I’ll start this off by saying Pearl Izumi as a brand is new to me when it comes to running. I’m familiar with them from the cycling space of course, but I’ve never had a chance to run in their shoes. I’ve seen more and more showing up at races and been really compelled by them and was super thankful that the opportunity came in to try them out. The Trail N3 was the first model I had a chance to try and I did have some immediate visceral reactions to the shoe which I’ll get into later, but the shoe itself hits a lot of the talking points that I normally love.
First off, it’s got a nice big toebox, it’s relatively lightweight, it’s a fully no-sew upper, and it’s a maximum cushion shoe. On paper, this is a strong competitor against shoes like the Hoka Challenger, the Altra Olympus, and more. It is a distance trail runner in every sense of the word. I will say though that the first thing that struck me was the size of the shoe. For some reason, when I pulled out of the box, it was huge looking and after wearing them this goes away a bit, but the profile of the shoe for some reason is very large and I think this is primarily due to the toebox. It’s not a negative per se, but from an aesthetic perspective it’s definitely big looking. I will note that the size doesn’t necessarily transition into weight or performance.
Construction: The Upper
As I mentioned earlier, it’s a fully no-sew upper, totally seamless. Breathable mesh covers the entire top with several molded overlays. The tongue has very minimal padding and the lacing system works well. It does have a nice heel cup that holds you fairly tightly in place. The width toebox is large which is great as you get plenty of toe splay which allows you to cover distance in a fairly relaxed way. The height of the toebox is the area where the visual bulkiness comes from and this gives your toes some vertical movement, but I could see them scale that down just a little bit.
Construction: Midsole
The mid is composed of something they call 1 to 1 Energy Foam both on the edges of mid as well as the core which is designed to give you consistent cushion across your entire foot. There is also a forefoot rock plate which should keep any sort of bruising or push through to a minimum, but heel runners right still feel a bit. It does have a dynamic rocker design (Hoka fans might know of something similar), but the idea is that the shoe is pre-tuned to help encourage proper biodynamics.
Construction: Outsole
The first thing I noticed was that there are no really significant lugs on the Trail N3. The lugs they do have are space fairly widely apart and and while they are bidirectional I wasn’t convinced I would get the traction I might expect from shoes that have a lot more on them. However, for most normal days that lacked my, rain, snow, etc. this worked just fine. On sloshier days I could definitely feel a little slippage. The entire outsole is Carbon Rubber so it is super durable and doesn’t breakdown at all.
Style and Aesthetics
This is an interesting one, I am not a huge fan of the colorway necessarily, but I had a few people comment that they really liked them. They are a modest shoe and all the colorways are very neutral, so I could go either way honestly. It does come in three different options meaning there’s something for most people to choose from, so this one is subjective. I think the bulkiness of the shoe will turn a few folks off even though its unfounded in terms of overall performance, but the visual profile will probably make you scratch your head.
Run Test
Running on the trail in the N3 was probably where I was the most surprised. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the performance of the shoe in terms of fit, feel, speed, acceleration, etc. as I had no real baseline from prior shoes. That being said, I was kind of blown away by the shoe itself. If I stacked it next to some of the trail shoes that I really enjoy, it fits right in there really well.
I found myself getting a lot of control during non-inclement weather, I found they mentally allowed me to go farther with the additional cushioning I like. The toebox was big and allowed me maximum toe splay, so overall I actually really enjoyed running them. I think there’s the question of what would cause me to pull these out of my closet instead of another pair and I think we need to solve some small issues in order to make that happen. This doesn’t mean you’d be disappointed by them, but it would be criticism is made. For example, the overall bulkiness from the shoe itself, especially above toebox could be addressed and issue itself could stand to lose probably an ounce or so of weight. Overall though, I found most runs to be pretty enjoyable in them and if they lost the bulkiness I would definitely be looking for them a lot more than I thought going in.
Overall Conclusion
Overall, I will say I was pleasantly surprised with the Trail N3. I didn’t have a lot of expectations going in and if anything I probably expected less than what I found. The shoe itself is fairly nondescript, but the performance at distance can still be very high. It competes well in that maximum cushion longer distance trail runner market and I think the next iteration of it could be even better. Super excited by how far Pearl Izumi has come and eagerly anticipating trying some of their other shoes in the future.
Technical Stats, Pricing & Availability
- Weight: 10.8oz (size 9)
- Drop: 4mm heel/toe (dynamic to 7.5mm)
- MSRP: $135.00
- Available: Now
UPDATE (8/2016)
It looks like most of us won’t get to see what’s next for Pearl Izumi as it relates to running. Shortly after this article went out on the wire, they announced they are pulling back from the running market to refocus their business on only cycling. Tough to hear, but its getting to be such a big market that its tough to compete.
