system disappointing.  Despite claims about the super strength of the thin cord, in my experience they definitely wear out, sometimes well before the rest of the shoe.  Maybe they’ve upgraded it in the last 10 years, but the design looks the same.  I’ve heard a lot about Brooks, particularly the Cascadia, but haven’t tried them.

[Author]

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