UKH

Anyone have experience with these? I'm looking at Salomon speedcross replacements and the reviews look good but then... They always do!

My main issue with the speedcross is the poor grip on wet rock. I'm looking at either the VJ or some inov8 alternative... 

In reply to hbeevers:

Surely with graphene built into the sole nothing can beat Inov8? 

(Although the uppers of my last 2 pairs of non-graphene ones have disintegrated long before the soles were worn out)

In reply to hbeevers: go and try some on.  Inov8 look really good on paper, and lotsovr them but they don't work for me.

Better than speedcross on rock is a pretty low bar - notoriously rubbish for that

In reply to Ron Rees Davies:

Everything can IMO. I find they find oddly and are unpleasant to run in. Doesn’t matter if the sole will last for eternity when the uppers disintegrate after touch a rock once.

Some people love them though. Each to their own. FWIW Salomon make a lot more (and a lot better) shoes than the speedcross which have always performed badly on wet rock due to the lug depth and shape. Might be worth considering something from the Sense or S/Lab series which have smaller lugs? Trade of is worse sloppy mud performance. Modern trail shoes are very good in one area typically, all rounders don’t seem to exist.

In reply to hbeevers:

One of out faster club members swears by the VJs, especially on wet rock. He used to wear top end Salomon. 

In reply to ianstevens:

I always assumed it was the rubber compound that was responsible. I thought Salomon Speedtrak were superb all rounders but the bastards have stopped making them.

In reply to ianstevens:

Interesting to hear that other Salomon's are better than the speedcross... Do they use different rubber?

The speedcross are great in mud but downright treacherous, elsewhere. I nearly ended up face first in a pond running at Ilkley so promised myself to look at alternatives.

Inov8s fit me well but the VJ XTRMs look as good for grip with more durable uppers...

In reply to hbeevers:

I've had the Inov8 Roclites previously and the VJ XTRMs currently. The XTRMs give so much more confidence on wet rock than the Roclites, plus they have a rockplate for extra protection. I've only had them for a month so far so I can't comment on durability but the uppers expecially feel very durable so far.

I have a friend who has the Salomon Speeds and he says they are terrible on wet rock as well. So I think it's just Salomons rubber compound that isn't as good as Inov8 or VJ Sports.

The Roclite I had were a couple of years old so well before the new graphene soles so I can't comment on them.

In reply to Ron Rees Davies:

Apparently, the lab geeks at Inov8 are developing a new, long-lasting, design for their uppers using helium and koala bear tears. 

Combining this new and improved upper with their fancy dan graphene soles, sounds like they could be the ultimate fell shoe.

Although early indications are the ‘Koalaphene X Talons’ will retail at nearly £900 a pair. 

In reply to hbeevers:

VJ iRock 2 wearer here. Much better grip on wet rock than anything else I've used, but less grip than a Mudclaw in total slop.

As with others, I killed two pairs of Mudclaws last year well before the sole went. Uppers fell apart. VJs have been fine with roughly the same amount of running, however the sole is noticeably worn. I now just use them for racing or in utter crap weather on limestone. 

Sizing on the VJs is quite different to Inov-8.

Speedcross are utter cack on mud and rock. Can't stand them.

In reply to hbeevers:I've got some speedcross and some s-lab ultras - different show in every day.

I've got a few salomoS shoes and unless you're hopping around in the woods they're not the best.  

They're not great on roots thinking about it.

But fit rules over all

In reply to hbeevers:

Don’t think so, but they do all have different tread patterns which I find does make a difference in rock - the tread pattern on the Speedcross doesn’t lend itself well to a large amount of surface area of rubber on ground when it’s solid underfoot, in contrast to something like the Sense Pro with significantly smaller lugs. Still far from perfect on wet rock, but I’ve personally never found a running shoe that is, having tried Inov8, La Sportiva, Adidas, Brooks and Scarpa alongside Salomons over the years.

In reply to DaveHK:

But if both. You need good rubber of course,  but if less of it is touching the rock then it’s not going to help - the deep chevron tread on the speedcross means that a lot less than half the shoe is touching the ground when the underfoot surface is solid, like a rock. The trade, of course, is that a shoe with deep tread is great in sloppy mud. For a  shoe with a flatter tread, or more specifically larger lugs, you get a greater amount of rock/rubber contact giving the outsole a better chance

In reply to hbeevers:

A friend has VJ and really likes them.

For me inov8 build quality isnt good enough but they go through good periods and bad periods.

In reply to hbeevers:

Have you looked at Salming? I loved their T3's, last forever.

I have their ispike, studded shoe for ice. I do all of my trail running on snow mobile trails from December to April and love them. They last forever. 

In reply to Roadrunner6:

I have use inov8 for a few years now for fell running I find there a good shoe mainly use X talon 212 and X claw 275 . Today I used my new X talon 230 I'm really impressed the upper is really strong and great grip on rock not sure how long sole will last as it's the softer sticky rubber but for 60 odd pounds a great buy