Within the last 3 months, I’ve purchased probably 8 different pairs of running shoes and beta testing three more pairs of future New Balance shoes. Man what a trip it’s been and the difference in the different shoe makers are vast to say the least. I’ll list below the makes of shoes I’ve tried so far;
Inov8 295, 310 flyroc, 318 gtx, 305
New Balance mt800, 907 off road, 903
Salamon
Vasque blur
For the most part, actual fitting of the foot is the biggest issue when selecting which shoe will work. I have found that a two different size 9.5’s of the same model will fit differently. Ask to try a couple of pairs instead of just one.
I love the New Balance MT800 trail shoe for short fast runs of 6-7 miles or less. They fell like your running in house slippers but they have excellent cushioning on both rocky and trails with root exposure. For runs in the 7-15 mile range, the Vasque Blur and the Inov8 310 flyroc both are fantastic shoes. The Blur feels like it has a little more cushion but the type of trail will dictate which shoe wins. Softer trails with buried rocks I like the flyroc and the hard pack trails I like the blur.
I’ll update my shoe findings every couple of weeks.
Ultraendure guy