Trail shoes for 2014

In a now annual fashion, I'll line off the trail shoes for the coming year that I am most excited about.

1.  Scott Sports Trail Rocket.  I liked the Kinabalu a lot, but the upper had some durability issues, and there seemed to be a little too much shoe than was necessary.  I really liked the TC Evo road shoe, and the Trail rocket seems to be a blend of the Kinabalu, TC Evo, and the Race Rocker (Scotts performance road race shoe).  Lower drop (5-7mm?), enough protection to run mountain trails and the light!
Sage Cannaday's review

Photo - Trail Running Review

2.  Salomon Sense Ultra Softground.  Not sure the "exact" name of this shoe, as it might just be called the Sense Ultra, or Sense Ultra 3, but this shoe should be turning heads everywhere.  Speedcross outsole on the Sense platform...  NICE!  I think the lugging will add a little extra cushion too.

3.  La Sportiva Bushido. Hmmm will La Sportiva finally nail the lighter-weight yet still ultra-ready category (is this a category?).  I hear 6mm drop, approximately 10oz, and sports a Vibram outsole.  Hopefully the midsole has the feel of the Helios or Vertical K, plush yet light, and the protection of some of Sportivas "monsters" like the Crosslite or Wildcat.

Photo - Trail Running Review

Photo Credit irunfar.com

4.  Asics Gel Fuji Racer 3.  I love the first iteration of this shoe, until I ran on rocky gnarl with it.  The outsole is just too hard and has no grip on rock, be it loose, wet, or dry.  So the 3 has a no outsole, but maintains the 6mm drop.  Also I should point out they got rid of those stupid drainage ports on the bottom.  If the outsole performs, you might see me racing in this shoe a lot.

Photo - runningwarehouse

Photo - runningwarehouse

5.  New Balance MT110v2.  Totally redone.  Thank-goodness.  Paper shoes be gone (thats what we have decided to call the wafer-thin MT110v1), this shoe maintains the 4mm drop associated with the 110, but looks substantially beefer.  Outsole geometry is changed, as is the upper.  If the midsole is Revlite (it is), consider me a New Balance customer once again.

Photo credit - Runningwarehouse

Photo credit -irunfar.com

6.  Scarpa Tru.  I've heard some great things about the Scarpa Spark, and this shoe looks to maintain a lot of the great features of the spark (protective, lightweight, good traction) and simplifies it a little bit.  6mm drop.

Photo credit - irunfar

Photo credit - competitor magazine

7.  The North Face Ultra.  TNF shoes fit my feet really well.  I know some people don't take TNF shoes very seriously, but I was mighty impressed with the Ultraguide, and I look forward to seeing what the Ultra Trail is like.  Lightweight (~9oz), slightly more heel (8mm drop) than the rest of the shoes above it (not necessarily a bad thing). The vibram outsole gets me pretty excited.  With all the badass runners that TNF is picking up, they really need a high performance trail racer to please these guys.  I hope this is it.

Photo credit - competitor magazine

Photo credit - irunfar

8.  Vasque Shapeshifter Ultra.  ???  Cool.  ???  Expensive...  $170.00.  Low drop, big cush.

Photo credit -competitor magazine

9.  Montrail Fluid Flex II.  I tried the Fluid Flex I, and the lack of any lateral support ruined the shoe, despite how much I enjoyed the foam.  It looks like their is more stability in this model but thats just a guess based on the stitching pattern.  We will see.  I like that Montrail has kept things simple and cheap despite pressure in the industry to make super duper expensive shoes.  4mm drop still and uber lightweight.

Photo credit -examiner

Photo credit - irunfar

10.  It was a tough choice, either the Patagonia Evermore or the Altra Olympus was taking this last spot.  But since I already have a ton of low drop, light weight shoes featured, I decided to put the Olympus as #10.  Big midsole, not sure of the exact stack height, but I'd guess 30mm or more.  0 drop just like other Altra shoes.  Fans of the Torin will probably like this shoe a lot.  I'm curious, that's for sure.

Review of Ultimate Direction AK Race Vest

Like a lot of my ultrarunning friends, I am a sucker for anything Anton related.  Something about that guy just oozes cool.  So when I saw that he was designing a race vest I knew that I would end up buying it.  I ordered it wayyy back in December, the second I saw it was available, which is lucky because it sold out FAST.  I think you can find them now, or at least pre-order them.  As spring approaches and the weather heats up, it will be time to start thinking about carrying bottles again, and the Ultimate Direction AK signature vest certainly offers up an alternative method for carrying two 20oz bottles.

Making it look cool

I think the main utility of this vest is the opportunity to use bottles, but not have to carry them in your hands.   I've definitely run into problems carrying handhelds during races before; lack of dexterity is MY major issue during a race.  Other problems include falling down and not having free hands to catch myself, sweaty sweaty sweaty hands glued to bottles, and tired shoulders and arms after 12 hours of carrying bottles.  So why not wear a pack?  Well I have also been at races, rather exhausted and pulled off my hydration pack, been unable to get it open myself, or handed it to a volunteer to be filled, not realizing they had no idea how to open it, fill it, or close it (not their fault, its just confusing sometimes). 

UD stock photo

So when I saw the AK vest, I was very intrigued, the Eurostyle bottles in the front definitely has application for us Americans, but you generally see US runners carrying bottles or wearing hydration packs with bladders.  

I was very excited when I first opened up the package and put on my size S/M vest.  It fits very well.  Super snug, incredibly lightweight, and it didn't seem to rub me in any strange places.  And then I put the bottles in - Sweet!  This is going to be a great piece of gear for race day.  One problem, the bottles weren't filled with water yet.

Filling the bottles with water soon revealed that it was not as comfortable as I initially thought.  There was quite a bit of bouncing.  I tried to adjust the pack in multiple different fashion, and eventually settled on a fit that seemed to work out OK.  The one thing I quickly realized is that the front of my pack (and thus the bottles) looked to ride quite a bit lower on my chest than it did when Krupicka is wearing it in pictures. 

I went for an 18 mile run in the winter with 2 filled bottles, more to test out the pack rather than actually needing the water.  Besides the slightly annoying bouncing and sloshing noises, it seemed to work ok.  Then towards the end of the run, I noticed myself getting more and more sore across my chest.  My man boobs were really not liking having full water bottles strapped across them for miles and miles.  I quickly drank down the bottles, and once they were empty, I wasn't bothered anymore. 

I feel like this chick is about to be in a world of chest pain

I ended up with some bruises on my ribcage/pectoral area, and haven't tried to run with full 20oz UD bottles in the pack since then.  Maybe its my running form, maybe its my build, maybe its the fact that its sold as a S/M size, rather than allowing for someone who needs a small to get a small, but I just can't get it to fit quite right.  I dunno why, but its a serious flaw and drawback.

Back view

What I have used the pack for is to carry stuff (camera, gels, jacket, etc.) because it is so light and fits great.  Further experiment has lead me to conclude that I can get away with either small 10oz nutrition flasks in the chest pockets, Salomon softflasks, and I have heard other people (who have had similar bruises as mine) mention that the Amphipod style bottles seem to work.

Notice the lack of bottles

Stuff anything you dont want into the back sleeve

In the end I am kinda disappointed, If I'm stuck using two 10oz bottles, that's not really enough water to get between aid stations that are spread out.  Perhaps it will suffice as a training tool.  The vest has nice pockets, including 2 zipper pockets in the back and Velcro pocket in the front.  There are also two sleeve-like pockets that can be found in the shoulder area.   These are great for stuffing gel into.  Be warned using the Velcro pocket, car keys can fall out!  The back of the pack also features one giant pocket, which is what I generally stick things in if I know I don't need them for a while.  Part of me is considering putting a 1.5L hydration bladder in it, and using that, combined with two 10oz bottles up front, could provide ample hydration for long outings and also allowing me to customize fuels in the front bottles.

Asics Gel Fuji Trainer 2 Review

I was very impressed by the Gel Fuji Racer, which caused me to be quite optimistic about the new Gel Fuji Trainer 2, a midweight trail shoe from Asics that fits into the Gel Fuji line of shoes.

The geometry of this shoe is quite appealing to me.  A decent stack height with the forefoot being spec'd at 19mm and the heel at 25mm.  Overall, creating a 6mm heel to toe drop.  Furthermore, the lugging pattern looked much more aggressive than the Gel Fuji Racer, and the weight wasn't too crazy (under 10oz)


Fit
I ordered a size 11.5, which seems to be the typical size I order these days.  It is also the size I wear for the Gel Fuji Racer, and lengthwise I would say these shoes are very comparable in fit, and just right for me.  However, the Fuji Trainer 2 feels much wider throughout the midfoot and maybe a touch wider in the forefoot, something I found a little disappointing.  I should mention, I hated the skinny black laces that came with the shoes and swapped them out for a pair of old MT100 laces.

While most Asics shoes fit my feet like a glove, with a nicely tight midfoot wrap, the Fuji Trainers felt loose and baggy.  Combine this with the fact that the lacing system is a little unique (and strange), I have found it hard to really get these shoes to be tight enough without cutting off circulation to my feet.  I think this is magnified by the fact that there is not a traditional lowset eyelet and the end of the eyelets, which usually allows for the lockdown style of lacing.  Honestly, the little cloth lacing eyelet seemed kinda useless and stupid.  Thinking about it harder, I think because of the wide base of the shoe, the overlays aren't as useful as the typical Asics overlays; maybe if my feet were a little bit higher volume this wouldn't be a problem.

No eyelet for ankle lockdown lacing

Very roomy around the ankle (a little too much) (ignore the saucony insole)

Careful study of the shoes has led me to conclude that the entire area from the tongue to the heel collar is very large and open, thus if you have somewhat skinny bony ankles like myself, there is a lot of room for your feet to move around.  I am unable to get my heel to lock down even though the length of the shoe is perfect.  It hasn't caused me too much grief, except for the fact that debris enter the shoe a little too easily.  Also, there is a perforated, removable insole, which I swapped out for my favorite Kinvara insoles.

Traction
Traction on these shoes is pretty awesome.  The lugs do exactly what you'd expect.  Combine this with a full contact outsole and a wide platform and I found that they bite into just about any type of trail I have available to test them on.  The wide platform really helps give the foot a stable landing pad when running through sandy sections of trail.  The lugging almost reminds me of the Speedcross, except they aren't quite as tall.

Lug height isn't crazy, but its enough

However, towards the heel, Asics implemented a series of offset square lugs rather than the winged lug pattern found on the rest of the shoe.  I think this is to help de-couple the heel if you're a heel striker, but what I have found is that these guys really suck up mud and don't shed it well.  I've ended up with clumps of my stuck only to my heels on several wet runs.

Mud sticks to the heels a little bit

Ride
Along with the traction, the ride and underfoot feel of the Fuji Trainer 2 is probably my favorite aspect.  They are protective without being sluggish, firm without being too solid, and the 6mm drop really feels smooth when running fast or slow.  There is no rockplate, but the foam is fairly firm and I haven't noticed any problems when running across gravel on dirt roads (my nemesis).  They are moderately flexible, but nothing compared to the Fuji Racer.  I have about 150 miles on my pair, and when I definitely feel as though they have been getting a little more flexible as I break them in.  I have noticed that when running across road or very firm trail, the lugs seem to add more cushion, but also a slightly unstable feeling.  It is nothing series, but I just thought I should mention it.

Conclusions
As of right now, I like this shoe, but its not quite what I was expecting.  The fit and lacing issue is a big disappointment on what otherwise is a very solid offering from Asics.  If you have wide feet, high volume feet, I could see this being a great shoe.  I have since tried to add an eyelet of my own in order to help secure my heel, and it has helped, but for some reason I can't help but think Asics could have done a better job of this than I did.

Added my own eyelet

Because of the traction, relatively low weight, and the comfortable, protective ride, I can see these shoes being a great choice for a long race such as a 50 or 100, especially one that has mixed terrain.  If these fit your feet properly, I think they would be an amazing shoe.  I still enjoy mine, even though I can get irritated that with the roomy feel.  I just wouldn't expect them to fit like a pair of Fuji Racers.

Questions?  Comments?  If there is anything I haven't covered, or if you have experience with these shoes, please leave a comment to help anyone else out there, looking for...  The Perfect Shoe.