UKH

Needing to invest again.

I've managed to wear through the uppers on two pairs of Salomon Speedcross 4 very quickly where the toes flex. Prior to this I used Inov8 but again they wore out very fast, this time where the flat laces cut through the overlays, terrible piece of design.

Will be running on road for a couple of miles to meet trails. Lots of mud, moorland grass, tree roots but not much rocky terrain. 10k to half marathon diastance.

What do people recommend?

In reply to TMM:

any of the adidas terrex trail range, Merrell All out charge, or inov8 roclite (although you didnt like the inov8s you had ive not had a problem with any of mine over the past 10 years)

In reply to TMM:

Don't overthink it. Get something cheap that fits, probably in a horrendous colour. If cheap enough, it doesn't matter too much when it falls apart or if it's too knobbly for the road.

Makes I've had that fell apart quickly were Mizuno (3 pairs) and Topo and, latterly, Brooks - though I think the Brooks Cascadia I've got now may well last longer. They seem pretty tough and are holding up well after 140-ish miles.

I've heard good things about the longevity of Scott shoes. 

In reply to TMM:my recommendation would be to get a couple of pairs , avoid using them soaking wet and if they're really dirty put them through the washing machine

 

In reply to wbo:

Washing machine!?? A fine way to destroy shoes. Just rinse in cold water and allow to dry naturally.

Avoid using soaking wet - have you ever run in the uk autumn/ winter?

In reply to TMM:

Just a thought, are you buying the right size shoes? Might be your shoes are too big if they are creasing excessively, or if you have to over tighten them causing overlays to fail? 

In reply to mbh:

Had 2 pairs that didn't even last 100 miles. The only brand I avoid now

In reply to TMM:

Very surprised that Scott took a bashing in last post. I run in scott kinabalu t2 version 3s and love them! I've had 3 pairs now and they've lasted well on rough terrain over lots of miles. Recently ran the lyke wake walk (40 miles across North York Moors) and they gave me no issues at all. So I'd give them a look. 

 

In reply to TMM:

If you have proof of purchase, Salomon will replace any pair less than 12 months old, every pair of Speedcross seem to go at the toe within 200 miles. I know a few people who have got new shoes this way, obviously your contract is with the shop, but they should honour this.

 

In reply to The Potato:

Of course shoes get wet, but having more than one pair allows them to be properly dried out between runs. If you run regularly with one pair, it is quite possible that they will never dry during some months of the year, which will shorten their lifespan.

 

In reply to goose299/climberchristy:

Interesting that people have such contrasting experiences with the same make. I've seen people on here rave about Mizunos, but the last two pairs them that I wore had gaping holes after 100-150 miles.

 

 

In reply to TMM:

Just checking back through my records and I might be doing these shoes a dis-service. I originally purchased the Speedcross 4 in Novemer 2017. They split after one month and I got a replacement pair in January 2018. I see that since then I have run just over 2000km split between my road shoes, summer trail shoes and the Speedcross. Maybe I've just had my money's worth? I've also had to replace the speedlaces as well. What a waste of time they are! I see the Speedcross V moves to a normal lace. What do you so if a speedlace fails on an ultra or other event? The lace system is a faff to repair at home let alone in the field.

In reply to TMM:

What on earth are you doing to them to break the speedlace? I’ve used Salomon shoes since forever, some good, some bad but on all of them the speedlace has been one of my favourite elements and has never failed over a combined 10,000+km of running. 

In reply to ianstevens:

I've never had a speedlace fail either.  Correction - the ones on my 8 year olds shoes.... 

To the Potato: I have done a lot of off-road milage in the UK and certainly more than most people.  The main issue is mud and grit killing the uppers,.  Running in the shoes soaking wet seems to speed up the damage, so I rotated them. I have put running shoes through the washing machine hundreds of times to get soaked in mud and sand out.

  Given that for circa ten years I ran twice a day most days it's fair to say I had a lot of shoes in rotation ...

In reply to wbo:

fair enough! Ive done a fair bit of running but never too late to learn some more, if you dont mind, on what setting do you wash your shoes and do you put them in anything? How do you go about drying them?

Ta.

In reply to The Potato:no problems something cold and quick .  Get the inners out and hang them on the line or, more usually somewhere on the stairs.  You're just getting the worst of the dirt and grit out

 

In reply to TMM:

I have got on well with my inov-8 roclites. I don't do as much distance as you seem to, but they have lasted me a year so far and no real sign of wear as yet. I run a couple of times a week through the winter (don't run in summer), so probably not massive mileage yet!

In reply to TMM:

I bought these in the summer to walk similar terrain that you run, and for the odd XX run.

No problems as yet.

 

 

 

 

http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwisqe31ocjfAhWN53cKHWRPCucYABA...

In reply to TMM:

Salomon Fellraisers if you can still find any! They’ve never let me down. I bought two pairs so I could rotate them and let them dry out etc.  My only worry these days is what will I replace them with when the time comes????

In reply to TMM:

Salomon Ultra Pro.  The best general purpose trail shoes that i have ever worn.  Got me through UTMB  with 100km still in my legs at the end (while other shoes let me down on other UTMB and similar races before).   Generous toe box, holds ankle well on downhills.  The major downside of this shoe is that it's not particularly waterproof.  Based on your description, even with 'lots of mud' given the short distances you have in mind these will be very good unless the grass is very very wet.  I run my training runs in snowdonia and liverpool in them with no issues.

if looking please look specifically for the salomon ultra pro - as of this writing AFAIK there are two colours available - the very rare all black and the more common red tops / blue heels.  

there is also an s/lab version which is similar which has a rock plate. but, for most of us normal runners the ultra pro is probably a better shoe due to the increased stability.

with its large toe box, the ultra pro is quite different from most otherwise similarly named and similar looking shoe. well worth the effort to find.

In reply to TMM:

I recently got into trail running (for training during the winter). Didn't want to spend much money so bought a pair of Karrimor Caracal... Did 13 miles, up the Lairig Ghru, out of the box with no issues, no rubbing or blisters...

Don't get this with my expensive Road running shoes!!

Euge

 

 

In reply to TMM:

If they fit your feet and you get on with zero-drop, then Altra Superiors are good in my experience. They also come with a removable rock plate that can be inserted under the insole for really gnarly ground (used them yesterday for a 24km trail run that included a rocky beach, boulder-hopping and shingle).

 

N

In reply to girlymonkey:

Same as you with the roclites, have used them as my winter trail shoe, done half marathons in them too. I have had mine well over a year and they are still going strong.

In reply to the sheep:

I've had a pair for about three years and they're still fine. There's the odd hole in the upper but the sole seems to be bearing up just fine. I mostly run in the moors and grit edges of the Peak.

In reply to TMM:

I used la sportiva for a long time but took a punt on some cheapo ascics "trail running" shoes nearly two years ago and they surprised me. Never felt very fast or nimble but got over a thousand miles out of them on 50/50 rocky/muddy terrain and they're still usable.

In reply to TMM:

the lace on my speedcross 4 snapped 5 minutes before the start of a fell race. much swearing and missing out several laceholes to tie the shortened lace worked, but I agree - stupid system

I tend to get cheap karrimor trail shoes from sports direct. they last 6 months and I chuck them but they only cost £30 so I am not bothered