New Balance MT910GT Joggers Review

Great review Roger.
Been using these on winter backpacking trips since mid. January and have held up great.

Can confirm stiff sole is pretty solid on snow/ice. Have about two hundred trail only miles on them and just switched out for mesh since GXT was a bit warm and pruning effect was getting annoying/causing blisters.

One thing noticed was GTX membrane seemed to almost collapse on a very wet 4 hour trek, have not experienced this before with that type of fabric, guessing conditions were pretty challenging for any footwear.

When you boil it all down, I guess it gets a Recommended rating because that's what I thought it deserved.

> I'm not familiar with the MT875 that the reviewer uses as a comparison
The URL to the Review is in the article. Read it?

> Is a $130 a good value for the performance these shoes give?
Hum, well, it seems about 'normal' to me.

> Should this be considered a specialty shoe for those with wide feet?
Not at all. It comes in a D fitting and a 4E fitting, so it may not suit someone with a B width. But I can't test those!

> I don't understand how it would beat other shoes in its class.
A Recommended rating does not require that it beat all the other shoes in its class. I found it a bit above Average, but not at the Highly Recommended level.

Yeah, objectively grading shoes is almost impossible. But better a Review of some sort than none?

Cheers

Hi Ross

> What are other competitors to the mt910?
Hum, well, many I would think. We now have 4 reviews of new balance, plus reviews of other footwear. But given how fast the industry changes models (Herblock's Rule), it is impossible to keep up. I wish they would slow down a bit!

Recommended, or Above Average? Good Question. Quite definitely well above Average though. Maybe borderline between Above Average and Recommended, tending upwards? If I don't have an urge to take the shoes off as soon as the tent is up, I tend to look very favourably upon them.

> how much heel lift is there?
Ah. I was not able to detect any significant heel lift on my feet. There is always a bit of movement – otherwise your feet would be really jammed, but my Darn Tough Vermont Full Boot Socks meant I felt nothing.

Cheers

Would you consider wearing these as your only hiking shoe on a week long John Muir Trail hike? I'm concerned about ankle support and stone/root bruising through the sole. Comments?

Hi Steve

I wore lighter shoes (MT875OR) than these on 2-month long trips in Europe. See Review.

My ankle support is my tendons. Hard-line!

No bruising through the sole at all.

No worries!
Cheers

On your recommendation, I purchased the Vermont Darn Tough full cushion boot sock. I wore them on a training hike (6 miles half woods trail half subdivision street) and I really liked them based on that brief trial. I thought they would be much thicker and that they would be mostly good for hunting in the winter. To me they are a medium thick wool sock and take up about 1/2 size up from a thin nylon sock when fitting with runners. (I wear 9.5 with thin socks and 10 with thick socks) I have some thicker wool socks that I have used while hunting, so I'll be anxc
ious to see if these are as warm when used in that capacity. I have some NB 8505s I picked up at Ross for $25 that may not be perfect but at that price I will compromise a bit. They have very good comfort, cushioning and reasonably light weight. They have a strange gap in the heel sole that some rocks stick into and traction has not been tested in difficult conditons, but did I mention they are comfortable, cushiony and reasonably light at that $25 price? Works for me.