I don't write reviews, because I can't be bothered, but I'm making an exception here because these shoes are excellent, and I want people to buy them so they continue to make them.
I've been running in these since early February, so going on nearly 11 months. I only use one pair of shoes and just run them into the ground. My running habit consists of 2 times a week, sometimes 3, 8 - 10 miles per run. The terrain is steep, mountainous, rough, and rocky. Basically I run up and then back down, so the lugs under my toes are the first to go, and on some shoes they just tear off completely. The Alpines have nice deep lugs and they are showing very little sign of wear. I"m pretty confident the outsole is good for at least another 6 months probably longer. It is a Vibram Megagrip (?!) I believe and it's hands down the best I've run in; grips on everything and still wears hard, what more could you ask for?!
These feel great over rocky rough trails, I don't get any foot soreness or fatigue. And they've got the toe bumper which is great bc I will occasionally bash my toes on a rock, which still hurts like a b@st@rd but a lot less so. They also feel very nimble and sure on the technical stuff, but at the same time have a nice amount of cushion.
I"m not going to talk about weight, don't know how much they weigh and I don't care.
They do run a bit small, so order 1/2 a euro size up, and if like me you have a wide forefoot, expect some tightness to begin with. They eased up fairly quickly, and unlike my last pair of Italian ballet slippers I never peeled my socks off to find my toes covered in blood during the break-in period.
The uppers are also still completely intact, no fraying seams or mesh blowouts. Just all around solid shoes, nice to run in, and if they give me 1.5 yrs of not having to think about running shoes, then it's 5 stars from me.
If you like running up hills and need some shoes, these are pretty darn good in my experience.
Right that's enough shoe waffle for now.
