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.

New toys out soon

Scouring the web in my free time for new shoes/gear that get me excited is something that I do oh too often.  But, the 5-10 people who actually read my blog get to enjoy the occasional preview on gear-to-come.

Fellraiser  (photo Castlebergoutdoors.uk)

Fellcross 2 (photo wiggle.uk)

Sense 3.  Did I miss the 2?  (photo Wiggle.uk)

S-lab Skin 5L pack with new soft-flask pockets.  I'll be looking hard at this pack.
(photo Castlebergoutdoors.uk)

Sense Ultra Softground
I'd heard rumors!  It does exist.  Also see Adam Campell wearing it in his movie "Silence"
(photo http://exploringthelimits.wordpress.com)

Inov-8 has also redone the color scheme for several of their trail shoes.  Whether there are changes in performance characteristics, its unclear.  I heard in an interview with Joe Grant that the Inov-8 X-Talon 212 was moved from blown EVA to injected EVA and that gave the shoe a little more protective ride.

X-Talon 212 (photo wiggle.uk)

Oroc 280 a shoe I would love to try out (photo wiggle.uk)

Inov-8 X-Talon 190 update (photo wiggle.uk)

Review of Salomon Sense Ultra

I've had the pleasure of tooling around in a pair of Salomon Sense Ultra's for several months now.  The short review is that they are a tremendous lightweight shoe with decent protection and decent durability.

First, I have to say that in general, all the lives of my shoes are dramatically reduced now that I'm running in Colorado.  But it seems the Sense Ultra is particularity susceptible to dying quicker in the Rocky Mountains. Its a sacrifice one has to make for a lightweight shoe I guess.  I wouldn't mind seeing a little more outsole on these guys.

I ran quite a bit in the original Sense, but it was never quite comfortable enough for me.  I'm not sure what it was.  I would get blisters on the outside of my pinky toes on both feet and never could lock the heel down quite good enough.  When I was at 3-Rivers Running Company, I had the chance to look at the Sense Ultras.  I thought the toebox looked a little wider, and the heel cup was slightly different, in so much as it seemed to offer a greater hook to come up over the back of the heel.

I actually decided to size down to a 10.5 from my typical size 11 (MT110, Speedcross 3, Pearl Izumi Trail N1) and the shoes fit nearly perfectly for most of their lifespan.  I have concluded that the heel cup is better and the Ultras either have a wider toebox or it is easier to stretch it out over the life of the shoe.  They accommodated my feet, which tend to be on the wide side, very nicely.

Grand Canyon R2R2R

I've put these shoes through hell.  I ran several long Poto runs back in Michigan in them.  After that they still looked like new, maybe with a little bit of midsole wrinkling, which didn't seem to influence the cushion.  Then I went to Colorado for a job interview and starting running in the Front Range  in the Sense Ultras.  Then I took them to the Grand Canyon for a R2R2R.  Then back to Colorado for more Front Range running.

I've taken them through numerous water crossings, both deep and shallow, and the shoes drained and dried out very well, which is perhaps unsurprising.  The low profile nature of the shoes also allowed them to handle well in the river when you aren't quite sure what you're stepping on.

I found the outsole to be plenty sticky on most rocks, as long as they weren't too wet and grimy (the rocks not the shoes).

Protection in someplace like Michigan is fantastic.  Protection in Colorado is decent.  Forefoot/midfoot is usually protected enough that you even if you catch a stinger, the pain is fleeting and doesn't last long. It seems Salomons special carbon fiber rockplate does its job.  I did notice that if I stepped on a narrow or sharp rock in the arch area of my foot it would be quite painful.   I attribute this to the flexibility of the shoe.  Its nice for running fast to have a flexible shoe, but it does allow for the occasional painful reminder that these shoes are intended to be a racing flat.

My longest run in them was the R2R2R at the Grand Canyon, which was 48 miles and I probably had the shoes on my feet for 13+ hours.  No blisters, which is great and I'm sure I wouldn't have had such luck with the regular Sense.

After about 300 miles now, the shoes are totally toast.  At least in my terms.

Missing lugs and outsole

After about 200 miles the tread started wearing down and lugs were shredded off.  I continued to abuse them, doing a Hope Pass double crossing and summiting a 14'er in them.  Now, there are several spots where the glue seems to have failed and I can peel back the outsole to expose more midsole.  In other places the outsole just appears to be gone.  One of the great things though is that the protection never failed on these shoes.  The rockplate is still in great shape, despite numerous attempts to puncture it by sharp rocks.  Kudos to Salomon.

Still not destroyed

Despite the wear on the outsole, I can probably get a few more miles out of these guys.  I feel that the traction is starting to be reduced, but really they never had tremendous traction in the first place.  Speaking of traction, the rubber is decently sticky, but they're no La Sportiva.  The shoes have a great ride on hard pack trail, fireroads, and pavement.  The small footprint allows them to be very maneuverable.  Unfortunately I found them to be VERY skatey in loose dirt/gravel on switchbacks and in the mud.

Holes in the medial sides of both pairs

Another hole forming on the lateral sides

The upper is probably the biggest issue with these guys right now.  I'm not worried about them ripping and becoming "unusable" during a run, but they have developed holes in the medial side of the toebox.  Now they let in a ton of dust and gravel.  Otherwise the mesh upper and Sensi-fit sock/sleeve thing was amazing.

Now I just need to save up enough $ to get another pair, or wait for a new iteration of these shoes.  I've noticed a few pictures from Zegama where it looked like the Salomon team had a pair of Sense Softgrounds!  When can I get these!  I think they will probably be a slight bit heavier, but the added weight for what I can only imagine is a more durable outsole with better traction would be a no brainer for me.  I just love the fit of the Sense Ultra so much, that a shoe with a more rugged outsole sounds like a great combo.

Looks a lot like the Speedcross outsole (Photo by Ian Corless)

Niice!  (Photo by Ian Corless)

Overall, the Sense Ultra is a great shoe.  Excellent fit.  A shoe that makes you want to run fast.  Protective for how lightweight.  Very maneuverable with their low profile/small footprint.  The cushion does its job even though it tends to wrinkle quickly.  The biggest downsides are the poor traction on anything that is loose or muddy as well as the relatively short lifespan.  Oh and they are so freaking expensive.  I should mention though that I've heard through the grapevine that Salomon plans on progressively lowering the price over the next couple years.

Waist belts

Or should I say "waste" belts.  Most runners that I know have at least attempted to use a waist belt of some sort.  My first experience with a waste belt was using a Nathan hydration belt to carry a 22 ounce water bottle and a few gels.  While this belt seemed to work fine for short runs - 8-12 mile range - I noticed that it was difficult to get it to stay cinched down, and that having a belt/water bottle around my waste bothered by stomach.

That was years ago.  I haven't messed around with belts much since then.  Shorts with pockets are becoming more standard, and I just figured that I would carry handheld water bottles.  But then I ran a 50k where I ran out of gels and since I was in the mix for a top slot, I did not want to take the time to go over to my drop bag to grab more.  The rest of the race I relied on aid station fare, and it all worked out OK, but I thought, hmmm, if I had had a belt, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

So come time for the hallucination 100, I dug out my old Inov-8 Race Elite pack and it worked great for carrying around extra food and I never felt anxious about running out of calories.  But it still bothered my stomach a little bit and I found that it probably had too much storage.  It also seemed to bounce around more than I would have liked.

So the idea of using a waist pack kinda went to the back burner, again.  Then through some fortunate circumstance I got my hands on one of Salomon's new creations, the S-lab Advanced Skin 2 (AS2) belt.  A few trial runs with it, and I was sold, waist belts seem to have come a long ways since I bought my old Inov-8 race elite pack.  They don't even look like awesome (ugly) fanny packs anymore!

After a little fiddling around I think I finally got the AS2 to be tight enough around the waste.  This brings up my one and only complaint, I have my belt tied down as small as the waste belt will allow, and it is just barely tight enough.  What about other runners who have a skinnier waste than I do?  I will never understand why some running gear (specifically waste packs) seem to have enough room in the belt to fit someone with a 45 inch waste, but skinny runners, sorry you're SOL.  Ok end rant.

As tight as it will go

The AS2 comes with a soft flask, and I bought another one to throw in there.  This allows me to carry 16 ounces of fluid, with no bounce at all.  The belt has small elastic loops that fit over the top of the bottles to fully secure them.  I've put 10 ounces hard flasks of other varieties in the belt, and while it will comfortably carry one, it seems to start to get bouncy again if I have two in there.  The AS2 also provides plenty of room for gels and a camera or whatever other small nick-knacks you'd like to carry.  My only other knock against the AS2 belt, is that there is not a great spot to secure a light shell, although if you don't mind the awkwardness, you can stuff one into a large pocket due to the stretch mesh.

18 ounces of H20

The buckle system on the AS2 is different than many other buckles, but it works nicely and I have never had a problem with it coming undone.  What is interesting  is that the AS2 essentially has 4 panels, and you can orient them however you like, depending on what you have in the pockets.  It does seem to ride up more if you put the pockets that are meant to be in the back facing forwards.

Now while I really liked the AS2, sometimes it seemed like a lot of material and a lot of storage, especially if I only needed to carry 1 or 2 gels and a camera or car key.  So I decided to try a more minimal belt.

Ultraspire Quantum

I had heard great things about the Ultraspire line of products, and wanted to see what the hype was about.  I noticed the Quantum was about as minimal a belt as they made and it was relatively cheap.  So I ordered one.  I was a little amused at first, as I hadn't noticed before I ordered it that there was no buckle.  Its meant to be pulled on just like a pair of shorts.  You then tighten the belt with a small cinching strap.  My initial skepticism quickly faded as I noticed that this meant you could put the belt in any orientation you wanted, with pockets facing whatever direction you require with little to no problem.

Pockets and cinching strap

The Quantum has two small mesh pockets that I've put two gels into each, and the back pocket is primo.  I fit a camera, my car key, and a clif bar into it without issue.  Sometimes I'll even crumble an empty soft flask and stuff it in there, if I know there is a water source down the trail.

Now between the AS2 belt and the Quantum, I am constantly forced to choose which one to wear.  I prefer the Quantum's fit and feel over the AS2, but the storage space on the AS2 is clearly superior, and it offers the nice functionality of carrying water.  Both seem to have very nice features, I especially like the zipper on the Quantum, as it is by far, the easiest zipper I have ever used, even when descending technical trail.

Nice mesh on both

Overall, I don't think anyone would be disappointed with either, as long as the specific purpose of each belt. The AS2 belt has the downside that if you are too skinny, you might not be able to get it to fit tight enough. Both have a nice mesh material that does not bother me at all when I am shirtless, which is certainly appreciated.

Quantum

S-Lab Advanced Skin

6mm drop Speedcross 3

Well I'm on the 2nd pair of Speedcrosses.  The first pair served me well through the winter, but received significant abuse on the snow-sidewalk style running.  And as my feet keep growing, they became too small, so with Woodstock 100 mile approaching, I opted to get a new pair.

I like the speedcross 3, they are a solid built shoe, that is very comfortable, provides adequate protection, and fantastic traction, especially in gnarly mud.  But, extensive running in them definitely lets the sides of my knees (IT bands) know that they have a pretty heavy/overbuilt heel.

So, lets fix this.  The Speedcross actually have a nearly perfect heel for manipulation.  While Salomon claimed to have reduced the drop on the SC3 to 9mm, I thought it felt more like the typical 10-11 used in the 2.  Thus, I wanted to cut out 5-6 mm and end up with a 5-6 mm drop.

Its pretty simple:  Get a hacksaw and go at it.  Tools required:  Tape measure or ruler, hacksaw, gorilla glue.

First I used the tape measure to draw an outline to determine where to cut using the saw.  Be patient when doing the cutting.

Trying to follow my outline

Cut all the way to the edge of the red foam, where the black line ends, top middle

After making your initial cut, go ahead and cut a slice (5-6mm slice) for me.  Again exercise patience when doing this.

Saw'd out a 5-6mm foam slice

Shoes - foam slice

Gorilla glue the shoe back together

When glueing them back together - I used Gorilla glue.  Gorilla glue requires a little bit of water to activate, thus lightly dab water onto both of the sides of the midsole you want to glue back together.  Be very conservative in your application of gorilla glue as it tends to expand and bubble if over applied.  Also, you'll need some weight to keep the midsole compressed while the glue dries.  I used a chair, and by having a chair leg sitting into the heel cup of each shoe, I was able to weigh down the chair, and thus compress the midsole (sorry I forgot to take a picture of this).

6mm drop speedcross 3 hard at work @ Woodstock 100 mile