Adidas Stan Smith Homme Vente

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6. adidas adizero XT 5, Adidas ZX 700 Homme France Available Now ¨C As mentioned above, the adizero XT has tried to fill the lightweight spot in adidas¡¯ (rather sparse IMO) trail lineup, but has fallen short in the past. The XT 3 was pretty chunky and the XT 4, while having promise, was weighed down a bit by a pretty heavily lugged outsole. The XT 5 goes back to what has worked in the road market for adidas, which I wish they would do more often, and comes away as a trail version of the pre-Boost adios (adios 2) since it still uses adiprene instead of the more recently popular Boost. The nice thing, however, is they retail for $100 and keep things simple without cutting any corners. I¡¯ve just recently run in a pair and came away super impressed with the very light and responsive ride. It feels how I always wished the New Balance 100 series felt¡­marathon shoe geometries with some decent trail rubber. Only issue I¡¯ve seen is limited availability. I had to order mine directly from adidas here and haven¡¯t seen them much elsewhere in the US. Possible review forthcoming.

7. adidas Raven Boost ¨C While a shoe in this spec category (11.5 oz and 10mm drop) would not normally be on my list, I¡¯ve been reading good things about it from Sam Winebaum here and elsewhere and love the simplistic design of both midsole and outsole using quality materials (Boost and Adidas ZX 750 Homme Vente Continental rubber) and what looks like a nice, soft and comfortable upper. Adidas really looks to be stepping up their game in the trail market this fall which has me excited.

10. Saucony Nomad TR, Summer 2015 ¨C I¡¯ve run in a couple versions of the Saucony Peregrine a couple years back and tried on the Kinvara TR, but Saucony¡¯s last shape has always been a tad too straight and pointed for my tastes. Apparently the Nomad TR is on a new, more anatomical last and I like the looks of it overall. At 9.2 oz, it should be a lighter weight option similar to a NB 980 trail, and it¡¯s the best looking trail shoe that Saucony has put forth in a while.

3. inov-8 Race Ultra 270, Available Now ¨C I was pleased with the Race Ultra 290 when I tried them last fall, and was therefore very much looking forward to the lighter and lower drop (4mm) RU270. I bought a pair and I¡¯ve already raced 50k in them and am pretty impressed overall. A very versatile shoe with more road shoe-like geometry than the Trailroc 245, but with nearly all of the latter¡¯s positive qualities retained with a touch more cushion at a very similar weight. Quite the feat I think and one that, especially if the Terraclaws mentioned above turn out good, will make the loss of the Trailroc much easier to bear. The Race Ultra 270 covers hardpack terrain (and even road) much better than the Trailroc and yet still handles technical trail quite well. If you liked the Trailroc 245, be sure to check this one out. Full review coming soon.

A couple of months ago I posted a list of new road shoes that I¡¯d like to try in 2015. As a complement to that post, and given that I don¡¯t run trails as often, I asked David Henry to put together a list of trail shoes that he is most excited about running in this year. David put together a list of 11 trail shoes, and what follows is his summary of why he is excited about each of them.

8. La Sportiva Mutant, Spring 2015 ¨C I¡¯ve always liked La Sportiva¡¯s design, philosophy, and aesthetic, but unfortunately haven¡¯t always liked the shoes in practice other than the X-Country (now discontinued), Bushido Adidas ZX 850 Homme Pas Cher , and to some extent the Crossover GTX for winter (original version, haven¡¯t tried the 2.0). The Mutant takes a lot of what I like about La Sportiva (sticky rubber, mountain specific design) and possibly adds a more comfortable upper to the equation with what looks like a slightly wider last. I¡¯ve really wanted to like many of their other models but either found them far to heavy and stiff or too narrow (Helios in particular). Interested to try this one on to see if La Sportiva ca n finally put it all together in an all-out mountain shoe.